SMITHERS - Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Nathan Cullen has cancelled his weekend events to tour severely flooded areas of the riding tomorrow.

"I want to be in the riding with my constituents during this disaster," said Cullen, who has aggressively called for federal financial aid for BC flood victims all week in Ottawa.

Cullen will tour the Terrace area by helicopter tomorrow afternoon and join Skeena MLA Robin Austin in a land tour of the flooded city later in the day. On Sunday, Cullen will be in Smithers to visit flooded areas and meet with volunteers, emergency workers and local authorities there.

Earlier this week in the House of Commons, Cullen invited Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day to visit the northwest.

"I invited the Minister to join me in a tour of the riding to see the disaster firsthand so that he can properly understand the magnitude of the flooding that has stranded literally thousands of people in the north."

Cullen and the NDP have been calling on the federal government all week to immediately distribute federal financial aid to help home and business owners mop up after flood waters recede. The NDP is also pressing the Conservative government to develop an effective long-term strategy to prevent future flooding.

Cullen had been scheduled to attend Seafest in Prince Rupert this weekend but changed his plans because of the seriousness of northwest floods.