Northern towns breathe easier

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Dozens of drivers have been stranded in northern Manitoba as winter roads melt earlier than normal.

THE federal government will help airlift supplies to aboriginal communities left stranded because of the early melting of winter roads that has severed the critical supply route to northern reserves.

But Ron Evans, grand chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, wants to see a more permanent solution: all-weather roads to northern communities.

And until that day comes, Evans wants to see Indian and Northern Affairs Canada give faster approval to building projects so the materials can be readied more quickly for shipment on roads vulnerable to the unpredictability of cold weather to keep them open.

Evans and Indian and Northern Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl confirmed in separate statements on Friday the federal government will pay to get supplies like fuel, building materials and chemicals for water systems flown into remote First Nations communities.

"INAC has agreed to take action," Evans said. "They have agreed to work with the leadership and come up with additional funding."

Evans said no dollar figure has been set.

Strahl's press secretary, Nina Chiarelli, said her boss met with Manitoba Emergency Measures Minister Steve Ashton last Monday to discuss the effects of the early thaw.

"Minister Strahl stressed that in cases where there is a shortage of essential supplies, our government will help," she said.

She said INAC will pay the transportation costs for any materials intended for INAC-funded projects such as schools, and will assist with the costs for other essential supplies linked to INAC programming.

The additional funding became necessary because of the shortened winter road season caused by the unseasonably warm weather. Instead of being open as much as three months, the province's winter road system was only open for about a month this year, leaving many isolated aboriginal communities unable to get all of their fuel, building supplies and other materials.

Sixteen northern communities have since declared a state of emergency with at least one -- Red Sucker Lake First Nation -- already running out of fuel to run its buses.

Muddy ice roads have stranded dozens of drivers in the wilderness.

A rescue plane was dispatched on Friday to get a dozen members of the remote Island Hill First Nation, who had become stuck on their way home from Winnipeg and were reported missing by family.

They apparently found shelter at a lodge on Wrong Lake, about 300 kilometres north of Winnipeg. When the plane arrived, no one was there and Sgt. Line Karpish said officers were trying to track the people down.

In a news release late Friday night, RCMP said they had learned the 13 people were picked from a lodge by a convoy of semi trucks that was slowly -- about seven kilometres an hour -- making its way south to the Bloodvein First Nation.

Police said a helicopter had located the convoy a few kilometres away from its destination.

"They are reported to be safe with no immediate medical concerns," Karpish said in the release.

Many of the truck drivers reportedly stranded were being rescued by their companies without the help of police.

Manitoba chiefs and provincial and federal representatives are scheduled to gather Monday in Winnipeg to discuss the situation.

Evans and other aboriginal chiefs say part of the problem is INAC officials take so long to approve projects it leaves little time to get materials shipped across winter roads.

Even though the winter road season was short, private companies, which didn't need to get approval from government, were able to move all or most of their supplies north.

Perimeter Aviation general manager Mark Wehrle said they were able to ship three million litres of fuel for their planes to fuel depots, while Michael McMullen, of the North West Company, said they were able to transport 98 per cent of their goods.

-- with files from Canadian Press, Canwest News Service

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca mia.rabson@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition March 20, 2010 A3