Ice roads problematic this winter

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This article was published 26/02/2016 (3519 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winter-road conditions in the north have bounced up and down like the temperature this winter.

Manitoba NDP MP Niki Ashton said Thursday there are complaints across the north about the winter-road network this season.

She said some roads have been open to local traffic for a while, but aren’t officially considered officially safe, which means large shipments of building materials, food staples and equipment aren’t moving. Isolated communities rely on the winter roads to get materials in to keep costs down since shipping heavy goods by air is expensive.

The winter-road network was already three weeks behind when it opened earlier this year.

About 2,200 kilometres of winter roads are constructed each year to temporarily bring road access to communities that are only connected by air travel the rest of the year.

Grand Chief Sheila North Wilson of Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak (MKO) agrees this year’s winter-road season in northern Manitoba is “a little bit below normal.”

“It could be better,” she added. “We’re faced with anxious moments. It’s a little less than ideal.”

North Wilson said one problem faced by several northern communities is even though the roads are open, the ice isn’t thick enough to allow full loads of transport trucks to cross safely.

“The trucks are running with lighter loads,” she said.

“And if it’s this warm and stays warm, it will be an even shorter (winter-road) season.”

North Wilson said MKO will continue monitoring the situation.

“We’ll step up if the situation calls for it,” she said.

“We’ve had experience for co-ordinating and plans to deal with situations where the season is short (so) we can get essential supplies in.”

She said MKO already has the federal government’s commitment to help.

A provincial spokesman said Thursday all of the roads across the province have been open, except one, so far this year. He couldn’t say which road isn’t open.

‘We’re faced with anxious moments.It’s a little less than ideal’– Grand Chief Sheila North Wilson, of Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak

Ashton said part of a solution is a permanent road on the east side of Lake Winnipeg, and in question period Wednesday she pointed out Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s promise to help fund that project during last fall’s election campaign.

“Will the prime minister keep his promise and work with isolated First Nations so that they can meet their needs this winter?” she asked.

During a Winnipeg election stop in September, Trudeau said his government would provide cash to help build the $3-billion road.

“The federal government will be the partner Manitoba needs in order to deliver the infrastructure that is required,” Trudeau promised.

Federal cash would speed up construction of the road network that will eventually link 11 remote First Nations on the east side of the province to an all-weather road.

Manitoba has spent $75 million a year for the last seven years on the east side road project and will increase that to about $100 million a year going forward. It will take almost three more decades for the road to be completed without additional funds.

Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett said this week her department is aware of the issues climate change has posed to the winter-road networks.

“We are monitoring this and will work with the communities to find out how we can get their vital equipment there as soon as possible,” she said in the Commons.

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