Officials Brace For Impact Of Lost Ice Roads
Wednesday, March 08, 2006 at 15:07
The odds don’t appear to be good that full-scale ice roads will get completed to the communities of Wollaston Lake and Fond du Lac this year.
Highways Department spokesperson Kirsten Leatherdale says they need at least 72 centimetres of thickness before they allow heavy supply trucks to cross existing stretches.
Right now, light trucks and snowmobiles are pretty much the only vehicles able to cross back and forth.
Leatherdale says a long stretch of cold weather could change that, but it doesn’t appear likely.
A spokesman for the Hatchet Lake band says they are already preparing themselves for the likelihood the ice road will not get built.
Ed Benoanie says the items threatened by this situation include material for housing, propane for the school and petroleum.
He says adjustments will have to be made, in conjunction with the normal suppliers, on how those commodities will be shipped in.
Benoanie adds the situation only underlines the fact they desperately need an all-weather road to the community — a project the provincial government has already announced it will help build.
He says the band is already in talks with Indian Affairs about assistance and he expects lobbying efforts to continue from the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations and the Prince Albert Grand Council.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for Indian Affairs says there is additional funding the bands in the Far North can apply for to deal with the crisis.
Trevor Sutter says the department won’t leave the communities to fend for themselves, and that’s why some funds have been set aside for scenarios like this one.
He adds INAC will also spend $100,000 to upgrade the dirt roads leading to the ice roads.