“We are not going to let them off the hook. We’ll just keep banging on the door till somebody does something to help us.”
Sahtu leaders recently travelled to Yellowknife in a continued effort to lobby for the region’s needs amid high costs of fuel and food after a disrupted summer resupply season.
The mayors of Norman Wells and Tulita, Frank Pope and Douglas Yallee respectively, joined Sahtu MLA Danny McNeely in meeting with Premier RJ Simpson and cabinet ministers to “push for urgent action.”
Pope has said a major concern for Norman Wells is the cost of flying in groceries and other essentials until the winter road opens for a five to six-week period several months from now. After historically low water levels led to resupply barge cancellations, he said the need for the Mackenzie Valley Highway – an all-season road connecting the Sahtu to the rest of Canada, which is currently an unfunded project – has only grown.
“We’re worried. We’re worried right now about the cost of groceries, the cost of everything. Everything is being flown in, now until winter road season,” he told Cabin Radio, adding that many hundreds of truckloads of items would need to come up on the winter road.
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“We’re worried about how long the winter road is going to last this year. When we get to winter, will we still get all the stuff hauled in? They’re going to have to haul fuel in on the winter road,” he said.
Last month, Imperial Oil told Sahtu leaders its operations in Norman Wells could cease by 2026 unless work to replace some pipelines goes ahead next year. Imperial’s proposed pipeline replacement project has since been sent to environmental assessment, a process likely to take many months.
Pope fears if Imperial’s site shuts down, power rates could go up. The community currently gets its power from gas that Imperial supplies.
“It’s not just one or two things. We have got a whole load of issues against us right now. I think we can call it the perfect storm,” Pope explained.
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The mayor said he feels the region’s concerns are being heard at the federal level.
He expects to visit Ottawa next week along with MLA McNeely to meet with federal and NWT ministers and “inform decision-makers of our situation and pursue assistance.”
On Tuesday, the Town of Norman Wells stated the meetings will “help relevant federal departments understand our prohibitive cost of living due to increased transportation costs for heating fuel, groceries, and all other commodities being flown in.”
From October 9-13, Pope and McNeely will meet with the Senate Committee on Transportation regarding the “urgent need” for an all-season highway.
“The federal government has been very slow to react, but now they are hearing us. Now they are going to be meeting with us, talking to us, coming in to look at the situation. So they’re moving,” said Pope.
“The GNWT, we are hoping to get some movement from them. But nobody has come forward to say how they are going to help us pay for our costs. Nobody has come forward and said how they are going to cover our air costs. We are fighting hard for somebody to come up to the table and say, ‘OK, we are going to help you.’ We have not heard that yet.”
Pope is up against a former territorial minister, Paulie Chinna, for the role of mayor in this month’s municipal election. Ahead of that election, the town – where Imperial is the major local employer and financial force – has described its economic future as “severely unpredictable.”
McNeely said he worries that other local firms like airlines will have to pass on their own increased costs of doing business to residents, and that this will have an effect on neighbouring Sahtu communities, too.
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“Other communities are going to feel the repercussions,” he said.
He described residents already trying to cope with high costs – himself included – by paying reduced prices for produce past its expiry date or harvesting traditional foods instead of buying expensive meat.
Meanwhile, he said aircraft were performing many trips to bring in the materials needed to build a new health centre in Tulita, since there’s now no barge.
“I’m happy about that, only because we have an essential building that is going to improve our healthcare,” he said. “But you’ve got to ask yourself, at what cost?”
He added: “This is why we’ve had meetings with the territorial government – to start being aware of the situation, then put our thinking caps on and find solutions.”
The GNWT prepared a “preliminary business case” for the Mackenzie Valley Highway in 2015. For years, leaders in the Sahtu have lobbied for the territorial government to submit a formal business case to Ottawa.
Last month, the territory issued a request for proposals seeking consultants to build that case, with the intention of handing over a contract by October 7.
“I repeatedly said this year: develop the business case, take the business case and go to Ottawa,” said McNeely.
“Just keep lobbying and hammering away at the federal government to support the business case in securing funding. Without funding, there is no project.
“Ultimately we’re the largest region and the most isolated in the Northwest Territories. Something has to be done, and that something is the all-season road.”
