Regulators studying plans to build an all-season road from the Dehcho to the Sahtu have published dates for community sessions about the project.
The Mackenzie Valley Review Board said it will hold meetings in Fort Simpson, Wrigley, Norman Wells, Tulita and Délı̨nę later this month.
The NWT government, which is the developer proposing the road, is also expected to attend. Members of the public are welcome.
Sessions are scheduled as follows:
- Fort Simpson: October 16
- Wrigley: October 17
- Norman Wells: October 21
- Délı̨nę: October 22
- Tulita: October 23
The Mackenzie Valley Highway has been a GNWT priority for years if not decades, a desire given fresh urgency by the failure of this summer’s barge resupply season. Sahtu communities have urged the swift development of an all-season highway to the south as a means of shoring up their supply chain.
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The federal government’s promise to inject hundreds of millions of dollars of defence spending in the North could also open a new funding stream for the project, which proponents have said can help increase access to the North for military purposes.
For now, the highway is essentially unfunded, despite some early federal grants that have been spent on planning work. NWT officials continue to lobby Ottawa for a firm funding commitment.
In the meantime, the highway still has to come through the years-long environmental assessment phase, which determines what the impacts along the route will be if the project does go ahead.
This month’s community sessions are part of that work.
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“These sessions are part of the analytical phase and are about information gathering,” the review board stated, adding its staff want to hear “local concerns and knowledge about potential cultural, social, and environmental impacts of the proposed road, and mitigation for those impacts.”
First Nations in the Dehcho have provided examples of concerns in recent months.
Regulatory documents suggest the Łı́ı́dlı̨ı̨ Kų́ę́ First Nation had requested that the construction of river bridges – one over the Liard and one over the Mackenzie – be made a condition of approving the broader highway project. The same documents state the GNWT “is not considering the construction of bridges at ferry crossings at this time.”
In a separate recent filing, the Fort Liard-based Acho Dene Koe First Nation urged regulators carrying out the highway’s environmental assessment to be wary of the “many adverse impacts” that come with it.
Fort Liard already has an all-season highway link. The community would be on the route from British Columbia to the Mackenzie Valley Highway and so could expect a significant increase in traffic, which it acknowledges would bring some benefits.
The First Nation acknowledges the highway could bring benefits but also sees dangers like habitat destruction, land transformation, changes to traditional practices, and increased availability of drugs and alcohol.
In a response, the GNWT said it “appreciates the comments” of the Acho Dene Koe First Nation.
“The GNWT is interested in further discussions with the ADKFN on their specific concerns, as well as opportunities to participate in the project moving forward,” the territorial government adds, directing the First Nation to October’s community sessions as a possible venue for some discussions.
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The NWT’s premier has said his government is “really working” to make the Mackenzie Valley Highway a reality.
Addressing regional leaders at this year’s Dehcho Annual Assembly, RJ Simpson said his territory needed to have “the infrastructure in place that people in the rest of Canada take for granted.”
The Mackenzie Valley Highway would give the Sahtu region its first all-season road connection to the rest of Canada, at a projected cost of well over $1 billion.
“We are doing our best to accelerate the Mackenzie Valley Highway,” Simpson told Dehcho leaders.
“I want to see real progress on this. It’s been talked about my entire life. I don’t want it to go another generation and another generation beyond that. I want to see some progress. So we’re really working on that.”
