The MLA for Tu Nedhé-Wiilideh wants an ice road built between Yellowknife and Łútsël K’é, though cabinet’s response suggests the project is unlikely to happen any time soon.
Richard Edjericon raised the issue in the NWT Legislative Assembly on Thursday. He said constructing a winter road could help reduce the cost of living in Łútsël K’é, which faces high prices due to shipping costs.
“The political context has changed, making the ice road even more necessary to both Łútsël K’é and the territory as a whole,” he said, referencing the trade war between the US and Canada as well as increased attention on Arctic security and sovereignty.
“The idea that the ice road to Łútsël K’é is not possible is simply not true. We just need a political will to make it happen.”
Construction of a winter road to Łútsël K’é was also the subject of a resolution passed at the Dene National Assembly in July 2024.
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Edjericon on Thursday called for the NWT government to commit to a feasibility study on the project as soon as possible.
Infrastructure minister Caroline Wawzonek said building a winter road between Yellowknife and Łútsël K’é could cost between $7 million and $8 million annually, based on the cost of winter roads in the Tłı̨chǫ region.
“There’s no guarantee that that would – and in fact likely would not – lower the cost of living. It certainly would not lower the cost of fuel,” she said, later adding feasibility studies also cost money.
Wawzonek said that while winter roads in the Tłı̨chǫ region are constructed over ice crossings, a winter road to Łútsël K’é would have to be built across Great Slave Lake.
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Wawzonek said that posed challenges due to the high risk of open water, significant variances in ice thickness and currents, and the inability to build maintenance camps on land, among other issues.
She said while that did not mean building an ice road was impossible, it would make it more expensive and complicated.
Edjericon said he believed an ice road could secure a supply chain across the NWT. He suggested building one from Fort Resolution as another option.
Wawzonek acknowledged there are significant critical mineral deposits near Łútsël K’é and said the NWT’s Taltson hydro expansion could require the movement of equipment in the area.
“That doesn’t necessarily open up having a consistent year-over-year winter road,” she said.
“It simply means that there may be some years where even that high cost can be borne by multiple users.”
Regarding the cost of living in Łútsël K’é, Wawzonek said she believed some initial studies had been completed on micro hydro in the community, which she said would reduce its reliance on shipping in diesel.
