Northern Manitoba communities feeling the pinch as winter road openings delayed this year
A delay in opening the winter road has left people living in Pukatawagan unable to drive out of the isolated northern Manitoba community.
As a result, residents of the Matthias Colomb First Nation have to rely on the railroad, which runs only twice a week in either direction, or commercial flights.
On Thursday, the First Nation, located 210 kilometres north of The Pas and about 820 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg, almost ran out of fuel because the train had been delayed by several hours.
Without a road the trip to The Pas becomes a multi-day excursion instead of a day trip, Chief Gordie Bear of the Matthias Colomb Cree Nation told CBC News.
“In my time we always went Christmas shopping [on the road]. However we did it, we did not lose a truck through the ice … Dec. 8 is the earliest we went.”
With the train service unreliable, Bear says, people have been left without provisions and food on some days, and local grocery stores without goods to sell.
Bear, who sits with other councillors on the board of directors of one of the grocery stores, says the winter road allows them to order items as needed or go to The Pas to purchase them.
This year, even with the winter road open, there will be more complications when shipping items by road, Bear says, due to an 11-tonne weight restriction for vehicles, and closure of the road only four to five weeks after opening.
“Eleven tonnes bring you nothing,” Bear said. “Regulation tells us on the 28th of March that’s when they close the line. They close everything.”
Bear says he would like to see the province provide funding to extend an all-season logging road about 25 kilometres distant to the community of 2,000 residents, but admits that would come at a cost of more than $25 million.
“If they can connect us up … they have to build an all-weather road” Bear said. “Either that or rip up the whole railway and put a provincial road on that railway.”
Bear wants more funding for the road and $1.5 million to provide better equipment to maintain it.
Some big items require road transport, says Coun. Connie Constant, because the train doesn’t include a flatbed car.
A family from Pukatawagan, Man., say they walked for days to get home, in part to protest unreliable service on the vital train line. The community is only accessible by rail, and they say trip cancellations happen too often.
“It is tough, it’s rough and we’re trying our best as leadership, but what can we do when our hands are tied by provincial regulations,” Constant said.
Even those who are asking for an all-season road admit the winter road is part of what makes their community special.
“It’s part of our identity. It’s part of our way of living because we get to have a little bit more sense of freedom from being an isolated area,” said Coun. Arlene Caribou.
Walter Wastesicoot, Keewatin Tribal Council grand chief, is calling for all-season roads to remote northern Manitoba communities immediately.
He said in a statement that the shortened winter road season affects most northern Manitoba First Nations. Many get their diesel fuel trucked in annually, he said, and relying on air transport for essential supplies will increase the already high cost of living.
“Climate change is here. Each year the winter road season will decrease and eventually disappear for some remote communities,” his statement reads.
The provincial government in a statement said the winter road to Pukatawagan is opening two weeks later than average, mainly due to an issue with contractors, and that most of Manitoba’s winter roads were open by Jan. 31.
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