https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/
“It’s almost like you’re sending out search parties looking for winter. And of course, this has implications for Northern Ontario because of the ice roads.”
CAT LAKE FIRST NATION — City dwellers may have welcomed the unseasonably warm December weather, but it made Cat Lake’s chief a tad nervous. Chief Russell Wesley estimated in a recent interview that his remote community northeast of Red Lake might see a winter-road season of just four weeks, with half that time safe for light vehicles only.
That wouldn’t leave much time for the big trucks to deliver gasoline and building supplies for the homes he hopes to see put up in 2024.
New housing is important to Cat Lake as the community of 500 is still building to replace homes where inspectors found mould in 2018-2019. A report in early 2019 recommended that 87 of the 128 homes in the community at the time “be entirely replaced.”
If the gasoline Cat Lake’s 500 or so residents need has to be flown in, the shipping cost is much higher than by winter road, Wesley said. Environment Canada climatologist David Phillips believes there is reason for concern.
For the rest of this article: https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/industry-news/transportation/winter-road-time-could-be-short-for-some-first-nations-8060480