First Nation calls for all-season road amid rising winter temperatures

An aerial view of Fort Chipewyan, Alta., on the border of Wood Buffalo National Park is shown on Sept. 19, 2011. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press)

With the winter months nearing, many First Nations communities across the country are worried that shorter and shorter seasons for ice roads are increasingly threatening the livelihood of their people.

“We rely on winter roads to bring in fuel, heavy structures for construction, groceries, housing supplies, everything,” said Athabasca Chipewyan Chief Allan Adam in an interview. “Everything for the community … It's how we survive.”

Many Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation members live in the town of Fort Chipewyan on the southwest edge of Lake Athabasca in northern Alberta, approximately 224 kilometres north of Fort McMurray.

Access to the town of nearly 800 is limited to boat and aircraft in the summer months, and winter roads when it is cold enough for ice to form over the many bodies of water in the surrounding area, including the Athabasca River and Galoot Lake.

But there have been growing concerns about the feasibility of these winter roads. Data from Indigenous Services Canada catalogued in the IJF’s Open By Default database indicates that the duration of access to the winter roads across the country has been declining.

“The impacts to the community are substantial,” said Adam. “It’s a burden on people.”

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Data shows that the Fort Chipewyan winter road was only open for 82 days in 2021-22, compared to 90 days in 2017-18.

Other communities in Ontario and Manitoba have seen more drastic changes. The Tadoule Lake winter road in northern Manitoba went from being open for 70 days in 2014-15 to just 36 days in 2021-22.

For many of those days, the winter road was not strong enough for full loads of supplies and fuel, leaving 4x4s to transport smaller loads.

The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo is responsible for maintaining the winter road to Fort Chipewyan.

A liaison with the RM said “warmer winter weather has caused delays in construction and maintenance” of the road over the past several years, causing temporary closures and restricting load limits.

The Chief said the cost of living in the community is also an issue because necessities are flown in at least eight months out of the year. Building an all-season road would help relieve those financial pressures, he said.

In 2023, residents in the Fort Chipewyan area were ordered to evacuate as nearby wildfires threatened the community.

With wildfires in the abundant boreal forest becoming more frequent as the impact of climate change intensifies, Adam said an all-season road needs to be considered so the communities can evacuate easily if needed.

“Our dock is not efficient enough to handle an emergency evacuation if needed … water levels are so low right now, it’s unreal,” he said. “And it’s going to be worse next spring.”

The condition of the dock and surrounding area is another point of contention between the First Nation and the federal government.

Earlier this month, Adam and leadership from Mikisew Cree First Nation and Fort Chipewyan Métis Nation called out Ottawa for hiding dock contamination reports from 2017.

Those reports found traces of arsenic, mercury, lead, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, uranium and other cancer-causing toxins at the Fort Chipewyan dock in amounts above the normal thresholds for humans as well as wildlife.

Adam said the communities are having preliminary conversations with the provincial and federal governments to build an all-season road, but nothing has been set yet.

Jay Telegdi, intergovernmental affairs senior manager for Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, said this has been discussed “on and off for decades,” and aside from a study done over 10 years ago, there hasn’t been any movement.

While most communities in the area are for an all-season road, some residents are concerned that it will bring drugs to the community and increase the risk of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

“We look at all the factors and we’ll take everything into consideration once we go down this path,” said Adam. “Tough choices need to be made.”

Funding for the all-season road would likely come from both the province and Ottawa as a possible route could go through Wood Buffalo National Park. Neither government responded to requests for an interview before deadline.

With the oil and mining industries continuing to boom in northern Alberta, Adam said reparations need to be made to the communities that traditionally inhabited those areas.

“I will say this to all First Nations: if industry and government want mining and industrial movement in your traditional territories, one of the price tags that come with it is an all-weather road to your community,” said Adam.

“Those talks should be up to all First Nations with industry and government. Maybe then we will be able to have a better understanding of what dual partnership means when it comes to Treaty.”