N.W.T. leaders mull future options to deal with delayed, cancelled resupply barges

Winter deliveries by cat train, or staged deliveries from the Beaufort Delta region earlier in the year are among the solutions some leaders are suggesting to help northern communities get yearly resupplies of goods on time.

Marine Transportation Services (MTS) blamed high winds and low water levels for this year's cancelled barge to Sachs Harbour, N.W.T.

It wasn't the first time such a cancellation had happened. In 2018, the barge couldn't make its deliveries to Paulatuk, N.W.T., or Kugluktuk and Cambridge Bay in Nunavut due to impassable ice.

Whatever the reason, northern leaders are calling for solutions to ensure communities get their supplies — especially as the climate warms and weather patterns change.

"The extreme weather conditions we're facing calls for us to take action and open more options so that we know we'll get our annual supply," said Ray Ruben, mayor of Paulatuk.

Ruben said even without cancellations, barge delays can also be a problem by increasing costs for residents.

"Outlets like the Northern Stores are not stocked for the extra months so they end up flying the food and the goods in, hence we get the flying prices that are quite a bit higher than the barging prices."

Ruben, along with mayors from Tuktoyaktuk and Ulukhaktok, met with Nunakput MLA Jackie Jacobson and Infrastructure Minister Diane Archie earlier this month to discuss the issue.

Sachs Harbour Mayor Norman Anikina was not present for the meetings but had previously stated that MTS should begin northern shipments earlier in the season.

Ruben said Paulatuk has received winter deliveries by cat train — a chain of sleighs drawn by a track vehicle like a bulldozer — in the past, and it's something he would consider again as a way of getting goods to his community faster than by barge and cheaper than by air.

For Jacobson, the meeting's biggest takeaway was the possibility of staging goods directly from Tuktoyaktuk. The current system has them staged first out of Hay River, N.W.T.

He said the idea is still being discussed but that staging goods out of Tuktoyaktuk would mean the northernmost communities receive their resupplies in July as opposed to waiting as late as October.

Chartered barge services 

In the fall sitting of the N.W.T. Legislative Assembly, Jacobson questioned the infrastructure minister on MTS's charter services to commercial customers.

Jacobson asked how the department could deliver on private shipping contracts through the summer while community resupplies are cancelled.

The department of infrastructure estimates it will earn $2.4 million from charters this fiscal year. Last fiscal year, it earned $3.7 million in revenue from charters.

In an email, a department spokesperson said MTS's commercial contracts, including charters, "help offset shipping costs to NWT communities."

According to the department, MTS activated five tugboats this season. Two supported commercial deliveries.

One ship had a dual role between resupply and commercial activities. One ship was dedicated to commercial deliveries from Aug 31 to Oct. 7. The department said that ship supported deliveries in the northern communities before and after its commercial deliveries.

In a later interview with the CBC News, Jacobson pulled back his criticisms.

He said if the minister's office says the chartered ships didn't impact community resupply, he's "taking their word for it."

The department said the factors leading to the cancelled barge delivery in Sachs Harbour also caused delays to commercial clients, though the two ships carrying out those contracts completed all their deliveries.

The mayor said he didn't know whether those contracts led to Sachs Harbour's cancelled delivery.

"We just want to be assured that we're going to get the supplies," Ruben said.

The department of infrastructure said that a review of the barging season is underway. That includes analysis and engagement on feedback from community mayors.