‘Quit bandaging it and fix the road’: Mayor of Cumberland House

He invited Premier Scott Moe and the Ministry of Highways to drive their personal vehicles on the 140 kilometres of highway that he says regularly become impassable in the spring and after heavy rains.

Ground ambulance to the area was cut off last week because they could not drive the road. Goods will now be shipped to the local Northern Store by air, a cost McKay said will be borne by the federal government.

Milk, bread and other staples have been in short supply and the village is considering rationing fuel to 40 litres per vehicle.

In the roughly 40 kilometres of road paNOW drove on to access the media conference Friday, the road was almost impassable in at least five areas that had only a tire width of packed trail to avoid very deep mud. And that is after the rain slowed down for several days and other vehicles packed a trail.

Turning on to Highway 123 from Highway 55, north of Carrot River, an electronic sign warns drivers that 4×4 is required to pass some parts of the road.

This sign warns drivers hoping to travel Hwy. 123 to Cumberland House that they will need four wheel drive. (Susan McNeil/paNOW)

McKay pointed out seeing a grader working on the road around 10 pm the evening before.

The road gets worse the closer it gets to the Village and the First Nation, though.

“After Kilometre 30 it gets worse than this,” he said. “There’s a lot of under carriages that are left behind by the motorists. Vehicles are coming apart when we travel the highway.”

Potentially unrepairable damage to his vehicle is exactly what happened to Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN) Vice Chief David Pratt as he drove to Cumberland House on May 23 to offer his support and voice.

“It probably busted my frame. I’m probably going to get my vehicle written off because of the road conditions. And it’s not just my vehicle, think of the people that drive this road every day,” he said.

@panownews paNOW took a drive partway down Hwy 123 towards Cumberland House. This is what it looks like – after it had already dried out a bit. Both the Village and FN say the province and feds need to do more. Ambulances cannot travel the road and neither can the food delivery truck. There is only one way to the area and goods must now be flown in. #skpoli #cdnpolitcs ♬ original sound – paNOW

Pratt said not only should the province be repairing their own highway, but the federal government also has a fiduciary responsibility to ensure the health and safety of the First Nations.

McKay said the village council would like to see representatives from the Ministry of Highways come to Cumberland House in person.

“We want them to come and travel our highways. Hopefully they’ll use their own personal vehicles to experience what we have to go through every day for numerous years,” he said.

Cumberland First Nation Chief Rene Chaboyer said he shares the village’s concerns but is also looking beyond today. The region has a lot of economic potential that is not being tapped right now because of the conditions of Highway 123.

“There’s so much that we have on the table that we want to discuss with the province,” Chaboyer said. “Job creation through fibre and wood management, carbon sink, biomass. There are so many opportunities. The highway is a vital piece to making all these opportunities work.”

He said his people want to work and they want opportunity and a good life, but they need the road to make it a reality.

“I believe in putting back what you take. So far, it’s take and not give back. Their way of economics is definitely killing our people’s way of life. My people, they want to work, they want to live the good life and there’s so many opportunities to do so right now,” he said.

He equated the lack of focus on improving the situation to writing the Indian Act again.

“There’s no work, there’s no opportunity. So they’re constantly waking up and living in poverty. It’s one of my responsibilities to try and create wealth and opportunity and improve the quality of life for our people and I see through economic development and partnerships.”

Chaboyer wants the province to meet with him and discuss the opportunities.

He also wants to remind them of a debt owed on the engineering of the road as promised years ago along with an extension further north to even more remote communities.

Conditions on Hwy. 123 had already improved when this photo was taken on May 24. (Susan McNeil/paNOW)

Last week, the Ministry of Highways told northeastNOW it had taken some steps to deal with the situation.

· Temporarily restricted truck weight to 8 tonnes to prevent additional damage to the road. The ministry will work with trucking companies to ensure food, fuel and other key supplies can reach Cumberland House.

· The ministry placed about 130 tonnes (metric tons) – or about 15 truck loads – of rock material to strengthen a 3 km segment of the road south of Cumberland House.

-Message boards will be posted advising travelers of the conditions and recommending four-wheel-drive trucks only.

-A contractor will be put on site to help pull out motorists, as required.

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com

by Susan McNeil

‘Quit bandaging it and fix the road’: Mayor of Cumberland House

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