Mackenzie highway route 'should be our call', says Pedzéh Kı̨ First Nation

Pedzéh Kı̨ First Nation Chief Jamie Moses says the N.W.T. government is "sticking to its guns" with a proposed route for an all-weather road from Wrigley to Norman Wells, sidelining community concerns about unstable land and disturbance to moose habitat and archaeological sites.

Highway 1 starts at the N.W.T.'s border with Alberta and spans nearly 700 kilometres to Wrigley. The proposed all-season road would extend it by about 300 kilometres from Wrigley to Norman Wells, linking the Sahtu to Canada's wider highway network. 

"To our friends and family in the Sahtu … we hear your concerns and we know the demand for this road. We support that, but we know we also have to protect our area," said Moses. 

Moses said his community does not oppose the highway, but takes issue with the proposed route. In a Jan. 30 letter from Pedzéh Kı̨ First Nation, he urged the N.W.T. government and the Mackenzie Valley Review Board to refocus its efforts on a high-altitude route hugging the mountains and following the current Enbridge pipeline route.

The current proposed route runs over muskeg and unstable landslide-risk areas, he said. Bridges that were installed to extend the life of the existing winter road will become noisier with year-round traffic, which could scare off moose and waterfowl that congregate in those low lying areas, he said. 

Moses told CBC's The Trailbreaker his community never consented to the N.W.T. government's plans to repurpose those bridges as features for an all-weather highway.

Moses said year-round access could also bring unwanted harvesters to their traditional hunting areas and create more risk that the community's sacred or cultural sites be disrespected.

He also said the existing bridge crossings are too close to the Dehcho and could lead to fuel spills into nearby rivers and creeks — pointing to a 2013 example in which a fuel truck crashed at Vermillion Creek and which he said luckily only released 10 litres of petroleum. 

Moses said an alpine route offers better vistas for tourism and protects their hunting areas and archaeologically sensitive places from disturbances.

"It's better ground to build on, we're closer to the mountains where there's better base material," said Moses. "Looking toward the future, we want this road to showcase the beauty of our land." 

Route still being discussed, says N.W.T. government

The N.W.T.'s Department of Infrastructure turned down a request for an interview from CBC News. 

In an emailed statement, it said the proposed all-weather route is designed to minimize the overall impact of the project on the environment and to "maximize alignment" with the existing winter road infrastructure and the "already disturbed footprint" it has created. 

It said Bear River Bridge still needs to be built, but other bridges for the route are already done. 

The department also said it had provided the First Nation with money to do Indigenous knowledge studies and that the route design was not yet complete. 

The department said it has made recent adjustments after getting community feedback. For example, it changed the proposed alignment near Bear Rock and Big Smith Creek, after hearing from Tulita.

Heed community knowledge, says former chief

Former Pedzéh Kı̨ chief Tim Lennie told CBC News that ignoring his community's warnings about landslide risks between Wrigley and Norman Wells will be costly and potentially unsafe for travellers in the future.

"You're talking with people that lived in this area and … that's been the resounding message over all these years," he said. 

According to a report written following a Mackenzie Valley Review Board engagement session in the community last fall, participants said even the winter route was built without full consultation of the community. 

Lennie said the N.W.T. government's focus on using the old winter road is a "real waste of resources and capacity" for the First Nation. He also said his community has yet to receive supports like community training programs for future construction and socio-economic benefits. 

He said it's already been decades since the Mackenzie Valley Highway was proposed and that the project has been lucrative for "engineers, lawyers, consultants all on the government side" with few economic benefits to the community. 

The infrastructure department said that it has compared the current proposed alignment and an inland alternative.

It said it will spend several winters conducting geotechnical assessments of the proposed alignment and decide if any further changes to the route are required. 

Moses, meanwhile, said the N.W.T. government is providing a "whole litany of reasons" for not establishing a route higher up on the land. 

"They say they don't want to disturb new ground, but that should be our call," he said.