There is new financial support available for Beaufort Delta and Sahtu businesses that are struggling with high shipping costs, the GNWT announced during an Oct. 9 press conference. 

Communities in the Beaufort Delta and Sahtu rely heavily on barges to deliver essential goods and services in the warmer months. However, water levels on the Mackenzie River got so low this summer that the barges were cancelled en masse, leaving many communities with no choice but to ship supplies via air, which costs significantly more and has contributed to driving up the price of pretty much everything. 

THe new initiative is called the Support Funding for Businesses and Communities Impacted by Barge Cancellations program and the GNWT is offering Beaufort Delta and Sahtu businesses, as well as Indigenous and community governments, a one-time payment to help counterbalance the high costs of shipping created by low water levels on the river. 

Approved applicants can receive up to 50 per cent of the difference between the expected cost for shipping their goods on the barge and the cost of alternative shipping methods, to a maximum of $30,000 per applicant.

The GNWT has allotted a total of $1.8 million for the program. 

"I am grateful to the GNWT cabinet for recognizing the severity of this situation and for taking decisive action to provide much needed relief," Sahtu MLA Danny McNeely said in a news release about the funding. "Their support will help alleviate the immediate challenges we face, and I look forward to continued efforts to strengthen our regionSA国际影视传媒檚 resilience in the face of future disruptions."

Along with this new funding, the GNWT pledged to continue working toward long-term solutions to keep prices down, specifically the creation of the long-discussed Mackenzie Valley Highway, a proposed two-lane, all-weather highway that would connect the fly-in communities in the Sahtu to the rest of Canada year-round. 

Earlier this week, Premier R.J. Simpson, his cabinet and the Council of Leaders visited Ottawa to lobby for more federal backing for the territory. The group held several meetings about the Mackenzie Valley Highway. 

According to Industry, Tourism and Investment Minister Caitlin Cleveland, the main speaker at Wednesday's news conference, the Ottawa meetings about the highway were "very positive." However, she could not provide a firm timeframe as to when the $1 billion project might be completed. 

With summer now over, residents of the Beaufort Delta and Sahtu are waiting for the winter ice roads to be built. When the roads are built, residents of fly-in communities will be able to drive out of town. 

After the cancellation of this summer's barges, the GNWT is forecasting increased traffic on the ice roads, and is preparing accordingly. The Mackenzie Valley Winter Road will be widened where it's possible to do so. Additional signage, including electronic signs reminding drivers of safe driving requirements, will be positioned on roadsides while patrols, checkpoints, and road maintenance activities will also be increased, in collaboration with regional bylaw and detachments.