On Feb. 27, MLAs in the NWT's legislative assembly voted in favour of a motion to declare a state of emergency in Norman Wells.
Sahtu MLA Danny McNeely was the MLA to bring forward the motion to declare a state of emergency on Feb. 27, which was seconded by Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh MLA Richard Edjericon.
The motion made four requests of the GNWT:
1. recognize the town's local declaration of a state of emergency and communicate the matter to the Government of Canada, seeking humanitarian aid
2. develop a comprehensive policy and procedure to respond to any humanitarian state of emergency within Northwest Territories communities
3. engage in sustainable community planning with stakeholders in Norman Wells
4. facilitate a discussion between Imperial Oil and the Government of the Northwest Territories and the Tlegohti Got'ine, who represent the Dene and Metis of Norman Wells
McNeely also called on the GNWT to "provide a response to this motion within 120 days."
Offering immediate vocal support were Great Slave MLA Kate Reid, Range Lake MLA Kieron Testart, Dehcho MLA Sheryl Yakeleya and Yellowknife Centre MLA Robert Hawkins. Following their remarks, it then went to a vote.
Ten MLAs voted in favour of the motion while none voted against. Six abstained SA国际影视传媒� all six were cabinet members, which did not come as a surprise, given that Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs Vince McKay had already announced they would do so because the motion "proposes direction to cabinet."
SA国际影视传媒's past attempts to have the GNWT explain its unwillingness to declare a state of emergency in Norman Wells were unsuccessful.
The Sahtu community is not accessible by an all-weather road, so it has historically been resupplied by ice road in the winter and by barge in the summer. However, warming winter temperatures have shortened recent ice road seasons. Complicating matters further, last summer, water levels fell low enough that not a single barge could make the trip. That has left the community with no choice but to resupply by plane during the warmer months, which is more expensive and causes the price of many goods to spike to the point that some residents are having difficulty making ends meet.
The community's problems have been compounded by the possible closure of the local Imperial Oil facilities. Headquartered in Calgary, the company has been operating in Norman Wells since 1944, and not only extracts petroleum and natural gas in the area, but provides electricity for the community of about 700 people through its central processing facility. It has been running its Norman Wells facilities at reduced production since 2022 as efforts are made to replace pipelines between the local Bear and Goose islands. Imperial Oil's operations in the community could shut down soon if that pipeline work is not completed, which would leave the town without power.
The increasingly dire situation led Mayor Frank Pope to call for a state of emergency late last year. However, the GNWT did not agree with that proposition, instead opting to support the community in other ways, such as reducing the wholesale cost of gasoline, motive diesel and home heating fuel by up to $0.86 per litre; and making a $150,000 contribution to the local food bank.
At the time, Pope made it clear he was grateful for that support, but questioned the decision to reject his proposed state of emergency.
