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Seasonal shutdown of ferry irks tourist

Fort Providence ferry service resumed Wednesday, but for how long?

Nathan VanderKlippe
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Jan 04/02) - The Fort Providence ferry got back in service Wednesday after losing the New Year's long weekend to an ice-clogged Mackenzie River.

NNSL Photo

The ferry's return to operations earlier this week was good news for the city's shops and shoppers, but it came too late save the holiday that Arthur and Josh Zajdler were hoping for. - NNSL file photo


As of press time the Merv Hardie was operating 24 hours a day, a schedule that is expected to continue until the ice bridge is ready, with one exception: Officials are expecting the ferry will go offline for 18 hours on Tuesday, when it will need to be pulled out of the water for repairs.

The ferry's return to operations earlier this week was good news for the city's shops and shoppers, but it came too late save the holiday that Arthur and Josh Zajdler were hoping for.

The Edmonton pair climbed into their truck at 6 a.m. Dec. 27. Everything was taken care of: the dogs were in the kennel, and their father -- Artur Zajdler, who lives in Yellowknife -- had made arrangements for their stay. They were planning a fun few days complete with dog-sled ride and a party at the Black Knight.

Before leaving, they checked the ferry information phone number, which said the ferry was out, but made no mention of the ice road. Figuring that no news was good news, they set off.

By 2:30 p.m. on Friday, they arrived in High Level, Alta., where they spent the night. They returned to the road on the 28th at 4 a.m.

"When we got into Enterprise, they have an electronic sign that said both the ferry and the ice road were closed," said Arthur. "So we drove up to Hay River and were stonewalled by the prices to fly the 300 kilometres."

First Air charges about $270 one way from Hay River to Yellowknifer.

"I was stunned, absolutely stunned," he said. "The sad thing is, on the information number there's no mention of the ice bridge. I figured the ice bridge has got to be in. We got sandbagged because there's no information to the contrary."

Frustrated, they drove home, getting back to Edmonton at 7 p.m. on Dec. 28. Not only did they miss out on their plans, but their father was left alone for the holidays.

"He's lonely, and he's upset because he went to great lengths for us to come up there," said Arthur. "I think it's time to do something about this crossing. We have conquered so many other issues related to nature. But the people who you pay taxes to seem to be not very caring about these issues," said the senior Zajdler.

The ferry was back in operation by 3 p.m. Wednesday. No opening date has been set for the ice road. Officials say open water is still flowing at the ice road site.

By mid-week the information line did mention the ice-road closure. Crossing delays are not a matter of bureaucratic insensitivity but simply a reality of working with natural conditions, said Peter Vician, the GNWT's deputy minister for transportation.

"We're there to provide the best level of services we can with the conditions that exist," he said. "We're not in a position to provide any assistance if those services are not available because mother nature is not co-operating."

As for the information line, "generally speaking you shouldn't assume something's open unless it clearly says so," said Vician. But, he added, "I'm quite surprised that (the ice closure) wasn't reflected (on the phone line)."

Flying people and passengers

Yellowknife businesses responded to the surprise suspension of ferry service by flying in necessary goods for the week of no road service from the South.

Robinson Enterprises hired First Air's C-130 Hercules, and flew 105 tonnes of goods across the Mackenzie from Hay River in five trips.

Other companies, like Buffalo Airways, also shuttled goods across. Buffalo flew a couple of dozen trips using DC-3 and DC-4 aircraft, hauling passengers and freight.

"It's sort of a big social, everybody's saying, 'Hey we're stranded, happy new year,'" said Buffalo owner Joe McBryan. "We fill the airplane right up with everything. It takes us all back to our good old isolated North where we can all escape reality."

To compensate for the lack of trucked goods, the Co-op flew in 30,000 kilograms of goods, and bought 34,000 litres of fuel from a tank farm.

At the Frame Lake South Extra Foods, many shelves were empty of some perishable goods, including milk.

The cost of airlifting cargo is about six times higher than trucking, but neither the Co-op nor Extra Foods raised prices during the ferry outage.

But with ferry service back on line, trucks for the Co-op left Edmonton Wednesday morning, and according to general manager John Taylor, the store should be fully stocked by Friday.