Fort Providence (Jan 15/07) - The son of a river pilot, Richard Lafferty spent his life continuing a family legacy as a transportation worker.

Now approaching his retirement, Lafferty can reflect on the changes during his 43 years of work on roads all over the NWT.

Over the past 40 years working on NWT roads, Richard Lafferty has worked on almost every road in the territory. When he first started, he used shovels and a homemade V-plow to make the ice road. Now, 500 horsepower machines pump 3,000 gallons a minute onto the ice. - Christine Grimard/NNSL photo

"Back in those days there were no highways," said Lafferty, "You would see tugs going down the river."

He began working in transportation in spring of 1963. He was recruited out of Sir John Franklin School, where he had been studying to be an equipment operator.

Originally from Fort Providence, Lafferty was happy to be able to work in the community. "I was lucky enough to come back home, and start working in my home town," he said.

In 1975, Lafferty was made supervisor of the ice crossing on the Mackenzie River. Although the ice crossing is still around the same spot it was 35 years ago, the road is made differently today.

"Back then the weather was colder, -40 C, -50 C was nothing in those days." he said. "Mother Nature used to make our ice deck in those days.

"As soon as the river would freeze we would start on foot. When there was enough ice we would use a Bombardier. We also had a 1952 Army Jeep with a homemade V-plow."

After working on the roads for so long ago, Lafferty will take with him years of experience and knowledge.

"There are so few people out there with so much knowledge," said Bob Kelly, manager of public affairs and communications for the NWT Department of Transportation. "He's been a great mentor for someone starting with the department, he's seen it all."

"He's very experienced," said James Christie, current site supervisor of the Mackenzie ice road crossing. "You can always count on him to call for advice."

Roger Sanderson, a Fort Providence resident and equipment operator, said that Lafferty was a good boss, and a good friend in the community. "I grew up here, I knew him all my life. He's one of the best."

On top of overseeing the roads which keep the community connected, Lafferty has served as an icon of Metis culture and an accomplished fiddler.

"I grew up with music," he said. "It was in my family all the way."

In 1983, Lafferty formed a group called the NWT Metis Wheelers. As a fiddler he was invited to the Canada Summer Games in 1985, and selected to play at the Expo in Vancouver in 1986. Lafferty played to launch television station TVNC, now known as APTN, and also played for the Royal visit to Yellowknife in 1994.

Although a nationally renowned fiddler, Lafferty has never been able to read music. "Show me the sheets and it looks like chicken tracks," he said.

Lafferty is hoping to have more time to fiddle, now that he is set to retire in April this year. He remembers fondly his history working all over the NWT, "When you look at it over the years, I worked on every road [in the NWT] except for Highway 4 and Highway 8."

Lafferty married his wife Ruth in 1965, whom he met in Fort Providence. He has a son Richard and a daughter Rhonda who have both moved away.