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With the slice of a ribbon, the Deh Cho Bridge opened on Nov. 30, linking the North to southern Canada across the Mackenzie for the first time. Here, Transportation Minister David Ramsay, left, Premier Bob McLeod, elder Beatrice Christie, representing the Fort Providence Metis, and Lennie Lacorne, representing the Deh Gah Gotie Dene, make things official before a large crowd. - Laura Busch/NNSL photo

DEH GAH GOT'IE/FORT PROVIDENCE
With the slice of a ribbon, the Deh Cho Bridge opened on Nov. 30, linking the North to south Canada across the Mackenzie River for the first time.

After an estimated $202 million, four years of construction and 10 years of planning, studying and organizing the most expensive public transportation infrastructure project ever taken on in the NWT, the bridge is now a permanent link that connects the residents north of the river to the south.

"I'm very proud to be home in Fort Providence for the opening of the Deh Cho Bridge. When I was growing up here watching the river flow by, I never imagined I would see the day when we would have a bridge across the Mackenzie River," said Premier Bob McLeod in front of a packed gymnasium at the Deh Gah School. "This is a major achievement."

The bridge will impact the lives of people who live hundreds of kilometres in either direction, which was reflected in the turnout at Friday's celebrations in Fort Providence.

Shawn Buckley, a commercial fisherman in Hay River, came with his wife and young daughter. The family had hoped to walk across the bridge but arrived at the south shore too late to catch the shuttle to where the fire feeding and ribbon cutting ceremonies were held.

Despite this disappointment, Buckley was adamant that he wouldn't have missed this historic event.

"This is the first thing that is actually linking both sides, literally. It's a huge thing. It's a huge thing," he said. "If you look at it from the perspective of, how many hundreds of miles do you have of water and there's a spot where you can cross any time of year now. It's amazing. It opens up a huge amount of opportunities for people in the North."

Albert Canadien returned to his hometown for the event from Yellowknife. He remembers being a boy in residential school when a man who "looked out of place" in a suit and tie came to town. That man was planning where the highway would go, which was put through in 1960.

"That's where it all began," said Canadien.

Back then, Fort Providence was a school, a Hudsons Bay Company store and an RCMP station. Residents lived on the land in about 10 or 12 villages nearby. The highway changed all that, said Canadien.

"With people congregated in a centralized place like Fort Providence, people are no longer pursuing traditional activities," he said. "So, there's not too much for them to do and there's other temptations out there."

Like the highway, the bridge will bring big changes to the way of life in communities that are used to being isolated from the south - at least when the ferry is not running.

Fort Providence elder Therese Elleze worries about what this will mean for the young people in her community.

Having a bridge is a good thing, she said, but there will be big changes now that highway access is not cut off at night, as it has been ever since the highway went in and ferry crossings began.

"There could be bad things, there could be drugs, and I think that's the main thing that they're scared of. The bridge is OK but I'm scared for those young people," she said. "But I'm happy the bridge is open."

With the bridge open, the Merv Hardie ferry that has serviced the crossing since 1972 made its final voyage shortly after a large crowd of about 300 people on foot and many more in buses braved temperatures well below -30 C, plus the wind chill, to cross the bridge for the first time.

Joe Handley was among those who chose to cross on foot. Handley was transportation minister in 2002 when community representatives met with him and MLA Michael McLeod to pitch the bridge project for the first time.

"It was a great walk. It was cold - it was really cold - but it was great just to be able to walk across, looking down seeing the ferry down there and realizing that things are changing. But it's changed for the good," he said.

McLeod remembered the many times that he has crossed the river on the Merv Hardie ferry, and said he will miss the ferry once it's gone.

The ferry may have made its final voyage at the crossing, but has not seen its last days navigating Northern waters, said Transportation Minister David Ramsay while addressing the crowd at the Deh Gah School Friday evening.

The Merv Hardie will be put back into service by the department, though the exact location has yet to be decided, he said.

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