Residents, MLAs call to resurface Dempster between Inuvik and Tsiigehtchic

Minister says he’ll work with department to repair critical road

Lawrence Norbert, an elder from Tsiigehtchic, said the Dempster Highway around his community is as bad as he’s ever seen it.

The Dempster is an all-gravel road that spans from Dawson City, Yukon, to Tuktoyaktuk, N.W.T., following the 2017 highway extension with the Inuvik-Tukoyaktuk Highway. The road supports tourism but also medical travel between remote communities, groceries and essential supplies to stock shelves.

Norbert said potholes, loose gravel and lots of mud have made the road nearly undriveable.

“There’s some elders who just won’t go on there ‘cause it’s just really hard on the body,” he said. 

George Nerysoo, MLA for the Mackenzie Delta, said on a recent trip back to his constituency a cab driver could only go as fast as 35 km/h on the highway. 

“A two-hour drive turned into a three-and-a-half hour drive,” he said in the most recent sitting of the legislature.

Inuvik MLA Denny Rodgers said residents, business owners and community leaders regularly email, text and call him to ask about fixing the road. He said the stretch between Rengleng River near Tsiigehtchic and Inuvik is in particularly poor condition.

In the legislature, Rodgers called on Vince McKay, the minister of infrastructure, to resurface the road.

“My community, the region, rely on that road for goods and services, businesses rely on it to stock their shelves, residents rely on it to access services to Inuvik,” he said.