‘The ice is not freezing as it should’: supply roads to Canada’s Indigenous communities under threat from climate crisis – The Guardian
April 01, 2025
At first there was no answer on the satellite phone. But on the third call, Donald Meeseetawageesic heard his sister’s voice. “We need somebody to come and tow us out,” he told her.
It was a warmer-than-normal night in early March and Meeseetawageesic, the elected band councillor for Eabametoong First Nation, was stranded in a 4×4 truck on the dark winter road leading to his community. The tyres were stuck in the deep snow and the temperature outside was below freezing. Help was about 60km (37 miles) away.
Made entirely of snow and ice, the winter road forms a vital route connecting Eabametoong in northern Ontario to cities farther south. It has 24 snow bridges spanning creeks, and a daunting 5.5-km crossing over a frozen lake. But warmer winters are making the route unpredictable: the snow bridges are weakening and the lake ice is thinning.
