Grocery stores in Fort McPherson, N.W.T., struggle to stock up while Dempster Highway is closed | CBC News
Listen to this article
Estimated 3 minutes
The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.
For days, Abrar Sarwari has been concerned for the safety of his grocery store’s delivery drivers stranded in cold temperatures.
Sarwari is the assistant manager of Tetlit Co-op grocery store in Fort McPherson, N.W.T. He said they are struggling these days to keep the shelves stocked.
That’s because high winds, snow and poor visibility has closed the Dempster Highway for days, between Eagle Plains to Fort McPherson.
“They [truck drivers] were stuck for six days and some of them did not have a place to stay. They were freezing inside the cabins of their trucks … we’re concerned for their safety,” Sarwari said.
The store has run out of perishable food such as milk, eggs and fresh produce, and is low on backup stock, he said. Even worse, he says, is when trucks make it to the store with loads of food already expired.
“We can only stock up on so much… we end up losing margins, we end up losing potential sales.”
Sarawari has lived in Fort MacPherson for several years and he says this is the longest closure of the highway he’s experienced.
The mayor of Fort McPherson, Rebecca Blake, calls it “unprecedented.”
She says Dempster Highway has been mostly closed for over two weeks now, with short openings. The Northwest Territories’ Infrastructure department has not confirmed the length of the closure with CBC News, but according to the department’s last update on Feb. 1, the highway is seeing high winds, blowing snow and poor visibility.
Blake says while grocery supplies and mail delivery are her top concerns, the community is managing with access to supplies from Inuvik.
She worries that these sort of closures may become more common as the climate changes, and she wants to N.W.T. government to monitor impacts on infrastructure.
“It’s happening more and more often… with climate change and the different weather patterns, Dempster Highway can close for long periods of time,” she said.
“People in the fuel industry, in the grocery industry can adapt their planning around that.”
Meanwhile, Sarwari says his store right now has supplies of frozen bread and shelf stable milk — though they’re more expensive.
“Nobody wants to have shelf stable milk quite often. It’s only when there are no options left,” he said.
The territory’s Infrastructure department has not said when the Dempster Highway might reopne in the area.