Whati all-weather road discussed by government, First Nations leaders

Tlicho leaders, government officials, RCMP and industry representatives met Wednesday in Whati, discussing the possibility of an all-weather road for the community.

Chief Alfonz Nitsiza has been lobbying the territorial government for an all-weather road since the N.W.T.'s borrowing limit increased by $500 million in April. Currently, the town is only serviced by a winter road.

Nitsiza says the road could bring more employment and cheaper food costs, but it could also increase the amount of alcohol and drugs in the community.

"We don't want to be caught off guard if the decision is made to build a road," says Nitsiza."Things will happen pretty quickly, and there will be a lot of changes. So we want to identify what some of the impacts may be."

The meeting, Nitsiza added, was simply to do some of the "preparation work," should a road be built. No decision is imminent, though Whati, government and industry have been in talks about an all-weather road for several years.

Fortune Minerals' NICO project, a proposed mine about 50 kilometres from the community, include a plan for a road from the community to the mine. Fortune representatives say that an all-weather road would be needed if the project were to go ahead.