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Yukon News
Ross River footbridge collapse imminent
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The ferry will not take passengers, only vehicles. Members of the public may cross in the Community he Ross River bridge is at imServices boat. minent risk of collapse. Only two crew members will The 70-year-old walkway over travel in the ferry, an operator and a the Pelly River has sustained much spotter, said Black. more significant damage than was There will be a second spotter previously thought, according to an watching from the ground. engineering report. And a rescue boat will travel “They showed us pictures and with the ferry during crossings, said video of the amount of damage on Black. the crossbeam, which is supporting “Should there be any movement the weight of the bridge,” said Brian of the bridge at any time during the Ladue, chief of the Ross River Dena crossing, the operators will disemCouncil. “It’s severely cracked. If it bark the ferry to the rescue boat.” was to snow, a little bit of wet snow Crossings will be cancelled if with that extra weight, it would conditions are not favourable, said cause the bridge to collapse.” Black. The bridge is located just October 10 is the scheduled end upstream from the ferry crossing. date for ferry service for the season. Operations were suspended Sunday The bridge was chained off and because of the risk of the bridge col- closed to the public in August of lapsing onto the ferry. 2012. That left an estimated 40 or 50 But the public continued to use people stranded on the North Canol the bridge to access the other side of with no way to get back. the river, said Chief Ladue. The RCMP began ferrying people “Up to this point, really we had across in a boat on Monday evening, no idea how severely damaged the said Kendra Black, a spokesperson bridge was. And so people were just for Highways and Public Works, on using it, figuring it wasn’t damaged Tuesday. that much.” On Tuesday staff from ComNow, stairs to the bridge have munity Services took over that role, been removed to prevent the public she said. from using it. And the ferry is also back up and “We really depend on that running, in a limited way. bridge,” said Ladue. “It’s been a part From now until October 10, of the community for 70 years. A lot the ferry will make crossings at 9 of our members go across the river. a.m. and at 5 p.m. every day under They have cabins just down the road restricted conditions, said Black. here.” News Reporter
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Not having that access, especially between when ferry service stops and the ice freezes, “is going to have a huge impact,” said Ladue. He will host a community meeting to discuss the issue within the next week or so, he said. Kevin Barr, the NDP’s critic for community services, wants to know why it took so long to figure out that the bridge was so unsafe, he said. “This bridge has been in disarray for quite some time, and they haven’t acted on it.” He asked the Yukon Party in April why the bridge had been allowed to fall into disrepair. Elaine Taylor, then minister of Community Services, responded. “Community Services is looking at options for repairs or replacement of the bridge structure and have undertaken the assessment services of an engineering firm as well,” said Taylor. “In the meantime, we have put up a caution sign, and a chain has been installed just to ensure that individuals are aware of the issues with respect to the current state of the bridge.” In June, the government announced $1.1 million towards repairing the bridge, with the work to be completed by the end of the year. But the start date for the engineering consultant contract wasn’t until July 23, according to the government’s contract registry. “How come we’re still waiting? It’s October first,” said Barr. Contact Jacqueline Ronson at jronson@yukon-news.com
Liard First Nation’s social assistance in disarray Jesse Winter
handing responsibility for running the program back to the Canadian government because it wasn’t getting he Liard First Nation says there enough support to deal with the are 30 social assistance clients workload. still waiting for payments for Sep“I called them back in September tember, and an expected 300 more and said, ‘We still have 90 clients left who will need help in October. to see, and this is becoming a real Time is running out, workers are problem. We’re not going to be able burning out, and the First Nation to take in October clients because we still doesn’t know how the federal still haven’t seen our list of Septemgovernment plans to take over the ber clients,’” Hombert said. program a week from now, said PJ “They’ve just been kind of Hombert, the First Nation’s execuschlepping it off, like, ‘No, it’s your tive director. responsibility. We’ve given you your “It’s been very frustrating,” she six per cent admin fee, so deal with said. “We’re feeling that there is a lack it,’” she said. Hombert said that, right now, her of planning. They are not willing to government has two workers trying take any responsibility. They’ve put to manage a heavy workload that it on our shoulders to provide soluisn’t sustainable. tions with the funding that we have,” “They are still working on those Hombert said. 30 clients left to see. They are also The social assistance program is working on preparing fuel orders funded by the federal government, and administered by the First Nation for social assistance clients because in accordance with the Yukon Social people are running out of fuel and it’s getting cold out. Assistance Act. But that doesn’t “They are also working on getting provide enough funding to run the adult care payments out for October, program properly, Hombert said. and arranging firewood for our Two weeks ago, the First Nation government announced it was elders. Do we want to see people out News Reporter
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there not getting October payments? No, of course not. It just breaks my heart to see this happening,” Hombert said. The First Nation’s plan is still to have the federal government take over the program next Friday, Hombert said, but this whole month was supposed to be a transition period and the First Nation doesn’t know what the feds have been up to or how they are preparing for the transfer. Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development declined to provide a spokesperson to comment. Nor did the department answer questions emailed by the News. Instead, it only provided a short written statement. “Liard First Nation indicated to the department that it would not issue benefit cheques to existing clients, despite the legal obligation to deliver assistance as determined in their funding arrangement,” the email said. The department said it will be in Watson Lake today to offer emergency assistance to those who need it. Contact Jesse Winter at jessew@yukon-news.com