Shortages in Yellowknife

After arriving back in Yellowknife this afternoon, the first thing I did was go grocery shopping.  At the grocery store near our place the shelves were looking empty.  No milk.  No produce.  No bread.  That leaves frozen foods and things in cans.

Why??

The ferry at the Mackenzie River crossing is currently out of service.  This is the only way that Yellowknife, and many other northern communities, has road access to the South.  Low water levels are making it impossible to load and unload cars (and trucks carrying supplies) onto the ferry.  When we first drove up to Yellowknife, we saw a bridge over the Mackenzie slowly being built.  But it's taken a long time, and a real bridge is not happening anytime soon.

Once it gets too cold (and too treacherous because of ice) for the ferry to cross the river, an ice road is built on top of the river for cars and trucks.  Usually I think this happens sometime in January.  In the spring, when the river starts to melt again, there is a period when the same thing happens - it's not safe to use the ice road but it's still too icy for the ferry to run.  So supplies aren't delivered as regularly.

I think some places, and some restaurants in particular, ship supplies up by airplane when this happens.  This what they're doing right now with gas, although the price of gas in town is around $1.99/litre.

The good news?  According to CBC, the ferry should be starting up again soon.