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Members of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul’s St. Pius X Conference assembled a 20-foot sea container of food staples, hygiene items, clothing and other needed goods that was shipped up north to Inuvik, N.W.T.
Photo from Lance Barrington
January 18, 2025
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Teamwork and ingenuity prevailed over a number of unprecedented obstacles in 2024 for the Society of St. Vincent de Paul's (SSVP) annual North of 60 campaign in western Canada, said the program's president.
Peter Ouellette said last year marked the 15th consecutive year that parishes throughout Alberta assembled enough basic food staples, clothing, sewing supplies, furniture, hygiene products and other needed items to fill nine 20-foot sea containers. These mammoth vessels are then transported to the remotest communities in Canada’s Arctic Region.
But it was not without issues. Several weeks before the summertime drive was scheduled to begin in earnest, the SSVP Western Region leadership learned the river barge passage from the Hay River terminal to Tuktoyaktuk — the fulcrum of this transport operation — was a no-go because of the Mackenzie River’s historically low water levels.
Approximately $150,000 not factored into the budget needed to be raised to shuttle the containers overland to the destination towns, hamlets and charter communities.
The SSVP Western Region North of 60 2024 Annual Report plainly stated that “the program’s very existence was threatened” by this turn of events.
Fortunately, a determined email and media-messaging campaign effectively sounded the alarm, and the necessary funds were accrued before the Aug. 1 deadline.
“Everybody did rally around (the cause) and made the contribution to help us get over that considerable financial hurdle that we had,” said Ouellette. “We are thankful for the communities.”
Ouellette also saluted the efforts of Manitoulin Transport, the freight shipping network central to shepherding the sea cans along the Dempster Highway connecting the Klondike Highway in Yukon to Inuvik, N.W.T., on the Mackenzie River delta. The storage units conveyed along this 750-kilometre thoroughfare ended up in Tuktoyaktuk, Tsiigehtchic/Ft. McPherson and Aklavik.
Meanwhile, the coordinators for the “fly-in communities of Paulatuk, Sachs Harbour and Ulukhaktok, situated along the Beaufort Sea of the Arctic Ocean, had their trucks directed to the Tuktoyaktuk terminal, and then the containers were barged the rest of the way.
All the goods were delivered in the autumn as usual except Fort Good Hope, as the ice road to this isolated charter community located on a peninsula between Jackfish Creek and the east bank of the Mackenzie River was not yet ready. The goods were finally delivered this month.
This supply run was an example of adversity sparking resourcefulness.
“Now we realize that we can get companies involved in the (northern) community to be part of our program because they find it rewarding to have the Society of St. Vincent de Paul help them out,” said Ouellette. “So, they came down to Edmonton in the wintertime, and we're jumping on one of their transports with a smaller sea container moving from a 20-foot to a 10-foot sea container and piggybacking up to Fort Good Hope. It’s a solution we would have never come up with unless we had this crisis on our hands and everyone trying to figure out how they can contribute to solving the problem.
The people of Aklavik demonstrated a similar enterprise with community members stepping up to orchestrate a more direct barge transport from Inuvik to their hamlet instead of awaiting a flatboat going up and down the river.
Fredrick Arey, the operator of a new community food bank founded by the Aklavik Indian Band wellness department that will receive and distribute the North of 60 goods, said the 15,000 pounds of items received were distributed among 368 community members. Obtaining the container in September was timely as the delivery beat the winter freeze-up that would have made Aklavik inaccessible.
Arey praised the donors for bequeathing such a bounty.
“There are generous people in our country of Canada, and we are grateful for the opportunity to receive donations and Canadians made a contribution to the people in the North,” said Arey.
It remains unknown until spring whether the water levels in the Mackenzie River will rise again sufficiently to allow the traditional Hay River barge route to resume. If snags do emerge in 2025, the SSVP has greater confidence in its ability to pivot.
The major fundraiser to ensure the successful execution of this year’s campaign will be a gala event on June 5. The location is yet to be determined.
(Amundson is an associate editor and writer for The Catholic Register.)
A version of this story appeared in the January 19, 2025, issue of The Catholic Registerwith the headline "North of 60 overcomes obstacles".
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