Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise to respond to the question from my hon. colleague, the member for Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River. I want to thank the hon. member for bringing this important issue to Parliament. I know it is a concern that is shared by her constituents.
I live in a northern region of Canada, and I know the significant challenges that we face in winter when it comes to transportation, whether it be by air, ice roads, or snowmobile, which is the other preferred route that we have to use.
I want to first of all point out to the member that in the budget there was $255 million for roads and bridges that was allocated directly and specifically for first nation communities. No community in the north, or anywhere in this country, should have to face a shortage of essential supplies during the winter. However, we all know that it happens.
In my riding, as the member can appreciate, there are times of the year when we have to ship by vessel during a small window. It is not always easy to do that because of ice conditions, just like the challenges faced with reliable winter roads as well.
The network is essential and vital to remote communities like the one the member represents, and we know how much they rely upon these ice roads for essential services like fuel, food, medical supplies.
We also know, and have acknowledged as a government, that the reliability of those transportation modes are being tested. In part, it is due to climate change, a discussion that we all continue to have. Environment Canada has told us that the average annual temperature in Canada has warmed by 1.6°, so that is significant. It also means a shorter winter road season for many of our communities.
Typically, winter roads are open from mid-January to mid-March. Some can go longer, as we know. However, when the season is shortened due to weather, as we have seen in some years and in some communities like Wollaston Lake and Hatchet Lake First Nation, the communities that the member has referenced may have reduced access to the essential items they would normally receive by land.
There are systems in place, and I think the member recognizes that, to help these remote communities when these situations occur. For example, depending on a specific situation, Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada makes additional funding available to first nations to subsidize the delivery of essential items by air. We have done that in the past. We also monitor the number of days that we are expected to provide that service, and we look at what we can do early on to mitigate any impact that could be placed upon the communities.
Our minister met with Chief Tsannie and the delegation from his first nation community regarding the winter roads issue. We have met with Hatchet Lake First Nation and its leadership to follow up as well. It is an issue that we have been dealing with, have dealt with, and will continue to deal with based on the urgency that the situation requires.