The first of 22 modular housing units promised for the isolated northern Ontario native community of Attawapiskat arrived Saturday evening.

A winter road to the embattled First Nation is finally usable after weeks of above-normal temperatures. However, traffic was so heavy that only one home could make the journey on Saturday, CTV's Daniele Hamamdjian reported.

Hamamdjian said it normally takes 11 hours for a truck carrying one unit to make the journey along the ice road. Together, a single housing unit and the truck carrying it weigh 50,000 pounds, making for a slow trip.

Weather conditions remained ideal on Saturday, Hamamdjian said.

The bit of good news followed word on Friday that the housing units may not be ready to live in until mid-March, sources told CTV News.

Minister of Aboriginal Affairs John Duncan said he's concerned sites for all 22 of the promised units won't be ready before warm weather closes the road to the community near James Bay.

"We will continue to work with the community on an urgent basis to address the immediate needs of the (affected) families before the window of opportunity with this year's winter road is closed," he said in a statement released Saturday.

The plan now is to get all the units to Attawapiskat while the road is open and then worry about when people can move in, something that might not happen until the winter is almost over, Hamamdjian reported Friday.

Attawapiskat declared a housing crisis in October and the federal government stepped in to appoint a third-party manager to run its finances.

The move was opposed by the First Nation and it sought an injunction to remove the manager, but it was turned down by a federal court judge.

Duncan said the money is available to get the site work done and the third-party manager has been authorized to pay the bills.

But New Democrat MP Charlie Angus, who represents the area, blamed the lack of progress on the manager, saying funds to do the work aren't available.

That debate raged in the House of Commons this week with the government reiterating the money is there to finish the work.


Editors note: in the attached video, project manager Glenn Watson was incorrectly identified as Glenn 'Atson'.