![Snowmobile shortage expected in Yellowknife — again](https://i.cbc.ca/1.5829614.1607123375!/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/16x9_620/joey-sutton.jpg)
Snowmobile shortage expected in Yellowknife — again
CBC
Snowmobiles will likely be in short supply in Yellowknife this winter, yet again.
For the second year in a row, demand for sleds far outweighs available stock, says the owner of snowmobile retailer Polar Tech Recreation.
"We ordered 300 snowmobiles and they cancelled 100 of them. And then they called again last week and said 100 of the sleds that are coming, won't be here until February," said Joey Sutton.
"So it's going to be a challenge this winter, for sure. There's going to be some fairly unhappy customers, I think, again this year."
Inventory is low as a result of ongoing, pandemic-induced supply chain issues, said Sutton. A global shortage of things such as shipping containers and semiconductors — microchips found in everything from pickup trucks to PlayStations — is affecting the flow of all kinds of merchandise, from motorcycles to lawnmowers.
Sutton said every vendor and manufacturer he works with is low on goods. And what products Polar Tech does get, could cost more.
In the face of the shipping container shortage and higher fuel prices, many manufacturers have added a "commodity charge" of about $400 per vehicle, he said.
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The Rachel Notley government's consumer carbon tax wound up becoming a weapon the UCP wielded to drum the Alberta NDP out of office. But that levy-and-repayment program, and the wide-ranging "climate leadership plan" around it, also stood as the NDP's boldest, provincial-reputation-altering move in their single-term tenure.