by Arthur Milnes
Northern News Services

FORT SIMPSON (Nov 10/97) - With division of the NWT looming rapidly on the horizon, there are some observers who fear that Nunavut is getting the lion's share of the GNWT's attention.

Nahendeh MLA and GNWT cabinet minister Jim Antoine got that message loud and clear at a public forum in Fort Simpson last week.

Village of Fort Simpson mayor Norm Prevost said he was particularly concerned over plans by the territorial government that will see the NWT Power Corporation shared by both territories after division.

"How can we be assured that the western territory won't be subsidizing Nunavut?" Prevost asked. "When it costs $24 for a streetlight in Fort Simpson and it costs $600 for a streetlight in Colville Lake, you know someone is subsidizing somebody."

"There's no way anyone is Colville Lake is paying $600 a year for a streetlight."

Antoine responded by saying that the power company's board would be made of representatives from both territories, ensuring that interests of both sides will be at the table.

He also said that it is only a perception that Nunavut is the only topic on his government's agenda.

"People think that all this effort seems to be going to Nunavut," he said. "But that's not the case. There's a lot of work going on behind the scenes to protect what we have (in the Western Arctic)."

Antoine filled the crowd in on the activities of the legislative assembly's Western Caucus, and how they have ensured that a western representative is at the table with territorial Finance Minister John Todd as he negotiates new funding arrangement for both territories with Ottawa.