by Arthur Milnes
Northern News Services

FORT SIMPSON (Dec 12/97) - With apologies to Mark Twain: reports of the death of the Fort Simpson Chamber of Commerce are not greatly exaggerated.

The territorial Department of Justice's registrar of societies recently announced that the Fort Simpson Chamber of Commerce be dissolved. The government says the chamber had not filed financial statements or a list of directors, as required by law, for at least two years.

All true, is how the last local president of the chamber responds when asked about it.

"Where is the chamber?" says president Andy Gaule of North of 60 in Fort Simpson. "Well, where are you?"

"Even the executive didn't show up to meetings -- let alone the members."

Gaule says the old chamber should simply be left to die out, with new plans discussed in the new year.

"It could be revived but people need to be active," he says. "My personal thoughts are that there should be a community business council -- something comprised of all the groups."

Gaule said the former chamber's assets are minimal and could easily be transferred to whatever new business organization local residents decided they might want.