Yellowknife (Nov 24/99) - Today we take a look at Yellowknife and its connection to regional communities. As well as serving as the capital city for the Northwest Territories, Yellowknife acts as an important service centre.

Even though last year's creation of Nunavut added borders, the city continues to attract both visitors and business from outside the city. The question is, are we doing enough to make Yellowknife a friendly place to do business?

Ten-year resident of Cambridge Bay Terry Patenaude said Yellowknife is one of his favourite places to visit.

"The thing I love about Yellowknife is it's not too big and it's not too small. It's a beautiful place."

Patenaude said he visits two or three times each year and each time takes advantage of the lower grocery prices here compared to Cambridge Bay.

An employee of the hamlet of Cambridge Bay, Patenaude said he tries to take in as many of the sights, sounds and tastes of the city as time allows.

"I'm like a kid in a candy store when I'm down there," said Patenaude.

He added that the movie theatre is one of his favourite spots here and he hopes it will re-open soon.

So does Wilma Pigalak of Kugluktuk. "I like to go watch a movie, but they closed the theatre."

But Pigalak said her three most favourite things to do here are (in order) shopping, shopping and shopping.

"It's way cheaper than what we get up here," she said. Pigalak said she stocks up on groceries and usually picks up a couple of sets of clothing for her kids at Wal-Mart. The only thing missing, she said, is a native restaurant, one that specializes in country food.

People in the Sahtu see Yellowknife as the NWT capital, a large city and one with more selection and better prices on a lot of goods.

Still, that does not mean that it is the desired place to go for shopping.

"Usually when we have a seat sale it's to Yellowknife but it's also to Edmonton at the same time, so I go further and I go to Edmonton," said Sam Kivi, manager of corporate services with the Department of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development in Norman Wells.

What does Edmonton have that Yellowknife does not have?

"Cheaper prices," said Kivi, who lived in Yellowknife for nine years before moving to Norman Wells two years ago.

"However, having said that, I was in Yellowknife last week and I discovered that prices are getting a bit better now. Food in restaurants are high but prices at Extra Foods are coming down."

Kivi said she has a tough time finding gifts for people in Yellowknife.

"For example, the latest craze for my kid is Pokeman and I go to Wal-Mart and everything's behind a glass case and they've only got a selection of a few while in Edmonton I can even get the Pokedex."

In Tulita, manager of housing Stella Yallee said she would be interested in going to Yellowknife to do Christmas shopping if there is a really good price on airfare.

She sees Yellowknife as a place for conferences and workshops like the land corporation conference she visited Yellowknife for.

As for prices on goods, "it's better than here," she said from her Tulita workplace.

Food in Tulita is particularly expensive, she said.

"A steak is $15 here so I'd rather buy my meat and other food at a place that's cheaper than the Northern Store here.

"We don't even have roasts at the store here. All we've got is pork chops and chicken, T-bone steaks, blade steaks and hamburger. That's all we get here."

Donuts to go

For the Yellowknife Tim Hortons, they probably didn't know they would be doughnut central for the entire territory when they opened their deep-fried dough business.

"We ship doughnuts all over the NWT. We've even shipped doughnuts as far as Cambridge Bay," said Tim Hortons manager Pam MacAskill.

She said often, when communities have meetings, a call for 10-15 dozen doughnuts is not unusual. Government agencies are always having meetings, and they sometimes bring doughnuts with them to the communities. Sports teams from out of town can flood the small doughnut shop with business.

During Super Soccer weekend in May, she said they have to up their output of product just to keep up. With winter approaching, it's hockey tournaments that keep them busy.

"Hockey teams that are in town for a tournament often load up with timbits and doughnuts before flying home," said MacAskill.

For the people of Rae-Edzo who come to Yellowknife, MacAskill said Tim Hortons is a frequent stop.

"Many of the people from Rae who come to town stop by Tim Hortons before they head home," MacAskill said.

"A lot of times, an entire Rae sporting team will come in and almost clean us out. The out-of-town business really keeps us hopping."

Rae-Edzo Dogrib Community Services board co-ordinator, Doreen Wadzin, agrees that doughnuts are a popular item.

"If we're having meetings, we'll often pick up donuts from Tim Hortons," said Wadzin.

"Also, we like to get the kids at school a treat once in awhile, so we'll often bring in doughnuts."

For some of the smaller communities relatively close to Yellowknife, being able to travel to the city cheaply and easily determines whether it's worth scoping out deals in the territory's shopping capital.

In Rae Lakes, general store manager Doug Rankin said Yellowknife's prices are no bargain if the ice road hasn't formed yet.

"Until the ice road goes in, in late January or early February, you have to fly into Yellowknife," he said.

"People see cheap prices in Yellowknife, but once they pay (the airline ticket), it costs more in the end."

Rankin said some people don't do the math when it comes to shipping costs either.

"We have chicken for $14 a five kilogram box. One woman said she buys her boxes for $11 in Yellowknife. But she has to pay $7 for freight costs, so it ends up costing her $18," he said.

Once the ice road to Yellowknife is formed, though, Rankin said it can make sense to pick up some things, like clothes, in the city.

"People travel for the sake of travel," he said. "And some people stop and get groceries and things on the way."

In Enterprise, however, people don't tend to go to Yellowknife to shop, even though the highway passes right through town.

"We go south to shop, not North," said Winnie Cadieux, chairperson of the settlement's council.

"And Hay River is our service centre, being only 25 miles (40 kilometres) away."

However, Cadieux said Enterprise is "greatly affected" by Yellowknife's economic well-being.

"All the traffic passing from Alberta to Yellowknife has to pass through Enterprise," she said. "So when Yellowknife is doing well, lots of trucks and vehicles pass through Enterprise, and we do well."