Dawn Ostrem
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Aug 11/00) - A Yellowknife man has been recognized nationally for his role as negotiator in the North for Parks Canada.

On June 12 Bob Gamble, public involvement officer for the department, received the President of the Treasury Board's Award of Excellence.

"Mr. Gamble earned this recognition for his significant accomplishments as chief federal negotiator," wrote Parks Canada CEO Tom Lee. "Indeed, his perseverance and diplomacy were instrumental in the creation of our three newest national parks: Auyuittuq, Quttinirpaaq and Sirmilik."

Those parks were recently opened after years of negotiations and networking between Gamble and the Inuit in Nunavut under the Inuit Impact and Benefit Agreement finalized in August, 1999. Quttinirpaaq, located near Pond Inlet, has been in the works since 1979.

"The negotiations took a lot longer than anyone expected but they are the first agreements of this kind that either the federal government or the Inuit have negotiated," Gamble said, adding modestly, "It's a great honour and a lot of other people are also deserving."

Based in Yellowknife, Gamble is currently negotiating to create a park on North Bathurst Island near Resolute Bay as well as one in the Yukon.

"We start off working with an idea and talk about it with local communities and the territorial government as well as other interested parties," he explained. "If it looks like it's going to work we get into negotiations."

The award, introduced in 1985, is given out on an annual basis to up to 12 people involved in Treasury Board departmental work.