Nathan VanderKlippe
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (May 08/01) - Think back a few years, to when you first saw "Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back." Cast your mind's eye back to Darth Vader, swaggering in his black cape. Remember his most striking feature, the sound of his breathing: a raspy mechanical noise of air being forced in and out.

Mayor Gord Van Tighem strapped Darth Vader-like gear at the pool Sunday morning. He was demonstrating the technique for North American Occupational Safety and Health Week. - Nathan VanderKlippe/NNSL photo

Now, if you can, focus your memory on his face and replace the black-tinted goggles with a clear plastic visor. Insert Mayor Gord Van Tighem's face behind that visor.

Keep hearing the breathing sound, because it's the same. Only Van Tighem isn't clad in black. He is bending down beneath the weight of a standard-issue firefighter's open circuit air tank.

In front of him, about 30 lifeguards break out into a spontaneous round of applause. They are gathered at the pool at 9 a.m. Sunday as part of North American Occupational Safety and Health Week.

This morning, they are learning how to operate a Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA), which they use when they replace chlorine containers. Firefighter Bill Messner lectures on fastening the regulator, on using the buddy system and on strapping on the cylinder.

Van Tighem is the photo-op for the event, and it's his first time strapping on an SCBA.

"It's claustrophobic," he says after struggling a little to put the various pieces together. "It's not as simple as it looks and it's not as light as it looks."

He makes the comparison to Darth Vader himself, doing his best to utter "use the force, Luke."

As for the lifeguards, they are pretty impressed with Van Tighem's performance.

"He did good," says Bridget McLeod.

However, she observed, "he didn't look like he checked out the breathing apparatus before he put it on."

And, Luc Morrison points out, "maybe he should have put the tank on a little higher. If he was going to wear it for any amount of time it would have gotten tiring."

Alex Legaree thinks Van Tighem did well for the first time. For himself, Legaree is happy he has learned the "over-the-top" method of donning the SCBA.

"It's a lot easier and you feel more secure doing it," he says.

As for the mayor, he leaves before the exercise is over. Seems he has to use the force at another meeting.