Yellowknife Mayor Gord Van Tighem holds up his most unusual gift -- a pewter letter opener presented by Roger Simmons, then Canada's Consul General in Seattle, on Feb. 2, 2002. - Erin Fletcher/NNSL photo

Everything from a Russian wicker box to a magnificent green glass horse sculpture from the Consul General of China fill the walls, bookcase and file cabinets of his office and City Hall.

International visitors mainly come to Yellowknife to scope out the tourist industry and buy rough diamonds, said Van Tighem.

"As a matter of protocol they stop in to see the mayor and premier," explained Van Tighem, who added the international dignitaries, politicians and business people often make a formal presentation at a council meeting.

"Being a capital city, being a diamond centre, are all things that attract these people."

And as a capital city, the mayor and council also give gifts. Everything from aboriginal carvings to crystal plates, books about Yellowknife and the ever-popular gold knife pin are given out according to the visitor's rank.

Every gift given and received is inventoried and assigned a number by the mayor's administrative, assistant Rosalie Power.

Since Van Tighem took office in 2000 he's received a lot of unusual gifts.

He has a small collection of model aircraft including a Martinair 744 presented by the Dutch company after one of the flights made an emergency landing in Yellowknife in 1999.

There is a colourful collection of coffee table books from places like Australia, China and Japan.

After a sojourn in the office, the books are donated to the Yellowknife library for everyone to read.

But the gifts don't come without a few strings.

Any gift worth more than $100 can't be taken home by the mayor without permission from the council.

However, Van Tighem has made little use of this rule, instead choosing to display the gifts for all to see.

"To me the ones I like the best are the ones that are useful," said Van Tighem, who especially likes a hand-sculptured pewter letter-opener he received from Canada's Consul General in Seattle in 2002. The letter opener was made in Canada and inscribed with "long may your big jib draw."

The GNWT has a similar gift receiving policy.

Gifts exceeding a $400 value are automatically the property of the government, said Richard Robertson, GNWT manager of financial services.

Anything under $400 can technically be kept by the premier but usually is not. Instead, the more unusual gifts are stowed in a display case at the legislature where everyone can see them, he said.

Premier Stephen Kakfwi declined the chance to discuss the legislative gifts.