Yellowknife (July 23/03) - The Kivalliq medevac contract could fly on hot air alone with all the controversy the document kicks up.

For months since the Kivalliq region medevac contract was awarded to Kivalliq Air the Nunavut Government has been bombarded with criticism.

Hurling the stones are Kivalliq MLAs Ovide Alakannuark, Jack Anawak, Glenn McLean and Kevin O'Brien, as well as competitor Skyward Air.

The controversy was brought back into the light last week when a letter written to Health Minister Ed Picco began arriving at hamlet councils.

Written by the five Kivalliq MLAs urging the hamlet department not to award the medevac contract to one carrier.

Although already awarded, the contract still hasn't been signed.

"We have been consistently raising concerns about the risks to the quality and competitiveness of air service in our region inherent in any decision to award these significant contracts only to one carrier," the letter read.

Victor Tootoo, assistant deputy minister of health, said the decision to have one carrier handle all the service was one of fiscal responsibility.

"That's the way you do business, you can't always split it up and hope to have the best outcome," he said.

Tootoo said Kivalliq Air was chosen based on the criteria in the government's request for proposal the company won.

The MLAs and Skyward Aviation have argued that there is enough medevac business in the Kivalliq to support two carriers.

Tootoo said that just isn't the case. The same opinion was given by Kivalliq Air.

"You can't have two fully functional medical carrier teams; there's just not enough business," said Tootoo.

The last three months the Kivalliq region has experienced an increase in medevac travel, however Tootoo said that is an anomaly. Tootoo wouldn't go into specific details concerning the contract as it has yet to be signed.

He did, however, say that "the contract is designed to support existing Northern business."