Iqaluit (Aug 11/03) - About three years ago, Rick Gauthier came back to the North to help his father.

Gauthier had been in Iqaluit since 1996 but was in Winnipeg for school and planning on staying in the South.

But when his dad called him and said he wanted to open up a car dealership and garage in Iqaluit, Gauthier quit school after one year.

He's never looked back.

"We've been pretty successful. It's a hard business, and the start-up wasn't easy. We had to be able to bring in 40 vehicles. It's hard carrying an inventory," he said.

Gauthier isn't just a salesman. He says only about 30 per cent of the work is selling cars. He's also a mechanic, bus driver, parts and customer service and in charge of rentals and leasing.

But the 26-year-old doesn't mind the hard work. In fact, the thing he enjoys the most is seeing the new cars come in for the first time.

"I like seeing the new stuff. We were one of the first ones in Canada to get the (Chevrolet) Avalanche and the Suzuki Aerios as well. You had to come to Iqaluit to get your first glimpse of these cars," he said.

The family-run business also has the school busing contract.

"The buses are ours. We also have a 72-passenger bus and one handicapped bus," he said.

The only dealership in Nunavut is affiliated with The Driving Force in Edmonton, and Gauthier said they can get almost any vehicle they want.

"We deal mostly in trucks and four by fours. We are affiliated with Edmonton only by chance. They approached us through people we had known," he said.