Kevin Allerston
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Aug 03/05) - Eric Deutschmann was only supposed to be in the North for 6 months - now, 40 years later, he reflects on the almost 30 years he spent servicing the electrical needs of the North.

Deutschmann came to the North in 1965 to work providing power to Giant Mine, however, after a couple months, he found himself in Holman bringing light to the community.

"I met this guy who worked for the government and he asked me what I was doing in Yellowknife," Deutschmann recalls, "I said 'I'd like to see the North' and he said he had just the job for me.'"

And that was it. The next day the government worker told Giant Mine Deutschmann was leaving, bought him a plane ticket and had him flown up to Holman Island for a six-month contract to set up the power plant.

"There was no light before I got the power plant and everything wired up and turned on the power. We switched on the power and there was lights like a Christmas tree, I mean, the whole town lit up. It was fun," Deutschmann said.

So it went with each community he would go to. During his 28 years he was the go-to guy for power and electrical concerns for much of the North, working in (among others) Cambridge Bay, Coppermine, Spence Bay, Gjoa Haven and Pelly Bay. When he came, many of the people lived in what he called matchbox houses which were constructed from plywood.

"From this extreme they went to four-bedroom houses. The people got literally lost in it, it was unreal. One bedroom was as big as their whole (matchbox) house," he said.

But the changes weren't all for the better, according to Deutschmann."The ones who worked were better off when they lived in the smaller houses," he said.

"The changes I had seen were definitely no good. It went from one extreme to the other," Deutschmann said.

He preferred the days before TV and fax machine were in the communities. However frustrating seeing this transition was, being in the North was something Deutschmann cherished.

"It was good fishing. At night at 2:00 it was just perfect.

"You could be there three hours and catch nothing, but figure out the right timing, when the tide came in, and you'd get 10-15 in a few minutes," Deutschmann said.

Deutschmann first came to Canada from Germany when he was 25 in 1962 to avoid the German draft. He left for Alberta to retire in 1993, but now he is back to attend the wedding of his son Richard.

Yellowknife has grown "unbelievably," he said - noting that before Yellowknife consisted mostly of Old Town.