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INUVIK
The winners of the Dempster Highway Passport Program were drawn Tuesday morning, and for the first time the first-place winner – David Dempsey – is from Inuvik.

Mavis Jacobson, left, and Peggy Jay draw the winner of the Inuvialuit art piece on Nov. 13, during the morning draw for the Dempster Highway Passport Program winners. - Danielle Sachs/NNSL photo

The program has been running since 2004, which was the 25th anniversary of the Dempster Highway.

With eight checkpoints between Dawson City and Inuvik, the program started as a way to commemorate the opening, but was continued after communities expressed their interest.

"At the end of the first season we had a letter from Tsiigehtchic asking us to keep it running," said Judith Venaas, regional tourism officer for the Inuvik region.

"They said they had a lot of visitors who never stopped there before and it was an opportunity to showcase what they had to offer."

When the Dempster Highway was officially opened on Aug. 18, 1979, then prime minister John Diefenbaker was scheduled to make a speech, but he died the day before the opening.

At the 25th anniversary, someone tracked down a recording of the speech Diefenbaker planned to give and played it.

"I had chills," said Venaas.

This year, there were five prizes – an NWT diamond sponsored by the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment and Originals on Mackenzie, a Yukon gold nugget sponsored by ITI and the Klondike Nugget and Ivory Shop, a piece of Inuvialuit art sponsored by the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, an art print sponsored by Originals on Mackenzie and one of the iconic polar bear licence plates sponsored by the Town of Inuvik.

This year, there were 611 participants who completed the passport.

"Some people are adamant about getting every single stamp," said Venaas. "Others are good with just a few and they use it as a souvenir."

The numbers have fluctuated over the years, with 1,100 the first year of the program to the lowest number of participants in 2005 with 572.

Winners come from all over, with this year's winners coming from Inuvik, Edmonton, and England.

"The Inuvialuit art has fur and seal skin so we're lucky it only has to go to Edmonton," said Venaas.

The Dempster Highway Passport Program will continue in the future, although there may be some changes when the Inuvik-to-Tuktoyaktuk all-weather road is completed and open.

"It would be great to involve Tuk," said Venaas.

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