Darren Campbell and Arthur Milnes
Northern News Services

NNSL (Aug 31/98) - Come on, admit it, Northerners like to complain -- especially about prices.

We pay too much for gas, electricity, food, transportation, housing, the list could go on -- and it often does.

However, Northerners have to take the positive view sometimes. If you stop whining and search for bargains, you'll sometimes find our southern friends paying more for things than we do. You only have to look.

Here's a scenario: you're in the capital of the NWT, or the future capital of Nunavut, Iqaluit, for a meeting. The meeting's done and you need to take a cab out to the airport.

In Yellowknife, all you have to do is call City Cab for a drive to the airport. The price? Between $10 and $12.

In Iqaluit, just call Kilabuk and Parry Taxi, they'll take you to the airport from downtown for $3.50.

While taking the ride, feel some pity for those poor Nova Scotians visiting their province's capital. According to Halifax's Casino Cabs, the price for a trip to the airport from downtown is $35.

Yikes.

Perhaps you live in Fort Simpson and feel like celebrating a very special occasion. Why not visit the liquor store and pick up a bottle of cognac? A 750 mL bottle of Hennessy XO is only $105 while the same-sized Courvoisier, VSOP, is priced at $44.

A call to a liquor store located on Toronto's famous Queen's Quay reveals another Northern bargain right under our noses.

The same bottles go for $179.80 and $169.95 respectively. Drink up folks.

Feel like browning the skin at a tanning salon? Head North, folks.

A 15-minute tanning session at Toronto's Tonga Tan costs $7.50. Not in Yellowknife.

At Break Away Fitness Centre, you can have 10 half-hour tanning sessions for $25 (subject to change.) And the bargains just don't end in the capital. At Shear Fun in Fort Smith a 20-minute tanning session sets you back just $7.

To join Edmonton's Hardcore Gym charges $300 a year, plus a $25 fee. At Break Away, it's only $285 a year with no fee.

But, there are some surprises. Calls to a Loblaws in Scarborough, Ontario, reveal southern folks are picking up Arctic Char at $4.99 a pound.

Not here. Whole char starts at $6.76 a pound.

You could argue, however, the char simply tastes better here.

Really.