Doug Ashbury
Northern News Services

NNSL (Dec 09/98) - If you were at the Meet the North Build a Vision conference in Edmonton last week, you may have spotted a handful of Aurora College students taking it all in.

Students Sophie Panayi, Natasha McCagg, Meda Shannahan, Pam Williams and Patricia Stacey went to Edmonton to "meet the North."

They all said they came back with a better picture of the North.

"It was a great opportunity to meet people I normally wouldn't meet," said Panayi. Panayi said she found Interim Commissioner Jack Anawak's speech interesting because it helped put Nunavut in perspective.

And at a Nunavut plenary session, Panayi said she could not help notice the "excitement and joy" shown by a presenter who talked about Nunavut.

Asked if she got a chance to see the city, Panayi said her "priority was the conference."

Huge Northern presence

Another of the five students, Meda Shannahan, said she met people from all over the North.

Patricia Stacey said for her, hearing three Northern aboriginal leaders -- Deton'Cho Corp. President Darrell Beaulieu, Kitikmeot Corp. President Charlie Lyall and Dogrib Grand Chief Joe Rabesca -- speak together about the North's future was a highlight.

"To take it all in, you had to be in five different places at once," McCagg said. The conference concentrated of five themes with concurrent sessions covering each.

McCagg said she concentrated on the tourism and political sessions. The conference was a great opportunity to network, she added.

"One of the things I found odd was that there weren't more students there," she said.

Williams pointed to the conference's interactiveness and the theme partnerships as of particular interest.

She felt businesses were recognizing that competition is not something to be feared, rather, there is strength in numbers.

"You can link up with somebody and get more business."

All the students mentioned how great they were received, especially by Concordia University College of Alberta President Richard Kramer.

The group had dinner one night at the professor's home. Among the guests was one of Concordia's NWT students. The student turned out to be Stacey's next door neighbour from Yellowknife.

"Patricia went all the way to Edmonton to see her next door neighbour," McCagg said.