In three very short months, the Northwest Territories will cease to exist, after 87 years encompassing one third of Canada.

On April 1, 1999 Nunavut will become an official territory and the west will remain the Northwest Territories by default.

Along with giant expectations for the new government of Nunavut and burning questions on the direction of the western government, there will be the one circumstance most feared by any bureaucracy - uncertainty.

During the struggle to maintain stability, there will be some tough negotiations between the two new territories as they divide assets such as the Power Corp. and the Workers Compensation Board. Many essential services, an estimated 50 to begin with, will be contracted back to the government of the Northwest Territories in Yellowknife.

There will be many things going wrong as systems move west to east and the Nunavut government gets on its feet.

Outside of government confusion, communities will still be trying to cope with the need for jobs and services for their people and parents will still be struggling to raise healthy, happy and educated children.

Feds come through

For all the past grievances the North has had with the federal government, the financial arrangements for division have been surprisingly satisfactory, a situation made even better by the determination of the territorial government to balance the books.

Now it is up to the people to let the bureaucrats and politicians to tackle a task that has not been done in recent history, namely partition the NWT and establish two new territories.

In Nunavut there will be cries of not enough Northern hiring and criticisms of cheques misplaced and chaos in government services but these are the features of change.

In the West, change will come more slowly but there is bound to be pressure to change more quickly, especially in regards to self-government, electoral boundaries and a new constitution.

The biggest challenge of all, the one that promises the biggest payoff is close communication along with strong political and economic and social ties between the two territories.

The truth is, Northerners in the Nunavut and new Northwest Territory have a common history and similar problems. The hope is that we share the future as well.