Doug Ashbury
Northern News Services

NNSL (Feb 01/99) - The Town of Hay River has no interest in joining the NWT Chamber of Commerce because the chamber is pro-Yellowknife, says Hay River Mayor Jack Rowe.

Hay River's own council recently voted, unanimously, not to renew its NWT Chamber of Commerce membership.

"The NWT Chamber of Commerce, in our opinion, has not been proactive enough in promoting business opportunity for the North as a whole," Rowe said in a Jan. 19 letter to the NWT Chamber of Commerce.

"In the past year we have seen that the NWT Chamber of Commerce has been dominated by Yellowknife business interests to the detriment of other NWT communities."

The letter was in response to a membership drive by the NWT Chamber of Commerce.

Ironically, Rowe was chosen as NWT Chamber of Commerce businessman last year. As well, the NWT chamber's president is Hay River resident Andrew Nelson. And the organizations' annual general meeting is to be held in Hay River later this month. Last year, a quarterly meeting was held in the Hub.

Asked why the town would think the NWT Chamber of Commerce is primarily concerned about Yellowknife, Rowe noted the secondary diamond industry.

Hay River, the North's third largest community after Yellowknife and Iqaluit, has been supporting the diamond industry longer than Yellowknife and has been keen to take advantage of the secondary benefits, Rowe said.

"Sorting and grading was never talked about until Hay River raised the issue," he said. But when it came time to get value-added industry on the ground, it went to Yellowknife.

Rowe also said there is concern over the dual role played by NWT Chamber of Commerce executive director Bob Brooks. Brooks is also a Yellowknife city councillor.

Rowe said "it is difficult for (Brooks) to remove himself from city business."

Rowe also suggested Brooks "takes issue" with Hay River's stand on the proposed road to resources into the Slave Geological Province.

The Town of Hay River opposes having the road go through Yellowknife, Rowe said.

"If we continue to argue about it, (the road) will come from the north or industry will find a way to deal with it. We support the road going through Rae," he said.

By going through Rae, Dogrib communities benefit from expanded access and the cost of resupplying those communities goes down, he said.

"Building it off the Ingraham Trail only benefits the mining industry."

Rowe also said he recognizes that Yellowknife has been hit by government downsizing and the effects of low gold prices. But other communities, like his, have been hurt as well.

"Any time something becomes site specific, the NWT chamber steps out," said Brooks who pointed to numerous initiatives that show the chamber promotes the North, not just Yellowknife.

"The chamber is helping Nunavut in setting up the Nunavut Chamber of Commerce," he said.

A recent trade mission linked Hay River with Chinese businessmen with possible joint ventures identified, Brooks said.

When the topic of roads came up, the NWT Chamber of Commerce pushed for road development and did not take a position on which road development should be pursued, he said.

"We're in Vancouver now (at the Cordilleran Roundup) promoting the NWT, we're not pushing one (city)."

The NWT chamber has just solidified a deal to bring in a guest speaker on how a community can present itself at trade shows and the contract is between Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development, Yellowknife and Hay River, Brooks said.

The Town of Hay River has never been a member of the NWT Chamber of Commerce but the Hay River Chamber of Commerce is a member. The NWT chamber canvassed the town to join because they thought the town was interested, he said.

The NWT chamber charges $1,000 for an associate membership. Information membership costs $250.