Jorge Barrera
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Nov 14/01) - Under pressure from an impending job boom and a crippling housing shortage in Yellowknife the city wants to open all remaining lots in the Niven Lake sub-division for wide scale development.

"Two developers are looking at all the remaining lots in Niven Lake," said Yellowknife Mayor Gord Van Tighem, who agrees freeing up the remaining 349 lots is a good idea.

Council will have the final say in the move which would mark a major departure from the city's piece-meal approach to the sub-division, opening lots in small bunches.

This move will hit the agenda at a public services committee meeting on Nov 26.

Until then, the city has sold 17 lots and were to decide the fate of 18 more lots on Niven Lake at a council meeting last night.

Pierre Leblanc, vice-president of corporate affairs for Diavik Diamond Mines Inc., said Diavik expects to hire around 300 people in the next 12 months as it prepares to begin production at its Lac de Gras mine.

The mine is expected to start producing diamonds in April 2003.

Leblanc said Diavik and the city recently held informal talks on the situation, and as it stands the company might be forced to look at Hay River, Fort Smith or Fort Simpson for other housing. Leblanc said the company would likely also consider fly-in and fly-outs from Calgary and Edmonton.

Coun. Blake Lyons said the city is doing what it can with what it has and needs the help of territorial government.

"With the (Commissioner's Land) lease only policy, all we have is Tin Can Hill and Niven Lake and Miramar still has some leases with Tin Can Hill," said Lyons.

All lands in the city that could be part of a land claim settlement with surrounding First Nations cannot be bought or developed without the territorial government's permission.

Shaun Dean, spokesperson for the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, said his department has had no indication the city needed help with the housing crunch, but they're open to discussions.

Lyons said there is available land near the airport but it's useless until someone builds a road from the highway to the Kam Lake industrial park.