Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Jan 07/02) - The territorial government is hoping to get a firmer grip on its corporate identity.

The government is shopping for a marketing expert to review its 21-year-old visual identity program. One of the reasons for the $30,000 review is to narrow down the number of symbols used by government departments.

The polar bear logo became less symbolic of the NWT in 1999, when Nunavut was created.

That was also one of the reasons for the original program.

"Up until now there have been too many different symbols used by the government of the Northwest Territories," said commissioner John Parker when he introduced the program in 1981.

Parker limited the number of symbols to two: the familiar three-legged polar bear and territorial shield.

The shield was to be used by cabinet, the legislative assembly and on certain legal documents. All other departments, boards and agencies were to use the bear symbol only.

Like most rules, the visual identification policy weakened through time, as departments and agencies sought to develop their own unique identity.

A quick review of departmental Web pages shows that all government agencies and some departments have abandoned the bear for their own symbols. The review is also aimed at updating the policy, said Terry Foster, a special advisor to cabinet.

"A lot of stuff, like the Internet, has come up since the program was developed," said Foster. "So it's time to take another look at it." Foster would not say whether the review may lead to the establishment of a symbol to replace the three-legged polar bear. He said that would amount to "pre-judging" the review.

The polar bear became less symbolic of the NWT in 1999, when Nunavut was created. Only four western communities are within the range of the white-furred predator.