Darrel Greer
Northern News Services

Rankin Inlet (Apr 24/02) - A lot has changed since Lyle Wiebe arrived in Baker Lake in 1973 to be a manager trainee with the Hudson's Bay Co.

Originally from Pilot Butte, Sask., just outside of Regina, Wiebe signed on for two years with the company.

Multi-tradesperson Lyle Wiebe has seen a lot of changes in the Kivalliq Region since arriving in Baker Lake in 1973. - Darrell Greer/NNSL photo

There were fewer than 800 people living in Baker when Wiebe, the only passenger on a DC-3 from Churchill, Man., stepped off the plane.

"My first memory of Baker is that the produce got the Bombardier taxi and I had to walk into town," says Wiebe.

Wiebe transferred to Rankin during the summer of 1973 and left the Hudson's Bay Co. to be a ticket agent with Trans Air Ltd.

A year later, he was off to Baker once again to haul freight. He stayed with that until joining the Baker Lake Housing Association in 1976.

"I got into the heating trade and went with the hamlet in 1982 doing building maintenance. I felt it was time for a change in July of '85 and came back to Rankin Inlet, where I spent some time with Pissuk Cleaners and DPW," he recalls.

"I started with KP&M in August of '86 and I've been with them off and on ever since."

Weibe's recollections of Rankin Inlet in the early '70s conjure up images of a small hamlet with about 900 people.

There was one school, no arena -- unless one counts the fabled outdoor "Dome" -- and the local Co-op ran the post office.

There was still no TV or long-distance phone service in Rankin at the time.

"In those days, if you wanted to, you could go to the radio station and do your own show until someone phoned up and wanted to know when you were going to sign-off.

"Back then, hardly anyone would go to bed as long as the radio was on."

There were only two RCMP officers in Rankin in '73, but Wiebe says there were a lot fewer alcohol-related crimes at the time, even though booze was readily available through the Hudson's Bay store.

The store rationed people one 24-bottle case of beer per week.

"If you screwed up while you were drinking, you were put on interdict and you weren't allowed to possess or consume any booze. You'd get three months for your first offense, six months for your second and so on," he says.

"It was even applied to the household where you lived, so, if you screwed up back then, you could have a lot of people mad at you."

Wiebe has held a number of jobs.

These days, he's a certified plumber (OBM) and a holder of a second-class gas certificate (gas fitter).

Other than population, Wiebe says the biggest change in Rankin has been the increase in crime.

"We're more civilized here now and that's not always a good thing," says Wiebe. "There's much more crime and unacceptable behaviour than what I remember three decades ago.

"Of course, back then, you didn't hear about things the way you do now."

Wiebe met his wife, Lucy, in Baker Lake in 1973.

They were married on Jan. 10, 1979, by Lucy's uncle, Armand Tagoona.

The two have five children together, three boys and two girls, ranging in age from 11 to 26.

The couple welcomed two new grandchildren into the family during the past month.

Wiebe still laughs when he thinks about prices in the Kivalliq in 1973. At that time, a round-trip ticket to Winnipeg cost $99 and gasoline rang in at $1.39 a gallon for regular.

"As time goes by, the Kivalliq gets in your blood. The longer you stay, the harder it becomes to move back to wherever you're originally from," he says.

Wiebe still looks forward to the arrival of spring every year, when the hill tops start to thaw.

"There's still snow on the ground, but you get the smell of moss in the air. That's the smell of spring."

Wiebe is in the Kivalliq to stay. He says it would cost too much to move and his family wants to stay right where they are.

"I've been here for more than half my life and, the way I figure it, the second half promises to be even better than the first half."

Wiebe says you need a sense of humour to live in the Kivalliq and you can't let every little thing get you down.

"A student worked with me this summer and asked me how long I've been here. told him longer than he has. If I'm not a true Northerner now, I never will be."