Inuvik (Feb 28/03) - Inuvik's army has been summoned to the nation's capital.

The commanding officer of the 2749 Inuvik Army Cadets, Chris Garven, said the trip is part of an inter-provincial cadet exchange, sponsored by the Department of National Defence and the federal government's Youth Initiative Program.

"A cadet unit will host another cadet unit from somewhere else in the country," Garvin said. "In June and July 2001, we had 22 people from Port Moody, B.C., come up here."

The B.C. cadets were billeted in Inuvik at the homes of other cadets here during their visit. Inuvik is always a popular destination for the Southern cadets.

"It seems everybody wants to come North, but we don't care where we go, so long as we get out," Garvin said.

When our cadets go South, they will be hosted in Ottawa by the 742 National Capital Squadron air cadet unit.

"Their cadets parade in the same hangar where the prime minister's plane usually sits," Garvin said.

The one-week visit will be packed full of fun and educational activities.

"They've come up with some really neat ideas," he said.

They will do the usual tourist things such as visit Parliament Hill and ice skating on Rideau Canal, but there will be some unusual twists too.

"We'll be going to the space and aviation museum to take part in what they call "Night Flight Activity," he said.

The group will go to the museum in the evening for dinner and spend the night there.

"You do all these activities and then you sleep right in the museum," he said. "It's a really cool idea."

The cadets will be staying at the Nicholas Street Jail Hostel that has a very colourful history.

"It used to be a jail and it's the jail where they held the last public hanging," he said.

"You actually sleep in the cells."

The group will also tour Royal Military College in Kingston, Ont.

Fifteen-year-old Sgt. Derrick Seward has been in cadets for three years, but has never been on an exchange trip.

"I'm pretty excited about it," Seward said. "I've never been there, but I have relatives who live there."

Thirteen-year-old Pte. Nicole Elias has been a cadet for a year and a half and is very excited about travelling to the nation's capital.

"I've only ever been to Yellowknife," Elias said.

"I don't like going on planes."

Fourteen-year-old Pte. Ronelle Landry has been to Ottawa once before, but looks forward to the trip.

"It's going to be cool," Landry said.