MAYO Four years ago, Mayo was struggling, says village mayor Scott Bolten.

There weren't enough jobs to go around in the town with a population of 400, the community centre was crumbling, the waterfront was in desperate need of improvement and the social impacts were there too, said Bolten, who also manages the government-run liquor store.

Now it's a different story.

'Anyone that wants to be work in this community this year is working,' Bolten told the Star.

Mining and exploration are now booming in the Mayo-Tatchun riding.

'This community hasn't been this busy since early-'80s,' said Bolten of the historic silver mining town.

'Four years ago in the Yukon Territory, there were a lot of people looking for jobs,' Yukon Party Leader Dennis Fentie said while on a riding tour in Mayo Thursday. 'Four years later, there are a lot of jobs looking for people.'

The Yukon government has invested almost $7 million in a new community centre for the town, which features a gym, lounge and curling rink. It's expected to open its doors to the community by the end of November.

'It's going to be a meeting place for the whole community,' said Bolten. 'It's been on the list for a long, long time.'

The government also provided funding to help revitalize the riverfront of the town, putting in wrip-rap and a boat launch.

'It's quite the place now, whereas it was a hazard before,' said the mayor.

'We've done very well the last few years and I hope we can continue that relationship with whatever government is in power.'

Mayo-Tatchun has been represented by former NDP-turned-Liberal MLA Eric Fairclough since 1996.

But Fentie is hoping the riding will embrace the Yukon Party's candidate, Jeannie Van Bibber, in this territorial election.

Fairclough won the 2002 election taking 49 per cent of the vote. There was a 129-ballot separation between him and then Yukon Party candidate Pat Van Bibber.

But Fairclough isn't a familiar face in Mayo, said Bolten, and he rarely visits.

Fentie is hoping the Yukon Party's visit, the economic upturn and positive outlook in Mayo may help the community decide where to cast their votes in the Oct. 10 election.

'The economy and our social fabric is inextricably linked and there's no question about that,' said Fentie as he waited to meet with some community groups outside the council chambers.

'To say that we can have healthy communities if you can't even provide a decent job for citizens in those communities, that's a stretch.

'I think it's clear that what we have to do with work on all these matters concurrently. We have to have a strong and healthy economy and have jobs available for Yukon citizens, but at the same time, the public government must be very diligent about how it addresses the social side of the ledger.'

Seniors, health care, corrections and justice, combatting substance abuse and addressing the needs and challenges of women are important to the Yukon Party, said Fentie repeatedly throughout the day.

The party leader, along with Van Bibber, walked around the streets of the community chatting with constituents for much of their morning visit to the town.

Mining, seniors' programming and drug problems were mentioned frequently to the two.

Van Bibber said she wants to run her campaign on the need for healthy communities.

'My platform is for the youth, mostly the youth and dealing with the challenges they are facing today,' she said. 'All the challenges facing youth is so overwhelming.'

The riding is in need of proper housing and assurances for clean, high-quality water, said the Pelly-resident.

Bolten said, however, he would like to see more interest on seniors' programming coming from all the election candidates. The NDP is running Karen Gage in the riding.

'Youth is good to focus on. But one of our priorities right now are seniors,' he said of the aging town. Approximately 130 of Mayo's residents are over the age of 50.

'Youth tend to leave. So we switched forward to trying to focus on the people who are staying in the community and use them as a resource.

'Although youth is important to us, seniors' programs would be welcomed as well.'

But on the municipal level, the town doesn't have too many complaints.

The main concern of the community is roads, said Bolten, especially the back road in the region and the lack of maintenance on them.

'It's a common complaint,' he said, adding it seems like there simply aren't the resources available from the territorial government to deal with the back road networks in the Yukon and the budget never seems to be enough.

The challenge is the Yukon has a significant amount of road infrastructure, Fentie told the five-member town council. It is spread out across the territory and there are requirements in every community.

'Mayo and every community in the riding receives just and due attention,' he said.

Fentie and Van Bibber also met with the Nacho Nyak Dun chief and council behind closed doors.

Chief Simon Mervyn said the hour-long meeting was 'straightforward'.

'We got a perspective of their political hopes,' said Mervyn. 'We certainly look forward to speaking with the other political parties.'

The first nation won't be commenting on any political issues or statements of support until after it's heard from all three parties.

However, the issues discussed with the Yukon Party leader were regional planning, health, education and substance abuse, he said.

Some of the Nacho Nyak Dun's key concerns in the election will be the big game land use policy and the Turner wetlands.

'We're really looking forward to some input into from political parties to help us on these issues,' he said.

Premier's entourage visits Dawson City ... see p. 8.