1963
The Whitehorse Star Reports in 1963
| January | |
| January 7, 1963 | Father Mouchet is awarded the Golden Hammer by the scientific magazine Mechanix Illustrated. The award winning project is the kayak Northwind, used by Mouchet to visit Indian tribes along the Porcupine River. |
| January 17, 1963 | Former Commissioner F.H. Collins speaks on January 11, 1963 at the opening of the new Whitehorse school named after him. Commissioner Cameron officially cuts the ribbon. |
| January 21, 1963 → February 11, 1963 |
On January 17, 1963, Judge Parker declares the election of city alderman Shortt void because Shortt held a contract with the city as the time of his nomination. Ken Shortt is returned by acclamation to his council seat, after the end of his contract. |
| January 24, 1963 | Commissioner G.R. Cameron officiates on January 25, 1963 the opening of the Porter Creek Elementary School by cutting the ribbon. |
| January 28, 1963 → February 11, 1963 |
"Seven Old Crow skiers , with their instructor Father Mouchet, prepare for the Olympics. On February 11, 1963, Ben Charlie and Martha Benjamin, the two top skiers from Old Crow fly to Ottawa to participate in major international ski competitions. Martha Benjamin of Old Crow, mother of 5 children, wins the Senior Canadian Cross Country Ski Championship. |
| January 31, 1963 | Effective February 1, 1963, Indians in the Yukon have equal drinking rights with white people. The new ruling is made possible by an order-in-council from the cabinet at Ottawa, at the urging of Erik Nielsen. |
| February | |
| February 11, 1963 | Yukon statistics reveal that in 1962 there were 7 times as many births as deaths. Births totalled 578 ; there were 83 deaths. |
| February 14, 1963 | Parents in the territory are asked to bring their children to the Whitehorse General Hospital to check their teeth for the nuclear material Strontium 90. A recent report from Alaska had suggested there was an increase in the percentage of Strontium 90 found in the carcasses of game. This was related in the report to atmospheric nuclear testing. |
| February 14, 1963 | Clyde Wann, after 38 absence, is back mining on the Keno Hill. |
| February 21, 1963 | Vic Wylie is elected on February 19, 1963 leader of the Yukon Liberal party. |
| February 21, 1963 | Socony-Mobil Oil of Canada Ltd. announces February 19, 1963 it has entered into an exploration agreement with Western Minerals Ltd. On a 4.3 million acre area in the Eagle Plains in the northern Yukon. |
| February 21, 1963 | The Yukon Historical Society unveils January 8, 1963 plans for a new museum for Whitehorse. The need for a new museum results from the shortage of space and the present fire hazard in the old building. |
| February 25, 1963 | Erik Nielsen is elected February 24, 1963 leader of the Yukon Progressive Conservative Party. |
| February 28, 1963 | A new dial phone system goes into operation February 27, 1963 in Teslin. |
| March | |
| March 26, 1963 | Ralph Flores, 41, and Helen Klaben, 21, are rescued 49 days after their plane crashed on February 4, 1963 southeast of Watson Lake. |
| April | |
| April 11, 1963 | Erik Nielsen is reelected Member of Parliament for his fourth term, with a near 700-vote edge over his nearest opponent. He defeats Vic Wylie, Liberal and Ray Wilson, Social Credit. |
| May | |
| May 2, 1963 → August 8, 1963 |
The territorial council announces April 29, 1963, that the St. Anne Hospital in Dawson will close during summer 1963. However, on request of the territorial government closure is delayed until the end of August (August 8, 1963). |
| June | |
| June 3, 1963 | Whitehorse city council approves a bylaw giving green light to installation of natural gas lines under city streets and alleys. The right was granted Yukon Gas Limited. (see also October 12, 1961) |
| June 3, 1963 | A new store, the Yukon River Trading Post, opens in Carmacks. Owners are Clarence and Bev McKay. |
| June 3, 1963 | B.C.'s provincial cabinet stops the Yukon Railway project by rescinding the railway's special borrowing powers, its proposed right-of-way, and its authority to use crown land for the right-of way. |
| June 24, 1963 | Miss Canada of 1962, 19 year old Nina Holden of Victoria, is married in Whitehorse on June 19, 1963. |
| June 24, 1963 | Soapy Smith's Old Parlour is moved to a new location in Skagway to be rebuilt. |
| June 24, 1963 | Erik Nielsen suggests in the House of Commons a special income tax exemption for the north. |
| July | |
| July 8, 1963 | Brigadier G.H. Spencer will be appointed Commander and Chief Engineer of the Northwest Highway System on August 15, 1963. He succeeds Brig. Webb as Commander. |
| July 15, 1963 | The long awaited agreement covering the sale of Lot 19 is signed by the City of Whitehorse and White Pass & Yukon Route. The agreement opens squatters to purchase building sites in the area. |
| July 22, 1963 | A sun eclipse over Whitehorse on July 20, 1963: low clouds and fine drizzle lower the visibility. |
| July 29, 1963 | Joe Warner becomes the new manager of Burns. |
| August | |
| August 1, 1963 | An order by the Canadian Army prohibiting the sale of Whitehorse Dairies products in Camp Takhini is lifted. The dairy products did not meet the acceptable standard required by the Department of National Defence. |
| August 12, 1963 | The S.S. Keno paddlewheeler at Dawson City is reopened to the public. (see also August 28, 1960) |
| August 12, 1963 | Seaforth Creek Bridge at Mile 849 on the Alaska Highway is opened August 9, 1963. |
| August 22, 1963 → August 26, 1963 |
The Hector-Calumet mine of United Keno Hill Mines Ltd. collapses August 21, 1963. One missing miner is rescued 3 days later, August 24, 1963. |
| August 26, 1963 | Northern Affairs Minister J. Arthur Laing visits the Yukon. |
| August 29, 1963 | Police Magistrate A.C.L. Adams retires and leaves the Yukon September 1, 1963. (see also October 3, 1966) WM Trainor is appointed Yukon Magistrate. |
| September | |
| September 5, 1963 | Northern Affairs Minister J. Arthur Laing announces that from this day forward, the road known as the Chapman Lake - Aklavik Road would be known now as the Dempster Highway. |
| September 23, 1963 | Whitehorse city council studies the downtown parking situation following Hougen's Ltd. suggestion that some no-parking zones along Main street could be used for parking during certain periods in the day. |
| September 30, 1963 | Prior to his move, former mayor Gordon Armstrong, first mayor of Whitehorse when the city was incorporated in 1950, is honoured during a civic banquet. |
| October | |
| October 24, 1963 | The Haines Cut-Off Road connecting Haines with Haines Junction is kept open during the winter 1963/1964 for a year's trial basis. |
| October 24, 1963 | Ann Sindon Clarke becomes the bride of Leslie Lorne McLaughlin September 14, 1963. |
| October 28, 1963 | It is announced that the army withdraws from the Canadian portion of the Alaska Highway. The Highway will be taken over by the Department of Public Works. (see also April 2, 1964) |
| November | |
| November 25, 1963 | Whitehorse city council announces its plans to establish a Centennial Committee to consider ideas and projects which might be done in the city for 1967. |
| December | |
| December 9, 1963 → December 16, 1963 |
Municipal elections to elect a mayor and aldermen are held in Whitehorse on December 12, 1963. Mayor Ed Jacobs is re-elected mayor of Whitehorse defeating Norm Chamberlist and Ken Shortt. Brian Daniels and Jan Montgomery are elected as aldermen and Paul Lucier and George Smith continued for second year of a two year term. |
| December 12, 1963 | Canada reaches an agreement with the state of Alaska to pay $127,000 for American crews to keep open the Haines Cutoff. |
