1971
The Whitehorse Star Reports in 1971
| January | |
| January 7, 1971 → January 18, 1971 |
An innovation is introduced to the Sourdough Rendezvous Festival: Mr. and Mrs. Yukon. January 18, 1971, Hazel Meloy and Jack Hazel are announced as the first Mr. and Mrs. Yukon. |
| January 7, 1971 → January 11, 1971 |
White Pass & Yukon Route open bids to the removal and destruction of the two riverboats SS Casca and SS Whitehorse. In a last minute reprieve, White Pass & Yukon Route stop the planned destruction of the sternwheelers SS Casca and SS Whitehorse. Headed by Rolf Hougen, a committee had been formed to save the boats. Discussion between the committee, White Pass and National Historic Sites about the future of the boats start. (see also April 30, 1972) |
| February | |
| February 22, 1971 | The Old Crow skiers Glenna, Shirley and Mary Frost bring back a bronze medal from the Canada Winter Games at Saskatoon. |
| March | |
| March 2, 1971 | Judy Crayford of Dawson City is Sourdough Queen 1971. |
| March 11, 1971 | The Polar Games are opened in Whitehorse. |
| March 22, 1971 | April 1, 1971 is announced as the day when the Yukon Territorial Government takes over the administration of justice from the federal government. |
| March 22, 1971 | In a promotional action in 1955, the Quaker Oats Co. gave away 21 millionen 4 by 6 square inches of land in the Yukon. In 1971 the topic appears in the Whitehorse news again as owner of these deeds threaten with legal suits Quaker Oats Co. about the value of the deeds. |
| March 29, 1971 | The territorial council approves a motion according to which Taverns and cocktail bars throughout will be able to remain open all day Sunday. |
| April | |
| April 1, 1971 | Postal codes are successively introduced in Canada, starting April 1, 1971 in Ottawa. The new code will reach the Yukon in spring 1973. The first letter chosen for the Yukon - representing the province - is "Y". |
| April 8, 1971 → April 12, 1971 |
Five Yukoners, Rolf Hougen, Robert Byron, Garth Graham, Dr. Art Pearson and Ralph Hudson, attend the first meeting of the executive committee of the University of Canada North, at Inuvik. They elect Richard Chairman as chairman, with Richard Hill and Rolf Hougen as vice chairmen of N.W.T. and Yukon respectively. The historic meeting lays the first preliminary plans for determining the goals of the University of Canada North. |
| April 12, 1971 → April 15, 1971 |
Sharon and Shirley Firth win gold and silver medals in the Junior Women's cross country ski race at the World Ski Championships at Inuvik. Two days later, April 14, 1971, four more Yukoners take gold medals in the event: Gary and Datey Bailie and Lisa Levefvre of Whitehorse, and Marie Bruce of Old Crow. |
| April 15, 1971 | The Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, Jean Chretien, announces April 13, 1971 that an 870 square mile area along the South Nahanni River in N.W.T is investigated for its suitability as a national park. |
| May | |
| May 25, 1971 | Yukon Territorial Council meets May 26, 1971 for a special session to put into effect the municipality of Metropolitan Whitehorse. A previous plebiscite approved the amalgamation of Whitehorse, Hillcrest, Takhini and Porter Creek, (from the Carcross cut-off road to the Takhini River on the Mayo Road) rendering Whitehorse the largest municipality in Canada. |
| June | |
| June 10, 1971 | Operations at Venus Mine are suspended due to continous operating losses. |
| June 10, 1971 | Tim Koepke is the new president of the Whitehorse Kiwanis Club. |
| June 14, 1971 | Old Crow receives its own weather station on May 24, 1971. |
| June 17, 1971 | Matthew Watson, founder of the Watson store in Carcross, passes away June 11 in Vancouver at the age of 83. |
| June 17, 1971 | Ivan Kirkby is the first Regional Director of the new Yukon Region, Department of Indian Affairs, established April 1, 1971 by the Minister of Indian Affairs. |
| June 17, 1971 | The new Van Gorder School is opened in Faro. Del Van Gorder was manager of the Taylor and Drury trading post at Pelly Banks and Ross River. Commissioner James Smith officially unveils a plaque. Newt Cornish represents the Anvil Mining Company. |
| June 28, 1971 | Lorraine Stick is the Yukon Indian Princess for 1971. |
| Julry | |
| July 2, 1971 | Operations at the open pit mine and mill at New Imperial Mines Ltd., seven miles south of Whitehorse, is suspended as of June 30, 1971. Current copper prices make the mining of the Keewenaw open pit orebody uneconomic. |
| July 8, 1971 → August 19, 1971 |
Whitehorse City Council approves a request by Kelly Douglas and Company Ltd. for the re-zoning of the land, presently owned by White Pass, from residential to commercial. Kelly, Douglas and Company Ltd. plan a shopping center between Second and Fourth-Avenues, next to the Whitehorse Elementary School. Construction of the new $2.6 million shopping centre is August 19, 2007. |
| July 12, 1971 | Panarctic Oils signs a $75 million agreement with four U.S. distribution and utiliy companies that earns the U.S. companies interest in gas supplies yet to be proved in the Canadian Artic Island. |
| July 15, 1971 | The U.S. army announces July 13, 1971 it will close down a 432-mile portion of the petroleum pipeline from Haines to Fairbanks. A proposal for use of The Haines-Tok pipeline in a combines commercial-military operation has been submitted. |
| August | |
| August 2, 1971 | Gary Anderson, a 23 year old survivor of a plane crash in the St. Elias mountains is found after 40 days. |
| August 9, 1971 | New Imperial receives $6 million from a financial agreement with Anglo-American Corporation of Canada and the Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting Corporation Ltd. For development of New Imperial's Little Chief and Middle Chief underground ore bodies. |
| August 9, 1971 | The first contract for construction of the Skagway road is awarded to General Enterprises Ltd. Of Whitehorse. |
| August 12, 1971 | America's Ambassador to Canada, James Smith, visits Whitehorse. |
| September | |
| September 7, 1971 | The George Allen Jeckell Bridge over the Ogilvie River on the Dempster Highway is completed and handed over from the CAF to the Department of Indian Affairs on September 3, 1971. |
| September 7, 1971 | An Alaska-Airlines jet plane crashes into a mountainside 20 miles west of Juneau, killing 111 people. |
| September 13, 1971 | Hollywood actor Leslie Nielsen and his wife Sandy and daughters, Thea & Mora, visit the Yukon. A wine and cheese party is held at Rolf Hougen's home. |
| September 20, 1971 → September 23, 1971 |
The federal government announces to build a new Territorial Administration Building on 2nd Avenue in Whitehorse, from the Library South to the White Pass tracks. |
| September 20, 1971 | Traffic is stopped at the intersection of Fourth and Main in Whitehorse on September 18, 1971 when special ceremonies mark the start of home mail delivery service. |
| September 27, 1971 | Whitehorse General Hospital loses its accreditation. The medical staff organization is given as the main reason for the reduction of the hospital's status. (see also October 20, 1972) |
| September 27, 1971 | The National Historic Sites of Canada buys a collection of over 700 pictures on the Klondike Gold Rush. |
| October | |
| October 25, 1971 → December 2, 1971 |
Rolf Hougen, president of Northern Television Systems, applies to the Canadian Radio Television Commission for an amendment to it's license. If the application is accepted, Whitehorse has five television channels and three radio services, provided by WHTV. Hougen receives partial approval from the CRTC on December 2, 1971. (see also July 3, 1972) |
| November | |
| November 4, 1971 | The Yukon territorial council approves the takeover of the maintenance functions of the Alaska Highway by the territorial government, effective April 1, 1971. |
| November 4, 1971 | Ralph D. Baker follows Frank H. Brown as chairman of White Pass & Yukon Route. Under Brown, the White Pass conceived and built the world's first container ship in 1955. |
| November 8, 1971 | On November 6, 1971, 2 p.m. the U.S. detonates an underground nuclear bomb in the Aleutian island of Attu, 240 miles west of Amchitka. The blast is recorded at "seven" on the Richter scale. In Whitehorse, the Yukon Emergency Measures Organization and the personnel at the Hydro Dam are on emergency call. Reportedly, no radioation leaks. |
| November 15, 1971 | The YWCA residence, the most modern in Canda, is opened on Fourth Avenue November 15, 1971. |
| November 18, 1971 | It is announced that 40 units of public housing in Whitehorse will be built in spring 1972. |
| December | |
| December 16, 1971 | Yukon pioneer Bert Cluett of Burwash dies December 16, 1971 at the age of 96. |
