1983
The Whitehorse Star Reports in 1983
| January | |
| January 17, 1983 → April 20, 1983 → June 6, 1983 |
The economy continues to be the dominant concern in 1983. However, media is able to report improving trends. White Pass railways announces January 17, 1983 it will remain shut through 1983 as a result of the continued closure of the Cyprus Anvil mine. April 20, 1983 a $50 million aid package (split half and half by government and the mine) is announced for the Cyprus Anvil Mining Corporation. It puts a third of the work force back on the job. June 6, 1983 a majority of the laid-off workers at the United Keno Hills silver mine in Elsa accept new contracts, which is an important step towards re-opening. The mine re-opens in August. |
| January 5, 1983 → March 31, 1983 → April 6, 1983 |
Land claim talks are another important issue in 1983. January 5, 1983 the public learns that the Yukon government has walked away from land claim talks in mid-December. The boycott is blamed by the Yukon government on the federal government's reluctance to deal with a number of issues: The cost of land-claims to the Yukon government, land for non-native Yukoners, and constitutional and legal issues. Later, federal and Yukon government reached agreement on major issues (March 31, 1983). The Old Crow Indian band is the first band to ratify the proposed land claim agreement (April 6, 1983). |
| January 14, 1983 | Alan Innes-Taylor, an expert on arctic survival techniques and one of the last great men of the North, dies at the age of 82. |
| January 17, 1983 | Massive copper and cobalt deposits are discovered south of the Yukon border, in northern B.C. near the Haines Road. |
| January 21, 1983 | The Tungsten mine (NWT) shuts down for at least 6 months. |
| January 21, 1983 | Laurent Cyr and Corinne Cyr are selected as Mr. and Mrs. Yukon 1983. |
| February | |
| February 2, 1983 → June 10, 1983 → June 13, 1983 → September 2, 1983 |
Yukon MP Erik Nielsen is chosen as the interim leader of the Progressive Conservative Party and Canada's new Opposition Leader (February 2, 1983). Nielsen's temporary post as Opposition leader comes to an end June 10, 1983. September 2, 1983 Erik Nielsen is officially named deputy national leader of the Progressive Conservatives following Brian Mulroney's election as party leader June 12, 1983. |
| February 7, 1983 | B.C. Placer Development Ltd. gives up its development plans for a $140 million mine near Atlin due to low prices for molybdenium. |
| March | |
| March 2, 1983 | Downtown businesses plan to turn downtown stores into mini shopping centre by building doors that connect the Taku Hotel, McFarlane Trading Co., Plantation Flower Shop, Hougen's Radio Shack and People's Drug Mart. |
| March 2, 1983 → October 14, 1983 |
The federal government gives final approval to a Yukon route for the Alaska Highway gas pipeline, including the controversial Ibex Pass area (March 2, 1983). October 14, 1983 the University of Alaska releases study results according to which the Alaska Highway gas pipeline will probably never be built. |
| March 9, 1983 | The local cable station WHTV announces it will increase the number of American TV channels in the second half of 1983. |
| March 11, 1983 | Dome Petroleum Ltd. plans to spend $960 million Beaufort Sea exploration. |
| March 11, 1983 → June 27, 1983 |
After delays in 1982, the federal government gives final approval to a $40.3 million funding for native broadcasting in the North (March 11, 1983). Native radio stations in the Yukon get their first programming from the Northern Native Broadcasting Yukon Society in June 1983 (June 27, 1983). |
| March 21, 1983 → December 7, 1983 |
Anglican deaconess Dr. Hilda Hellaby receives the Commissioner Award for her missionary work in the Yukon (March 21, 1983). She dies December 7, 1983 at the age of 85. |
| March 25, 1983 | The Whitehorse Indian Band Kwanlin Dun chooses Hillcrest for relocation. |
| March 25, 1983 | Yukon Vocational and Technical Training Centre and Yukon campus are merged to form Yukon College. |
| April | |
| April 13, 1983 | "Just Kidding", a children's show produced by Whitehorse youngsters and shown on WHTV wins a national award from the Children's Broadcast Institute in Toronto. |
| April 15, 1983 | Dawson City loses another historic landmark as fire destroys the Midnight Sun Restaurant. |
| May | |
| May 6, 1983 | Jim Quong, a former Yukoner with almost 40 years of community service, receives the Commissioner's Award. |
| May 9, 1983 | The Yukon and the federal government sign a long-sought heritage rivers agreement that enables the Yukon government to decide the future use of the territory's rivers. |
| May 11, 1983 | Jimmy Kane, the veteran Yukon trapper who saw Jack Dalton arrive in Dalton Post in 1894, dies in Whitehorse. He is believed to be at least 110 years old. |
| May 18, 1983 | Dawson City's first private radio station - CFYT-FM - is launched. |
| May 18, 1983 | A $700,000 4 year-project to restore the building of Dawson's city daily news is started. |
| May 30, 1983 | Dawson City's Diamond Tooth Gertie's gambling casino is re-opened after a $900,000 renovation. |
| June | |
| June 1, 1983 | The federal Treasury Board approves a 3 year $15million project to build a new airport terminal building in Whitehorse. The official kick-off of the construction project is July 15th, 1983. |
| June 3, 1983 | The federal government approves $4 million to build a road into Kluane National Park so tourists can visit the Kaskawulsh Glacier. |
| June 3, 1983 | Yukon food stores have until Dec. 31 to start selling their goods in metric units. Only the NWT and parts of British Columbia haven't introduced the metric system yet. |
| June 6, 1983 | The Tungsten mine (NWT) extends its closure for an undetermined amount of time. |
| June 20, 1983 | The Taku Hotel in Whitehorse is hit by a $40,000 fire. |
| June 29, 1983 | After nearly 3 years of dickering, the Yukon government and Dawson City council reach a sewer and water agreement. |
| June 30, 1983 | 60 years after his death, Klondike Joe Boyle finally gets recognition from his home country as Boyle is given a military funeral including a military salute. |
| July | |
| July 4, 1983 | Yukon Opposition Leader Tony Penikett is acclaimed to serve a second two-year term as president of the federal New Democratic Party. |
| July 15, 1983 → November 7, 1983 |
Two port proposal for the Yukon's Artic coast are filed (July 15, 1983). However, Northern Development Minister John Munro rules out port proposals for the Yukon's northern coast since they would endanger native land claim negotiations (November 7, 1983). |
| July 20, 1983 | Whitehorse Kwanlin Dun band quits the Council for Yukon Indians (CYI) because of undisclosed council decision. |
| August | |
| August 22, 1983 | Mayo's Christ the King Church is restored for its 60th anniversary. |
| August 24, 1983 | Whitehorse General Hospital - built as a military hospital in 1955 - undergoes a major study to decide about its future. |
| September | |
| September 7, 1983 | Fire damages Grey Mountain Primary School in Riverdale. No one gets hurt. Repairs cost almost $100,000. |
| September 16, 1983 | Alaska's time zone will be reduced from four to two October 30, 1983. |
| September 27, 1983 | Alaska Governor Bill Sheffield announces another $11 million will be pumped in the Shakwak project in the Yukon. |
| October | |
| October 7, 1983 | The movie "Never Cry Wolf", shot in the Yukon, has its world premier in Ottawa. |
| October 19, 1983 | Author, historian, highway engineer Allen Arthur Wright dies in Whitehorse at the age of 67. Wright wrote the book "Prelude to Bonanza". |
| November | |
| November 4, 1983 | Two large ore-bodies are discovered by a Vancouver-based mining company in the southern Yukon. |
| November 4, 1983 | CBC celebrates 25 years in the North. |
| December | |
| December 14, 1983 | NorthwesTel announces "new" phones services over the coming 1,5 years including toll-free "800" numbers and direct calling overseas. |
| December 16, 1983 | Don Branigan is re-elected as mayor of Whitehorse. He had served in 1980 and 1981, but chose not to run in 1981. |
| December 19, 1983 | CanCom (Canadian Satellite Communications Ltd.) goes public. The company makes a public offering of its share to be later publicely traded on the Montreal and Toronto stock exchanges. |
| December 23, 1983 | Florence E. Whyard is named a member of the Order of Canada. |
