1986
The Whitehorse Star Reports in 1986
| January | |
| January 8, 1986 | Charlie and Betty Taylor are selected Mr. and Mrs. Yukon 1986. |
| January 10, 1986 | Barbara Currie of Tagish receive the Commissioner's Award for her years of dedication and community involvement. |
| January 16, 1986 | Dawson City's Anglican Church's Good Samaritan Hall is sold for demolition and won't be restored. |
| January 22, 1986 | Harry Joe, hereditary chief of the Crow Clan of the Champagne-Hutchi tribe, dies at the age of 76. |
| January 23, 1986 → December 3, 1986 |
The United States government announces it is ready to start negotiations on west coast boundary disputes, including a dispute over the location of the Yukon-Alaska border in the Beaufort Sea (January 23, 1986). However, at the end of the year, a U.S. proposal for new offshore exploration of Alaska's oil and gas resources includes a portion of the Beaufort Sea Canada considers part of the Yukon (December 3, 1986). |
| January 29, 1986 | CBC Yukon plans to provide a limited form of television coverage from the territory starting in February. |
| January 30, 1986 | Joe Bell, publisher of the Northwest Travel Guide and involved in a number of business enterprises in the Yukon, dies at the age of 60. |
| February | |
| February 12, 1986 | Johnnie Johns, Julie Cruikshank and John Gould receive the Yukon Historical and Museums Association Heritage Award for their outstanding contributions to the preservation of the Yukon's culture and history. |
| February 13, 1986 → May 20, 1986 → August 13, 1986 |
Production workers at the Canada Tungsten mine in Tungsten, N.W.T. vote 96 per cent in favour of strike (February 13, 1986). 135 workers go on strike May 20, 1986. In August, the Canada Tungsten Mining Corporation closes its mine at Tungsten, N.W.T. indefinitely (August 13, 1986). |
| February 26, 1986 → March 12, 1986 → June 19, 1986 |
A deal is reached between Alaska and the Yukon that sees the year-round opening of the South Klondike Highway (February 26, 1986). The deal allows year-round trucking of ore concentrates from Faro to Skagway. In return, Skagway got jobs on the waterfront, a 10-year opening clause even if the mine closes earlier, and the Yukon government pays half of its costs (March 12, 1986). June 25, 1986 Canadian and U.S. border posts begin 24-hour service for the first time ever at the Canada-U.S. border post above Skagway. The full-time opening is an interim summer operation to benefit Curragh Resource Ltd. |
| March | |
| March 4, 1986 | After 16 years of negotiations, federal, territorial, city and Kwanlin Dun governments officially sign an agreement that allows the band to move from its village in the Marwell area to the McIntyre subdivision. |
| March 4, 1986 → March 31, 1986 |
Ken McKinnon is named Yukon Commissioner (March 4, 1986) and sworn in March 31, 1985. |
| March 10, 1986 | The Yukon Quest sees its first Canadian winner: Bruce Johnson of Atlin River. |
| March 11, 1986 | The Mount Skukum gold mine south of Whitehorse is running and poured its first 1,000 gold bar. |
| March 16, 1986 | The Arctic Winter Games open in Whitehorse. |
| March 20, 1986 | Dyea Development plans to build a new shopping mall on Main Street, starting by late summer. |
| March 26, 1986 | "Dan Sha" - Yukon's bimonthly native newspaper closes temporarily because of delays in government funding. |
| April | |
| April 1, 1986 → December 3, 1986 |
1986 lead to a few changes in airline service: April 1, 1986 Trans North stops its airline services. December 3, 1986 Pacific Western Airlines takes over Canadian Pacific Airlines. |
| April 10, 1986 | Yukon elder Angela Sidney receives the Order of Canada award. |
| April 29, 1986 → July 25, 1986 → August 26, 1986 |
The downtown commercial core zone of Whitehorse has been expanded. The new bylaw means that 3 city blocks have been added onto each side of the existing commercial zone (from Elliott to Lambert Street and from Wood Street to Jarvis Street) (April 29, 1986). In July workers begin demolishing of three old stores on Main Street at Third Ave. to clear the way for the $3 million urban development (July 25, 1986). Starting in August, Whitehorse's Main Street gets a second 4-storey building: two floors are added to the People's Drug Mart Building (August 26, 1986). |
| May | |
| May 6, 1986 → June 3, 1986 |
Yukon has a pavillon at the '86 Expo in Vancouver, hoping to promote tourism to the Yukon (May 6, 1986). The pavillion is one of the busiest with an attendance that is far beyond expectations (June 3, 1986). |
| May 9, 1986 → October 31, 1986 → November 3, 1986 |
Yukon Liberal leader Roger Coles resigns from his position after being arrested and charged with illegally selling cocaine. Jim McLachlan is named the party's interim leader (May 9, 1986). October 31, 1986 MLA Roger Coles pleads guilty to cocaine deal and resigns his seat as MLA. A few days later he is sentenced to 3 years in prison (November 3, 1986). |
| May 23, 1986 | Northern Native Broadcasting and Yukon network (NNBY) plans to broadcast 26 half-hour shows in the Yukon from September to March. |
| June 3, 1986 | The cabletelevision station WHTV replaces "Moviechannel" with WTBS, Atlanta. |
| June | |
| June 5, 1986 | The mill at the Faro lead-zinc mine goes back into production, under the ownership of Curragh Resources. |
| June 10, 1986 | Whitehorse's time capsule is buried on the corner of Main Street and Third Ave. The capsule is not to be opened until 2050, the 100th birthday of the city. The capsule is a 45kg plastic drum that is filled with letters, photos, tapes and miscellaneous items donated by Whitehorse residents. |
| June 11, 1986 | The first 13 students graduate from Yukon College's native language instructor course. |
| June 13, 1986 | The Yukon's oldest war veteran, George Fuller, dies at the age of 93. |
| June 18, 1986 | The founders of CHON-FM are delving into television by building a half-million dollar studio to be built by the end of August. |
| June 23, 1986 | Whitehorse and the Japanese city of Ushiku sign a deal in Whitehorse making the two sister cities. |
| June 26, 1986 | An influential defence magazine reports that the United States Air Force is designing a scheme that would try to keep all nuclear battles to the far north of Canada. |
| June 27, 1986 → September 16, 1986 |
The federal government insists on official bilingualism in the Yukon as the price for helping to improve the government's French-language services to Yukoners (June 27, 1986). September 16, 1986 a court rules the Yukon government is not a federally-controlled agency and, thus, need not become officially bilingual. |
| June 30, 1986 | Bill McKnight is the new minister of Indian and Northern affairs. Former minister David Crombie is assigned to the Secretary of State department. |
| June 30, 1986 → July 4, 1986 |
A midterm-cabinet shuffle sees Erik Nielsen depart from the federal cabinet. Newspapers reports he had asked to be released. Nielsen remains the Yukon's MP. |
| July | |
| July 15, 1986 | Michael Smith is elected chairman of the Council for Yukon Indians. |
| July 21, 1986 | Gordon Gibson Sr., a Yukon-born millionaire, dies at the age of 81. |
| July 23, 1986 | Ethel Deyo Gramms, daugther of Sam McGee, dies at the age of 83. |
| July 30, 1986 → August 7, 1986 → August 20, 1986 |
Yukon government announces it won't provide any funding for the Whitehorse Arts Centre unless it is built as part of the Yukon College complex in Takhini (July 30, 1986). The ultimatum prompts suggestions to build part of the College at the Whitehorse waterfront (August 7, 1986). August 20, 1986 the Arts Canada North committee agrees to have the Arts built at the site of the new College. |
| August | |
| August 14, 1986 | The federal government transfers its responsibility for (re)naming geographical features in the Yukon Territory to the Yukon government. |
| August 15, 1986 | The Alaska government announces $8 million of its U.S. federal government highway funds will be diverted to the Shakwak Highway project, involving reconstruction of the Haines Road in British Columbia and the Yukon. |
| August 19, 1986 | Joseph Whiteside Boyle is honored with a plaque to him on dredge No. 4 at Bonanza Creek, outside of Dawson City. |
| August 22, 1986 | Gulf Canada Corp. decides to pull out of the Beaufort Sea for cost reasons. Its departure costs 750 employees their jobs and weakens the N.W.T.'s economy. |
| September | |
| September 15, 1986 | CBC kicks off its first full-time television production unit in Whitehorse. |
| September 17, 1986 | The Yukon government announces that the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce was chosen as the government bank. |
| September 18, 1986 | Former Yukon cabinet minister Peter "Swede" Hanson dies at the age of 70. |
| September 23, 1986 | The Carcross-Tagish band becomes the 11th band to agree to negotiate land claims. |
| October | |
| October 6, 1986 | Capt. Dick Stevenson's toe, the "main ingredient" of the famous Sourtoe Cocktail, has been lifted while Stephenson was traveling. |
| October 6, 1986 | The Yukon government backs down on the coat-of-arms controversy and its battle over them with the Yukon's senior judge: the coat-of-arms come out of all five courtrooms. |
| November | |
| November 20, 1986 | A New York City railway broker is putting together a $50 million proposal in a bid to buy and operate the White Pass Railway, beginning summer 1987. |
| November 28, 1986 | A U.S. Interior Department study calls for petroleum exploration leasing on the coastal plain of northeast Alaska used for calving by the Porcupine Caribou Herd. |
| December | |
| December 1, 1986 | The Yukon government introduces its new Human Rights Bill. It includes gay rights but leaves out equal pay in the private and public sectors. |
| December 4, 1986 | A tentative Canada - United States agreement has been reached for international management of the Porcupine caribou herd, requiring consultation on hunting quotas and protection of the herd and its habitat. |
| December 5, 1986 | The Yukon government introduces legislation requiring seatbelts or child restraints for young children riding in automobiles. |
| December 11, 1986 | Rolf Hougen is elected Third Vice Chairman of the Board of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. |
| December 11, 1986 | The first Yukoner is tested HIV-positive. |
| December 15, 1986 | The federal government transfers more than 1,500 hectares of land in the Kluane region to the territorial government and the Champagne-Aishihik Indian band. It's the first-ever transfer under the pre-claims land availability process. |
| December 19, 1986 | The Kaska Dena Council files a lawsuit claiming a land freeze in the area of Watson Lake. |
| December 31, 1986 | Rev. John A. Davies, D.D. Canon Emeritus, dies at the age of 101. |
