In an era of growing politico-economic conflict, it’s welcome to see an outbreak of international cooperation: the Yukon-Skagway deal for a long-term upgrade to the port facilities that serve the Yukon’s mineral exports.
Many Yukoners have fond childhood memories set in territorial campgrounds. Mom would load the battered camper onto the black-and-orange ex-YTG Highways crew cab. Dad would find the fishing gear and, just in case, load the cooler with hot dogs, Cheez Whiz and Wonderbread buns. Then the family would head to the lake, with parents counting kids and dogs in the backseat as the pickup chugged up Two Mile Hill.
When Robert Campbell set up his trading post at Fort Selkirk in 1848, one of the first things he did was plant barley. The harvest was meager, but critical in preventing starvation at the post over the winter. According to Ken Coates, sometimes an entire year would pass without receiving supplies from Outside.
Writing a weekly Yukon economics column requires one to come up with 52 hopefully interesting ideas per year. That’s not easy in a profession known as the “dismal science.”