Tim Giilck News Today

Massive helpings of federal money continue to pour into the Yukon government’s coffers as election fever mounts in Ottawa. Canada’s minister of Transportation, Omar Alghabra, along with Yukon MP Larry Bagnell and Highways and Public Works Minister Nils Clarke, announced approximately $180 million for work on the North Klondike Highway from Whitehorse to Dawson City. “We are enhancing the northern transportation system, and we are increasing its resilience to climate change, and we are ens...

According to the Watson Lake Healthcare News Facebook site, nearly 30 new active cases were reported Monday. Meanwhile, a resident’s count has the number of active cases at 56. In an interview with the Star Tuesday, Michael Gagnon said he has counted the known cases in the village, and has arrived at 56. “Twenty-two of my family alone have COVID,” he said. Gagnon said he is frustrated and angry about the disparity of numbers being reported by official sources such as the Yukon government ...

As Yukon medical officials continue to report new COVID-19 cases daily, some First Nations are expressing serious anxieties about the pending relaxations in rules. Officials reported nine new confirmed cases on Friday. With recoveries, that brought the active case count to 77.  The locations are split between Whitehorse and communities, with one of the hardest-hit being Watson Lake. There are 11 confirmed cases there, according to reports from the Watson Lake Wellness Healthcare News Facebo...

The Yukon and federal governments are forming a partnership that will be child’s play. Ottawa announced Friday it will provide $42.6 million to the territory over five years to help pump up its newly-minted universal child care and early childhood education programs. “Every child deserves the best possible start in life, and all parents should have the ability to build both a family and career,” reads a news release that accompanied the announcement. “Yet, too many families across Cana...

Currie Dixon, the leader of the Yukon Party, was quick to pay tribute to Jack Cable on Thursday morning. The longtime Liberal politician and former Commissioner died Wednesday. “My colleagues and I are saddened to hear of the passing of former Yukon Liberal Party leader Jack Cable,” Dixon said. “Known as ‘Gentleman Jack,’ he was respected by members of all parties during his tenure as a member of the Yukon Legislative Assembly for Riverside from 1992 to 2000. “His conduct and deme...

OK – maybe not so much. McDougall owns the Kanoe People business along the Yukon River near Strickland Street. He unexpectedly found himself on the river Thursday afternoon in an emergency situation. McDougall was in the store at around 1 p.m. when two people burst in, shouting there was a man in the river needing to be rescued. He ran for the canoes kept along the river by the store and hopped in, without even considering his options. He soon saw a man in the water who had somehow fallen o...

Jack Cable, a former commissioner, MLA and well-known lawyer, passed away Wednesday. His daughter, Sue Edelman, spoke eloquently about him Thursday afternoon during an interview with the Star. She didn’t hesitate for an instant when asked to provide one word that described her father. “Curious,” she said. “He was always curious, always interested in things.” Cable, she added, liked to experiment as well. At one point, he was trying to grow wheat in the front yard of their Riverdale ho...

If you heard two dull roars over the skies in the Yukon this morning, you can attribute it to this week’s COVID-19 briefing. First, the territorial government announced daycares will return to full service beginning Monday after being partially or completely closed over the last two weeks. While that will be a relief for parents, the truly big news was Premier Sandy Silver saying that if the downward trend of active virus cases continues and vaccination rates keep rising, the COVID state of e...

A June 18 Facebook post caused consternation and angst on social media over the National Indigenous Peoples Day long weekend. Yukon Party MLA Yvonne Clarke posted: “On June 17, the Liberal Government signed a Ministerial Order under the Civil Emergency Measures Act. “They provided no press release, explanation, or context to the order before posting it on the Yukon Government website. The order is available here: https://legislation.yukon.ca/regs/mo2021_018.pdf.” Clarke’s post ignited ...

The Yukon has called in the calvary from the federal government and other territories and provinces as it strains to handle the expanding COVID-19 outbreak. So far, seven nurses from Ontario are expected to arrive in the next week or so, the Yukon’s chief medical officer of health, Dr. Brendan Hanley, announced at this morning’s weekly COVID briefing. The Yukon government has reached out to other jurisdictions for help, as a fifth fatality has occurred and case numbers continue to rise. Te...