Highlights of History from The Whitehorse Star
Published by The Whitehorse Star on December 31, 2012.
Dateline: May 16, 2024.
Choosing the Yukon's top 10 stories of the year is, to a large extent, an arbitrary task. It's a mixture of our judgment, of the stories which have attracted considerable media coverage, or those with the most significant effects on the largest number of Yukoners.
Here, then, are the Star's top 10 stories of 2012.
1
The beginning of 2012 is marked by the stunning deaths of five people from carbon monoxide. On Jan. 29, the Rusk family – Bradley, 45, Valerie, 37, Gabriel, 13 and Rebekah, 11 as well as family friend Donald McNamee, 47 – are found dead by a friend in their Centennial Street home. When firefighters enter the house, they found carbon monoxide levels in the home were 10 times what would have set off a standard carbon monoxide detector. There were no detectors in the rented home.
Carbon monoxide detectors fly off Whitehorse store shelves, with many businesses placing urgent orders to keep up with the demand.
A report by the territory's fire marshal concludes the deaths were accidental, caused by an ice blockage in the top two feet of the chimney. The home's burner, a Riello 40-F3, had a nozzle capable of delivering only 0.65 of a gallon of fuel per hour, nearly 50 per cent less than what the boiler requires. "Flue gases produced will be at a lower temperature," the report says. "When the flue gases are subjected to low outside winter temperatures, they condense and allow the products of combustion to accumulate within the chimney lining. "During freeze-thaw conditions, as the products freeze they expand, spalling the masonry and allowing the lining to break apart and fall within the chimney."
Five reports on the safety of oil-burning appliances in the territory had been completed for the government since 2007. The most recent report, completed in 2010, recommends a change in legislation for installing and maintaining oil-burning appliances. Amendments to the Oil and Gas Act pass in December.
A public inquest into the deaths is scheduled for February 2013.
2
Excessive rains lead to extreme flooding in Lower Post, B.C. and Upper Liard, surpassing 2007 flood levels. Rain also washes out parts of the Alaska Highway and the Nahanni Range Road in June.
The Yukon government announces in October that total compensation for Upper Liard flood victims rings in at $3 million. Precautions are taken at Marsh Lake, but water levels there remain manageable.
The highway washouts strand travellers and cut Whitehorse and surrounding communities off from food deliveries for a few days. Shoppers swiftly strip local supermarkets of meat, produce and dairy products, and the owner of the Real Canadian Superstore and Extra Foods charters aircraft to fly in food from Watson Lake.
Washouts along the Nahanni Range Road shut down the Cantung Mine for several days.
Debate surrounding issues such as food security, local food production and emergency preparedness are reinvigorated.
3
Seven years into the planning process, the Peel watershed continues to dominate headlines. The final consultation on the Peel gets underway this year following the government's release of four planning concepts to be considered alongside the planning commission's final recommended plan. This is just months after the government's Valentine's Day release of its eight guiding principles for planning the pristine watershed's future.
The release of the government's principles and concepts causes an uproar among First Nations and other Yukoners in favour of protecting the watershed. The fall legislative sitting opens and closes with "Protect the Peel" protests.
The four affected First Nations argue the government is acting outside the planning process outlined in the Umbrella Final Agreement by bringing forward their own plans during this final round of consultation. The government, meanwhile, maintains it is fulfilling its obligations.
Consultation continues until Feb. 25, 2013. If the commission's final plan is not adopted, legal action is expected.
4
The topic of fracking becomes a source of contention in the Yukon this year, as opposition parties, First Nations and environmentally-minded Yukoners call for a territory-wide moratorium and discussion about the practice. The Yukon government puts forward a motion to undertake consultation starting with the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation, arguing the north Yukon is the only area in the territory where oil and gas exploration is underway.
Documents are obtained that suggest the government has been aware of interest in oil and gas exploration in the southeast Yukon, which could include fracking, for more than a year.
The Kaska become strong opponents of fracking as they face off against the government over the future of oil and gas development in their traditional territory in the southeast.
The government removes a consent clause in the Yukon Oil and Gas Act which provides the Kaska with a veto over oil and gas activity in their traditional territory. A legal challenge to the amendments is expected.
5
Five-year-old Jaedyn Amann dies July 4 after she is struck on the head by a soccer goal at Watson Lake Secondary School. The young girl is crawling on the grass near the goal when a three-year-old friend touches or shakes the side and it collapses, hitting her on the head. Rushed to Watson Lake Hospital, she dies a few hours later.
An investigation reveals the goal was intended for indoor use, was rusty and missing screws, and was not anchored to the ground. The coroner calls on the government to introduce legislation in the Yukon regarding safety, standards, anchoring and safe storage practices. Other recommendations include safety inspections on a regular basis; a policy for tracking complaints about equipment; and permanently attaching warning labels and manufacturer's labels to the equipment.
In November, a lawyer representing the family says they are preparing a lawsuit naming the Yukon government.
6
Yukoners are perturbed by a variety of cuts brought down in the federal government's two omnibus budget implementation bills this year, but the fury over cuts to Parks Canada services in the territory is unmatched. Guided tours of the SS Klondike in Whitehorse are cut, while tours of any kind of the Dredge No. 4 near Dawson City are shut down. And search and rescue at Kluane National Park is cut back. Altogether, the Yukon loses about 30 of its 110-person Parks Canada staff.
The issue makes its way into both territorial and municipal politics, as parties of all stripes urge the federal government to reconsider the cuts.
Yukoners hold numerous protests, speaking out against the Parks cuts and others and demanding that MP Ryan Leef lobby the Conservative government to reconsider its plans.
7
In June, a jury convicts Christina Asp, 34, of second-degree murder in the death of Gordon Seybold, 63. Seybold's body was found after his Ibex Valley home burned to the ground. Asp is convicted following a three-month-long trial, the longest in the territory's history.
The jury hears multiple recordings taken by undercover officers as part of a Mr. Big operation. The police convince Asp they are a powerful criminal organization with the ability to cover up crimes from the authorities. Asp tells the faux criminals she hit Seybold multiple times on the head with a bat.
In October, a Yukon Supreme Court justice rules she must serve 15 years of her life sentence in prison before she can apply for parole.
8
Dan Curtis cruises to a solid victory as mayor of Whitehorse on Oct. 18, after incumbent Bev Buckway leaves the door open with her decision not to seek a third consecutive term. Curtis obliterates the four other mayoral candidates, securing 43 per cent of the votes cast and more than doubling the number for runner-up Rick Karp. It's the first term serving in public office for the 47-year-old who was born and raised in Whitehorse, though he did run unsuccessfully as a Liberal in Riverdale South in the 2011 territorial election.
Veteran Coun. Dave Stockdale is elected to a record 11th consecutive term, having joined city council back in 1983. Incumbents Betty Irwin and Kirk Cameron are also returned to office, though Dave Austin loses his bid for a fifth term.
With Curtis and three other new faces on council – John Streicker, Joy Curteanu and Mike Gladish – it's the largest infusion of new blood in several Whitehorse elections.
Peter Jenkins is left licking his wounds in Dawson City after losing his bid for another term as mayor, with Wayne Potoroka gathering up 72 per cent of the votes cast.
Elaine Wyatt is returned as mayor of Carmacks by acclamation, and Mayor Heather Campbell secures another term in Faro. Mayor George Nassiopoulos is returned in Haines Junction, Clara Jules keeps her mayor's chair in Teslin, as does Watson Lake Mayor Richard Durocher. And Mayor Scott Bolton goes unchallenged in Mayo.
9
Telecommunications across the territory are knocked out for hours in September. The massive collapse is eventually blamed on the failure of Northwestel Inc.'s backup equipment. Land lines and 911 service across the Yukon are lost for more than six hours in some areas. Cellular and Internet service go down as well.
When a tree falls on a main transmission line at 11:10 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 19, it leads to a a grid-wide power failure, and Northwestel's system switches to backup batteries and diesel generation.
Failure of Northwestel's entire communications system occurs at approximately 4 a.m. Thursday, as Yukon Energy is completing full restoration of the grid.
Cable phone service but not regular phone service fails in Yellowknife, and the long distance service in Inuvik and other Mackenzie Delta communities is off and on.
Without 911 service, more police officers are sent to patrol the streets and EMS sets up two satellite stations for residents to go to for help. Emergency officials communicate with each other on a dedicated emergency channel through hand-held radios. The Yukon Amateur Radio Association is also called in to help.
10
An inquest into the death of Mayo RCMP officer Michael Potvin is completed in November. Potvin drowned after the RCMP riverboat he was testing capsized in the Stewart River in 2010. The inquest moves forward after the federal government loses its bid to limit the territorial coroner's jurisdiction.
Marine experts testify the weight of the boat's 150-horsepower motor, along with a smaller recently-added auxiliary motor and holes in the vessel's cut-down motor well, combined to enable water to enter the back of the boat. The inquest jury hears that the bilge pump was broken and the vessel had electrical problems which prevented tools like the fuel gauge from functioning.
The jury rules the death accidental, and makes a number of recommendations regarding RCMP safety practices. The police welcome the recommendations and point to many policy changes that have been made following Potvin's death.
