Frustrated and a little heartbroken, Whitehorse resident Karen McColl decided to send a breakup letter to the mayors of two small coastal towns in Alaska. As she read headline after headline about President Donald Trump’s tariffs and threats to turn Canada into the fifty-first state, the government employee and former journalist felt she had to take a stand.
“What does this breakup mean?” McColl wrote to the municipal leaders of Skagway and Haines. “It means I won’t be visiting or spending money in your community while the leader of the United States continues with his hostile rhetoric.” She added, “I don’t want to punish individuals and small businesses, but right now, it’s more important for Canadians to make our voices heard.”
While many Canadians are steering clear of the US, the tension between the two countries feels uniquely fraught in the Yukon. We share not just a border but also a sense of remoteness and a way of life. Road-tripping Alaskans travel through the Yukon to get to the Lower 48. In turn, Yukoners drive down to the coast for Haines’ annual beer festival and fishing derby, camping, hiking, and a taste of temperate winters. When Yukoners host friends and family, a trip to Skagway or Haines—or both—is often on the itinerary. The two coastal communities count on tourism, and Yukoners are typically more than happy to do their part.
The connection is also one of necessity; Skagway and Haines are both located just a few hours from Whitehorse and are only accessible by road via Canada. Their residents—a total of about 3,200 people—rely on the capital city for groceries, supplies, emergency medical care, and veterinary services. After Haines was hit with torrential rain, road washouts, and landslides that destroyed homes and killed two people in late 2020, the Yukon government donated $25,000 to the relief efforts.
McColl typically travels to Skagway and Haines every year. But now she’s urging other Yukoners to stop, knowing full well the toll that could take on small businesses. The point, in part, is leverage. She’s hoping the pressure will push those communities to demand something different from their government. “I don’t have anything against anyone personally, but I also want them to feel compelled to act on our behalf,” she says.
Canada’s northern regions rely on imported goods, and US tariffs will make already expensive products like food, vehicles, and building materials even more so. Faced with an escalating trade war, the territorial premiers are making a pointed pivot: cutting out American goods, halting US liquor sales, and rewriting procurement policies to favour local suppliers.
Not everyone, though, is ready to let the cross-border bond unravel. Haines Borough mayor Tom Morphet sent a “love letter,” as CBC put it, to his Whitehorse counterpart, Kirk Cameron. “We recognize that as northerners, we sometimes have as much in common with our Canadian neighbours as we do with our own countrymen in the southern latitudes,” he wrote. In response, Cameron encouraged him to join the Border Mayors Alliance, a group of more than thirty-five municipal leaders speaking out against Trump’s tariffs. (Morphet sent the same letter to the mayor of Haines Junction, a small Yukon community about two hours from the US border. According to Yukon News, he thanked the village for an ice rink resurfacer it had given Haines a few years ago in exchange for a load of salmon.) Then, in early April, Skagway residents hosted a Hands Off Canada rally, chanting for democracy as they carried Canadian and Yukon flags.
As Yukoners grapple with what to do about Alaska, the story of Jasmine Mooney, a Whitehorse-raised woman who was detained at the Mexico-US border by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, left many of us aghast. Mooney was reapplying for her American work visa when she was, without explanation, locked in a cell for twelve days. It’s not just Yukoners who are feeling turned off—nationally, the number of people taking road trips into the US dropped by 32 percent in March compared to last year. American tour operators, according to the Globe and Mail, have reported booking declines of up to 85 percent.
There are others who consider Haines and Skagway an exception. Alaska is like the family next door, someone told me: while the dad is a jerk, we can still play with the kids. But pro-boycott Yukoners point to Alaska’s Republican leanings. The majority of Skagway voters, however, chose Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. Haines went red, but barely.
Even as some Yukoners pull away, others are finding ways to preserve the ties that bind. Every summer, Yukoners and Alaskans celebrate their connection with the Kluane Chilkat International Bike Relay, a cross-border bicycle race along the highway from Haines Junction to Haines. This year, the relay’s board, made up of four Alaskans and two Yukoners, voted unanimously to proceed with the event as usual. “We’re not interested in taking a political stand to protest the States,” says Canadian treasurer Colin McCann.
Some Yukoners have suggested the course change and turn riders, who usually number 1,200, around at the Canada-US border. That’s not possible with the race’s operating permit, McCann says. Ultimately, the board wants to let the people make their own decision.
One source of hope amid all the nervous looking-over-our-shoulders is that at the end of March, the Alaska House of Representatives passed a resolution condemning Trump’s tariffs and stressing the importance of the Canada-Alaska relationship. House majority leader Chuck Kopp—a Republican Trump voter—told Yukon News that he didn’t support the president’s threats to Canadian sovereignty. “Canada is our only neighbour,” he said. “It’s always been Canada first for Alaska.” Next, the resolution heads to the Senate.
Amid the tension, about 100 people gathered in Whitehorse at the end of March to march for Canadian sovereignty. McColl and two friends decided to organize the non-partisan rally after hearing about a large gathering in Mexico City to stand in unity against Trump’s tariffs. (Similar events have been held recently in Toronto and Ottawa.) “This is just something that Canadians need right now,” McColl says. “We need to bolster each other.”
On Friday, April 25, join us online for The Walrus Talks at Home: Tariffs. Four expert speakers will discuss what the U.S. tariffs on Canada mean, both now and in the future. Register here.
Source link
[ad_3]
[ad_4]