Yukon in a Rush

I am in the airport on my way out of Dawson city as I write this, by the time I get to internet (and cell phone reception) again I will be in BC with the Yukon far behind me.

I said before that New Brunswick is the province that everyone forgets, perhaps the Yukon is the province that feels the most forgotten. There are 33,000 people in this province, 90% of them live in Whitehorse, it is kind of hard for me to believe that the whole province is about the same population of a University in Ontario.

I think there are three words (well four if you want to be technical) that sum up my experience in the Yukon best ice cream, dust and attitude.

I know the ice cream one is counter intuitive, but it kind of represents a few things. First, the weather was hot the entire time I was here, however since it is cold the rest of the year, there aren’t really any public pools or even that much air conditioning so you eat ice cream to cool down (if you just aren’t comfortable drinking beer for 12 straight hours). Second, ice cream also represents climate change. Every year since people came up here searching for gold, yukoners have bet on when the ice on the Yukon river would break up. As it turns out, these records show that every year the ice has broken up sooner and sooner. The elders here say animal migration routes and habits are changing, and mudslides and other disasters are becoming more prevalent. I know a few people who deny climate change; they need to talk to some people up here where it is a constant reality.

Dust, well one reason I could not live up in Dawson city is that I don’t think my body could handle sneezing every two minutes from the dust on the road, and I don’t think my neuroses could hadn’t the fact that I would never again have a clean car. They tried to introduce swiffers up here and they were a complete failure, people just complained that they went through them too fast and they were filling up the dump. Several people told me you just have to accept the dust as part of life. Dust is also representative of the gold. To be honest if I never see gold again it will be too soon, honestly, the fascination wears off after the first time you hear the gold rush story, by the 20^th, you really just don’t know what the big deal is with shiny metals. It was more than educational to see a mine (something I have never seen before), I never realised the impact they have, and melting permafrost can’t be a good practise.

Finally attitude, yukoners (claim to) have an independent spirit, this despite the fact that the existence of the province is pretty much completely reliant on government funding (90% of the jobs up here are government jobs). At least 8% are tourism, and there is attitude about the tourists. Yukoners like Canadian tourists, it is pretty flattering when other people decide to come here from the rest of the country, however there is a little tension between American tourists and Canadians, but you have to dig to find it during the tourist season, apparently in the winter it is openly talked about. It seems all we Canadains have our myths we like to believe about ourselves.

So those are my reflections on the Yukon. Its been a great trip, but the Yukon has taught me that I am a wuss and was therefore made for Southern Ontario, and I think I am perfectly OK with that. I am now on the home stretch of my trip. I will be heading back into BC tomorrow and then home through Calgary and back as fast as I can.

On a side note, I am collecting a lot of interviews, I plan to be done all my data gathering by the first week in October, then it is ten straight months of writing and analysis. So, if over the next year I become grouchy, gain a lot of weight and generally don’t see anyone, I promise it will get better again next August! I plan to finish this thesis in 4 years if it kills me (and it probably will). I’ll see you again soon when I back with the Internet.