Whitehorse Daily Star

March 31, 2023

• It will be tea time in May: city Whitehorse seniors and elders are invited to register for the City’s annual Seniors’ Tea, which will be held in person for the first time since 2019.
• Performing This Evening Jani Lauzon rehearses her Prophecy Fog performance Wednesday at the Yukon Arts Centre.
• Public input to determine a Yukon motto Yukon residents are being encouraged to participate in a process to select what will be a first for the territory: a motto.
• Proposed surcharge brews storm of discontent The wise old adage that at least a government can’t tax a sunny day has suddenly developed a foggy future.
• MAD Puffs parody presented .
• Defending against suit has cost taxpayers $1 M The Yukon government has spent in excess of $1 million on legal fees related to a lawsuit against the government’s 2020 emergency order regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.
• March clearances begin in Dawson City Graders are chewing up Dawson’s frozen streets, while loaders are filling trucks and sending them on their way full of the winter’s accumulation of white stuff.
• Liberals’ stance on fracking ‘strong enough’: Pillai Following the approval of the Willow oil drilling development on Alaska’s Northern Slope, the  Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation has come forward with concerns. 
• Yukon faces nation’s worst toxic drug death rate When the doors close at night at the administration office at Yukon’s Carcross Tagish First Nation, a van hits the road and drives through the communities to offer naloxone to reverse overdoses, drug testing kits, food and even a friendly face to help those struggling because of the opioid crisis.
• City to help Safe At Home Society City council has approved a motion to provide financial support to the Safe At Home Society’s project to turn the former Coast High Country Inn into supportive housing.
• Premier welcomes budgetary initiatives Premier Ranj Pillai said Wednesday the new federal budget includes “significant new investments for health care, and I am pleased that it confirms the renewal of the Territorial Health Investment Fund for a 10-year period.”
• Tredger makes history as first non-binary MLA Rising on a point of personal privilege Wednesday, the NDP MLA formerly known as “Emily” Tredger announced they are non-binary, and announced their name change to Lane Tredger. 
• Plan charts city’s future through to 2040 City council has adopted the new Official Community Plan (OCP) that will guide development and policy for Whitehorse out to 2040.

March 30, 2023

• Indigenous-led youth retreat supported mental wellness The Trʼondëk Hwëchʼin First Nation and the Yukon government hosted an Indigenous-led by-youth-for-youth retreat earlier this month at the Sky High Wilderness Ranch outside of Whitehorse.
• New fund to support creative and cultural practitioners’ development The Yukon government is launching the Creative and Cultural Career Advancement Fund to provide support for Yukon creative or cultural practitioners.
• MP, premier critique new federal budget Yukon MP Brendan Hanley has highlighted items in the new $490 billion federal budget he believes will benefit the territory, as well as other regions of the country.
• Ambassador of Kazakhstan confers with premier Premier Ranj Pillai met Wednesday with Akylbek Kamaldinov, the “extraordinary and plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan to Canada,” in Whitehorse.
• Yukoner charged with manslaughter after woman’s death A Whitehorse man has been charged with manslaughter in relation to a drug overdose death in April 2022.

March 29, 2023

• The Yukon Home Education Society presents Shakespeare .
• Sister city proposal is moving forward The City of Whitehorse is moving forward to establish a sister city relationship with the City of Chortkiv, Ukraine.
• Officers’ use of force was proper: investigation Several RCMP officers were justified in their motive and methods in taking down a man carrying an axe in Rotary Peace Park, an investigation has concluded.
• Stories For All Lou La La! was one of the readers Sunday for the Guild Drag Story Time at the Guild Hall.
• Re-budgeting plan moving forward City council has passed first and second readings of the bylaw required to re-budget $40.8 million unspent in last year’s capital expenditure budget.
• Pillai meets head of Scottish gov’t office Premier Ranj Pillai says he was pleased to meet with John Devine, the head of the Scottish Government Office in Canada, on Monday in Whitehorse.
• Keeping baby fed is costing $900 monthly The case of a Yukon family with a baby who has a severe allergy was brought up in the legislative assembly on Monday.
• White apologized to tenants evicted from homes NDP Leader Kate White says she “learned something” from the unintended consequences of the rent caps that have been applied across the territory.