Dawson City's reaction to the news that it might soon become home to Thane Moore, the convicted rapist from Prince Edward Island, has been swift and furious.

'Since I have been in office, I've never witnessed a reaction from the community as swift and vehement as today,' Mayor John Steins wrote in his Mayor's Blog on Thursday afternoon.

'My e-mails are clogged up and the phone is ringing off the the hook. The message is loud and clear: Please do not allow this individual to relocate to Dawson!''

The mayor said this morning it is very disturbing that someone classified as likely to violently re-offend should be sent to a small, isolated town wth limited facilities for monitoring him.

The town has hired Whitehorse lawyer Lori Lavoie to immediately review the transcipts from Moore's court appearance Thursday to determine if there is any means of appealing the decision permitting Moore to relocate to Dawson, the mayor said.

A petition is being organized, he added.

'(It) will be part of an appeal to him directly suggesting that his presence in our community is not welcome.

'Dawson is a small town and it will be very difficult for him to disappear into the woodwork.'

The petition will also go to the territorial government and the courts, he said.

Moore was convicted in 1993 and sentenced to 14 years in prison for raping and beating a woman who had given him a ride while he was hitchhiking. Twice during the attack, he choked the 21-year-old victim into unconsciosness, and left her for dead after stealing her car.

Evidence indicates he's done little to rehabilitate himself through available programs, and authorities have labelled him a danger to re-offend violently.

But he has served his full sentence, and will be a free man Sept. 16.

While there are no parole conditions, the federal Department of Justice did use a section of the Criminal Code to force conditions on Moore's release for one year.

The specific section used by the Crown allows the court to impose conditions where there is a fear the individual will commit a serious personal injury offence.

Under law, the order is good for one year, though the Crown can apply for an extension of a year if it still fears the individual is a threat.

Moore was in the Yukon in 2000 and 2001 on parole at the Savalation Army's halfway house, the Adult Resource Centre.

He was returned to prison after breaching his parole, and escaped in 2002 but was found a day later in Moncton.

The federal Crown's office asked the New Brunswick provincial court judge yesterday to prohibit Moore from relocating to Whitehorse because of threatening letters he'd sent from prison to individuals in Whitehorse who he met while here.

Moore had also written the premier complaining about the conduct of one of his parole supervisors, who has apparently rejected his advances.

In addition to not being allowed to be in Whitehorse, Moore is forbidden to contact the supervisors of the ARC. (See sidebar below.)

Steins said a town meeting has been called for Monday night to discuss the matter.

'I think the whole town will be coming out for that.'

Steins said he contacted the office of Premier Dennis Fentie and Justice Minister Marian Horne for assistance, but has heard nothing.

Nor has he heard from Klondike MLA Steve Nordick of the Yukon Party.

Cabinet spokesman Albert Petersen said this morning neither the premier nor Horne will comment on the situation.

Nordick, however, told the Star this morning he has begun a lobby effort to prevent Moore from relocating to Dawson.

Moore is not wanted nor welcome in Dawson, and if he does arrive, will very quickly understand how unwelcome he his, the MLA said.

Nordick said a small northern community the size of Dawson is not an appropriate community to relocate such a violent offender, as it simply doesn't have the capacity to manage those types of individuals.

Sarah Winton, emphasizing she was not speaking on behalf of the Dawson City Women's Shelter, where she works, insisted this morning that Dawson does not have the proper resources to monitor such a person

'I just think it is real scary that somebody like this may be in our midst.'

Whitehorse RCMP Sgt. Roger Lockwood explained Thursday the Yukon's Public Notification Committee will be meeting soon to assess the Moore file, and determine if there is a potential threat. If they find he is, they can recommend to the RCMP whether a public notification is warranted of the offender's pending arrival, he explained.

Lockwood said there is obviously public concern, and anyone observing a violation or possible violation of his release conditions should contact the RCMP immediately.

The officer did note, however, there are other individuals in the community who on are various release conditions for various criminal offences.

The mayor of Dawson recognizes there is a time for what he called Christian charity, where offenders take steps to improve.

He recognizes Moore has rights.

But this is a case where it appears as if there was every indication that this person is not remorseful, nor did anything to take advantage of rehabiliation programs available to him, and the authorities themselves have tagged him at high risk to re-offend violently, Steins pointed out.

'So who in their right mind would welcome them into their community, regardless of the Charter of Rights?'

Steins said there is no question Dawson City was blindsided by the development Thursday.

There was absolutely no opportunity for the community to be heard at Moore's hearing, he pointed out.

He said somebody obviously didn't want him in Whitehorse, but one has to question why the entire Yukon wasn't placed off-limits.

It's not possible to live in the Yukon and not have the ability to visit Whitehorse, since the communities and capital are so intertwined, for shopping, health care needs and so on, he said.

Stein said if there's a fear around allowing Moore to relocate to Whitehorse, letting him move to Dawson isn't any sort of solution, as the communities are just a stone's throw away from each other.

It's likely the provincial judge hearing the case didn't really appreciate the layout of the land and the dynamics of the Yukon, he suggested.

Stein said he hopes the fact that the City of Dawson was not consulted nor given the opportunity to be heard is enough to open the door to an appeal of the decision yesterday, where the town could then be heard.

Postings to the cityofdawson.com website indicate outrage that the territorial government has not protested this federal decision, and that Moore would be banned from the capital but not from Dawson.

Comments note that Dawson's streets are not all brightly lit and that the back alleys are pretty dark.

Steins concedes that it is hard for the community to do very much to prevent Moore, who has served his entire 14-year sentence, from coming to Dawson, but feels the courts ought to have been more savvy about the facts of life in the Yukon.

'Obviously, the court should have included the whole Yukon as being off-limits to him, rather than exposing our community to this ominous threat.'