Whitehorse, Yukon

Whitehorse is a Canadian city, the territorial capital of the Yukon. Its population is 23,205 (Yukon Bureau of Statistics Dec 2004).

Whitehorse is at Historic Mile 918 (current kilometrepost calibration is kilometre 1425.3) of the Alaska Highway and is the former terminus of the White Pass and Yukon Route Railway from Skagway, Alaska (although the rails are still there, the train only goes as far as Carcross now). At the head of navigation on the Yukon River, the city was an important supply and stage centre during the Klondike Gold Rush. It has been the territorial capital since 1953, when the seat was moved from Dawson City after the construction of the Klondike Highway. Whitehorse is in the mountain climate region, the tundra soil region, the arctic vegetation region, and the boreal cordillera ecozone.

The city gets its name from the White Horse rapids, which were said to look like the mane of a white horse. The rapids have disappeared under Schwatka Lake behind a hydroelectric dam, which was completed in 1958.

Nowadays Whitehorse is a government town, with excellent facilities for visitors and locals to enjoy. It is the home of the main campus of Yukon College. A $60 million (CAD) Multiplex centre has been built for the Canada Winter Games in 2007. Whitehorse also previously hosted the 1972, 1980, 1986, 1992 and 2000 Arctic Winter Games.

Law and Government

Whitehorse is a city under Yukon municipal legislation, and has a city council of six councillors and one mayor, elected every three years by eligible Canadian citizens of age 18 or older, resident within city limits.

Geography

Like most of the Yukon, Whitehorse has a dry subarctic climate, although with warmer winters than some Canadian prairies cities. Whitehorse experiences annual temperature average daily highs of 21 °C in July and average daily lows of −22 °C in January. Record high temperature was 34 °C in June 1969 and the lowest was −52 °C in January 1947. Whitehorse has little precipitation with an average annual snowfall of 145 cm and 163 mm of rainfall.

According to Meteorological Service of Canada, Whitehorse has the distinction of being Canada's driest city, mainly because it lies in the rain shadow of the Coast Mountains. Surprisingly, despite its relatively cold climate, Whitehorse was ranked among Canadian cities with the most comfortable climate.

Whitehorse has been described as "pearls on a string", with its residential, industrial and service subdivisions located along the main thoroughfares that carry traffic within city limits. The Alaska Highway is the primary roadway, with branch roads reaching additional subdivisions. One such branch road, signed as "Highway 1A" and following Two Mile Hill Road, 4th Avenue, 2nd Avenue and Robert Service Way, is the main access to downtown, Riverdale and the Marwell Industrial Area. Other branch roads (Range Road, Hamilton Boulevard, Mayo Road) access smaller residential areas and recreational facilities.

Transportation

Whitehorse is served by the Whitehorse International Airport and has scheduled service to Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Fairbanks and Frankfurt, Germany (summer months). During the September 11, 2001 attacks, 3 aircraft approaching the United States from Asia were diverted to Whitehorse as part of Operation Yellow Ribbon, including a Korean Air 747 that was feared hijacked but this was not the case — the plane was low on fuel. Many of the buildings in the downtown area below the airport were evacuated. Those who witnessed the plane's landing said that they saw the RCMP order the crew out at gunpoint.

Surface access to Whitehorse is provided by a network of highways, including the international Alaska Highway connecting the Yukon with the Alaska, British Columbia and Alberta highway networks.

There is presently no active railway service to Whitehorse; the city is reached by the unmaintained tracks of the White Pass and Yukon Route, with the last scheduled service to Whitehorse stopping in October, 1982. Speculation of a trans-continental rail link to Alaska includes one possible route option through Whitehorse, although it is more likely that a route with some ease of construction will bypass the city by over one hundred miles.

The Yukon River is essentially navigable, but no passenger or freight services use the river at Whitehorse.

Within Whitehorse, there are several taxi companies, as well as the city-owned Whitehorse Transit which provides bus service on weekdays and Saturdays from morning until early evening. There is a waterfront tram, known as the "trolley", which provides transport along a short rail section along the Yukon River; it is chiefly tourist-oriented and is not yet integrated into the municipal transit system.

The city road network is adequate, although it is congested during rush hours and discussions occasionally occur as to how it might better be managed, such as designating one-way streets. There are some bottlenecks, such as the single two-lane bridge to the Riverdale subdivision; street surfaces are in fairly good condition.

Education

Whitehorse has several schools as part of a Yukon-government operated public school system, including three high schools (Grade 8 or 9 up to 12), ten elementary schools (one of which is outside city limits) and one primary school. Three (including one high school) are geared to the Roman Catholic population, but attended by non-Catholic students as well. In addition, one of the elementary schools uses French as primary language, both for Francophone children as well as for children whose parents choose French immersion.

Whitehorse also has Yukon College, a post-secondary institution with ties to the University of Northern British Columbia.

Sports

Whitehorse has no major junior sports teams; however, local high school teams play teams based in Alaska from time to time during a sports year. Local businesses sponsor a number of local teams for baseball, hockey and soccer.

Arts and Culture

Some of the tourist attractions in Whitehorse include Miles Canyon, the S.S. Klondike sternwheeler, the MacBride Museum, the Old Log Church Museum, the Beringia Centre, Yukon Gardens, "Log Skyscrapers," the Whitehorse fish ladder, the Yukon Wildlife Preserve and the Takhini Hot Springs.

Although he grew up mostly in Dawson City, Canadian author Pierre Berton was born in Whitehorse. As well, Robert W. Service started writing his poetry when he moved to Whitehorse. Other famous people from Whitehorse include senator Ione Christensen and actor Tahmoh Penikett.

Communications and media

Whitehorse has no local television stations; however, the regional Yukon bureau of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation contributes daily to the regional pan-northern newscast that originates in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. CBC television established a TV transmitter in Whitehorse in 1968 using the Frontier Coverage Package until Anik satellite broadcasts became available early in 1973. In addition, some local TV programs are produced for the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network, APTN.

Whitehorse is served by a cable television company, founded in 1958, that carries 71 analog channels plus a digital service; as with all of Canada, direct satellite TV is available from Canada's two competing providers.

Whitehorse has several local radio stations, including CBC Radio One's regional network for the Yukon, CKRW-AM/FM, CHON-FM (aboriginal radio) which both have Yukon-wide networks of transmitters, and two local low-power stations. There are also transmitters for CBC Radio Two and for La Premiere Chaine of the CBC.

Whitehorse has two newspapers -- the Whitehorse Star (five-days-per-week) and the Yukon News (three-days-per-week), plus periodicals for local special interests, such as L'aurore boreale for the Francophone community.

Internet service, including broadband service, is available from a number of local providers, including the cable television and telephone companies. The local telephone service provider is NorthwesTel.

Demographics

References

External links

Cities in Yukon | Provincial and territorial capitals of Canada

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