A quick update before I head off on a work field trip to meet some people outside of Whitehorse!
Maya and I are taking "the Turtle"...her green Dodge Dakota with camper up to visit Dawson (Tr'ondek Hwech'in), Mayo (Na-Cho Nyuk Dun), Carmacks (Little Salmon) and Pelly Crossing (Selkirk).

My cousin Lauren was visiting this week, so it was a great time to be a tourist. Yesterday we spent the day in Skagway, Alaska...cruise ship capital of the North. Great day to be celebrating Independance Day with the locals and the tourists alike! Tug of war, arm wrestling, slow bike race, candy apples, cotton candy, ice cream, beer, lots of red white and blue. It was classic America Day as I imagined it.

The drive to Skagway from Whitehorse (which I have every intention of riding my roadbike on) is in short: stunning. It is just a short drive and as a bonus, I live about a half hour into it already. We saw a little bear on the side of the road at the Summit which we saw on the way back...still don't know if it was a grizzly or a blondish black bear. See the next post to enter your vote!

We also saw two adult looking grizzly on the tidal flats (right where the campgrounds are, how comforting), just outside of Skagway, on the way to Dyea. It was just like I've imagined Alaska and the BC Coast to be...end of a fjordlike channel...big river flowing into the ocean, tide flats with tall grass and a few grizzly bears. Absolutley gorgeous.

The most exciting part of the Skagway venture was the big purchase I made...of a hand powered coffee grinder. I am so excited to start making real coffee again, those who have witnessed my addiction and my general snobbery around coffee will understand that I have been a bit lost without electricity and a coffee grinder. Haven't tried it out yet though (see next few posts about where I've been this week...). Really won't want to leave the cabin now...

True North.

Yesterday was the birthday of the nation of Canada. I've been thinking a lot about what I think about my country and what I think of being a Canadian lately and thought it was a good time to share.

Our Home on Native Land.
I've always liked this twist on the line "our home and native land" from our national anthem. It is true, and few places as apparent as Whitehorse and the North in general. I reflect on the history of the people who call this massive land home...Aboriginal people, European immigrants, displaced peoples from around the world, peacelovers from South of the border, former slaves, intellects, scientists, entrepreneurs, mail-order brides, fortune seekers...all of us who have come to live together, in whatever sense of the word.
It is sad and true that the first time I learned of the minimal existence of treaties in British Columbia was in my 5th year at the University of Alberta, in a 300 level Native Studies class that I begged the faculty to let me in to without the pre-requisites. The intensity of the utterly profound realization that what is now 7 generations of my family have lived on land that was never legally ceded or surrendered is as real now as it was then (my shout out to Dr. James Dempsey at the UofA School of Native Studies for powerful teaching). With a course in Constitutional Law now solidly under my belt, it is even more profound for me to contemplate this idea. Working here with a myriad of agreements, legislation, understandings and misunderstandings, it is difficult to see how our country operates on a semblance of justice or equity.
The difficult thing for my (our) generation is...where do we go? How do we move forward? How do we recognize the war that has been waged against Nations in the background of the building of our country? I was born here too, and while I did not have a hand in creating the situation we're in, I think I best take note of it and start from a different place. Billy Joel says it best: We didn't start the fire...we didn't light it but we'll try to fight it (OK, something like that, sorry Billy!).
Living in a territory where there are self-government agreements and a much larger proportion of the population that is First Nations has opened my eyes at least a little bit to the realities of the history of all our nations and what it means to the future of our country. We can't go forward and leave some people behind. We have a rich natural and cultural history tied up with the First people of Canada. The sooner we recognize that the path forward is one of building communities out of the foundations of respect and understanding, the sooner we can truely see what we can achieve together. Are we on the right track? It's not for me to say.

True North
Living for a short time in the north is something that every Canadian should do...on second thought we should probably all spend time in all the regions of Canada. But the thing is that there is MAGIC here. I have been drawn to the North, sort of circumpoloarly for a while, not knowing why. After spending a fall in Finland, at about the same latitude as I am at now but in a very different climate, I knew I needed to visist Canada's North.
I can't really describe what it is, and anybody who has been to the North knows what I mean. The pictures I take might tell 1000 words, but I need a million. It's the way it makes me feel, the way the night never comes, the trees don't block out the sun, the mountains that look like praries that got their backs up, the forgetting to go to bed because there is so much to do, the water that doesn't really warm up enough to go for a comfortable swim, the mosquitoes, the closeness of Alaska (I can see it from my backyard hahahahaha) with the ocean and the big mountains that rise right out of it. Or that there is this strange feeling that it's important to have people living up here (OK, I'm not even north or important compared to Old Crow, etc) just in case somebody wants to check in to see that we're squatting the North properly so that it doesn't get taken away buy hmmm, Russians? Greenlandians? The Swedes? I'm rooting for the Swedes, for sure...imagine our potential for hockey greatness if were were annexed by Sweden...or our potential for a school system that teaches based on merit and not ability to pay (whoa, I think I feel a whole other tangent coming on...noted and saved for later).
At any rate, there is so much to love about the North. The wild spaces (WILD!), the clear and raging rivers, the active lifestyle embraced by so may, the art, the time to make art (less a product of the North and more a product of lifestyle). But I can't tell you about it, you have to come and experience it yourself!

Strong and Free
Being to Alaska and back a few times since I've been here, even since the great passport law which I still don't understand the big deal about, I realize how lucky we are to be able to come and go (not like the Cubans I met this winter). And that while we may not always get along, we do have pretty great neighbours (good friends, good neighbours as Boris from Haines said). We need them, they need us, simple as that. Working for an organization that spans both sides of the border and connected by a river highlights that. Downstream users need us to kindly refrain from polluting their water and we need the downstream communities to take care of the migrating salmon populations that people depend on upstream. Whether there is an international border between communities doesn't much matter to fish or to water quality...the decisions we make about how to care for them is what matters.

Oh. Canada.
You are not perfect, you've got a past that you don't teach your children about. You have a neighbour that is a bit of a bully but who you know depends on you (sounds like a relationship that needs some work). You have wild things and wild places.
I think that we have some work to do if we really think that we can be a truely equitable nation that respects the dignity and history and determination of ALL the people who live here. But I don't think that I would want to do that work any other place in the world. Because this is home, from Coast to Coast to Coast. And I'm starting to feel a bit about what that means...it took me 2500 kms from my roots to start to understand that....

Happy Canada Day!

Whitehorse City Council

Last night I presented on behalf of the watershed council to the Whitehorse City Council. We are asking them to join our Council as an "Affiliated Organization", which is an agreement that essentially says that they agree in principle with the work that we do and our mission and vision. The other reason for the visit was to invite them to the Summit that is to be held in August.

I haven't been to a Council meeting since I sat on the other side of the desk (for those readers who don't know my political and work history, I served a term as a Town Councillor in Golden, BC), so there was a combination of nerves and nostalgia as I sat and waited my turn to speak. The fun part about being in a new town is that people don't know who you are...so I got to listen to one Councillor express his disdine about me getting on the agenda while I sat in the gallery and listened...wow. But rather than be disheartened by it and his questions, I took it as a chance to use the persuasiveness that I am apparenlty learning in law school. We'll see about that I guess.

As it was a Committee meeting at which City Council does not make decisions, my job was primarily to provide some information about the Summit, the YRITWC and the affiliated organization agreement. All of this in 5 minutes. Now...in Golden I believe that we had a time limit for presentations to Council, but I really don't know what it was because some were 5 minutes, some felt like 5 hours...it really depended on who they were and how many jokes Aman would make at the presenters expense (your spirit was with me in the Chambers Aman...I imagined a little brown man with a twinkle in his eye listening to the presentation). Here in Whitehorse they definitely don't run their meetings on Yukon time! They had a little box with lights and a timer to cut you off when you were supposed to finish. And the presenter before me did indeed get cut off.

The funny thing about running a government is that I think that no matter where you are or what you are doing, the issues are pretty similar. Right before me the local swim club was in begging council for more lanes for their swimmers...using the same arguments that we'd heard in Golden for figure skaters, hockey players, swimmers, soccer players, ball players, etc. I wanted to comment to the Whitehorse council about that but wasn't sure that my "sage wisdom and advice" would be welcomed!

In the end, the City Council asked a few good questions (which if you saw the video you could watch me stumble and mumble a bit) but in the end I think that we will get them on side...or at least I hope so! It was nice to get out and to use the experience and skills that I've been gathering up for the past few years.

I'll let you know if they sign on at their next Council meeting...stay tuned!

The Watershed Council and the Wizard of Oz (we also call him Rob)

Work at the YRITWC has been progressing along. Lots to learn and so many opportunities to work on interesting projects.
The Yukon office consists of myself and Maya (another Canadian Lawyers Abroad intern), Loni - co-ordinating the Summit and Albert- our water tech and all-round authority on all things Yukon.

When I was hired/selected/roped in to this internship, I'd been talking to a man named Rob Rosenfeld. Rob is an Alaskan who lives in Homer and spends his time working with Aboriginal people from all corners of the globe. He is also the kind of guy who does all his business on the phone but will answer the odd email. Oh, and did I mention he is running for Govenor of Alaksa? Anyway, I had spoken to Rob on many occassions...from my car on the way home from a ski trip, in the campaign office in Kimberley when I was working there for Norm Macdonald's re-election campaign, from the office in Whitehorse when Rob was meeting with important people in Washington, D.C. However, for the first few weeks, Mr. Rosenfeld was simply a voice on the other end of the phone...and I started to joke that he wasn't real...he was like the Wizard of Oz and we would pull back the curtain and find a voice recording instead of a man. To make it even better, the day that Rob was supposed to arrive to our office, I was still living here...waiting, waiting, made extra dinner, cleaned the place up, waiting...no Rob. 1 am. No Rob. I thought for sure that he was not coming. In the morning I woke up and the door to the other bedroom was closed. But I hadn't heard anybody come in so I thought the wind had closed it. 8am, 9am, 10am...no Rob. Then finally, there was a stirring from the room and there was the man behind the voice...slightly travel worn but in general good spirits. It had apparently been an epic travel back up to the Yukon and a late night journey from Skagway.

The week with Rob in the office was both interesting and a lot of fun. He's been with the watershed council since the beginning, and has been working in rural and Aboriginal communities for much longer. I got to learn a lot more about the YRITWC and the work that is being done on both sides of the border. Also some background issues like why there are so few salmon left in the Yukon River Watershed and just how lame Sarah Palin is.

We are working on organizing for the big Summit in early August. I have been working to build a great agenda for the youth who will be attending the Summit and also getting the Yukon First Nation youth out. The summit is going to be held on the shore of Lake Leberge, so we are planning to have some paddling opportunities, time for the youth and elders to interact, a group art project, traditional skills and more. This year we are hoping to build the group to work together in the future and an incoming intern who will be here in mid-July will continue that work. Youth empowermet is pretty near and dear to my heart, as I was able to participate in so many great character and knowledge building events, not to mention made great contacts and friends around the world. There is so much potential for these youth to take real action to protect their land, it is a matter of bringing that out in them! I am excited for the Summit...it will be a full 3 days of learning, teaching and celebrating. Water....how it brings people together and connects us! It is one thing that we can agree on: we need clean water and healthy aquatic ecosystems for humans to survive...now it's what that looks like and how much we can take that is the difficult part.

Other projects that I've been working on include researching the regulatory regime in the Yukon for the installation of a hydrokinetic generator (I think I have already written about this), which I will be writing an article about for the Summit, researching some statutes and case law concerning the Nations and Tribes adopting their own water quality standards in the Watershed (which is really interesting if you are a super nerd like me), doing outreach to Yukon municipalities to join the Council as affiliate organizations and just generally helping out where help is needed.

Next week I will go present to the Whitehorse City Council about the Watershed Council, invite them to the Summit and invite them to sign on as an affiliate organization. It will be my first time attending a council meeting on "the other side" of the table since leaving Golden Town Council. Just going into City hall and asking to be put on the agenda brought all sorts of nostalgia running back!

Over the time that Rob was here we also went to meet with the Yukon gov't about a major funding opportunity. I have also been researching potential funding sources for the Council to both continue our water quality monitoring program and to build our youth programs. It is definately a bit of a flashback to Wildsight days and it made me thankful for the experience that I got there and the work that we did. The ENGO world is a small one, that is for sure!

One month has already gone by and it's been going fast. So much to learn and so much to do...just the way I like it!

Little Cabin in the Woods

I thought it was about time to let you all in on what's been going on recently.

First things first...living the Yukon dream.


When I arrived in Whitehorse, I had been living in our office (which is a 2-bdrm apartment), which was nice, free and couldn't beat the commute of roll over, make coffee, at work. However, in my head I saw myself living in a little wooden cabin by a lake or a creek, hauling water, chopping firewood and being constantly paranoid of being eaten by a bear. What I'd like to call the Yukon dream.



It came true! I called about a "rustic but cozy"
cabin in the newspaper, the price was right and the location sounded pretty decent. So I went to look...it turned out to be better than I had imagined...down a gravel road that the Southern Lakes Caribou herd frequents (or so rumor has it). Just a few km from the cabin is Annie Lake and the Wheaton River, not to mention the Annie Lake Golf Course, which I missed on my first few drives out.
The cabin must have been built in stages, as the former inhabitants got either bored or inspired. There is beautiful handmade log furniture...a big log bed, desk, kitchen table, chairs. Maybe this is what cabin fever inspires. A wood stove for heat, propane stove for cooking, solar panel to keep a light on in my room and the bathroom. There is even a spare bedroom...so no excuses not to come and visit! A little path leads down to the Watson River and a potential swimming hole, but I'm not sure that the mosquitoes or the cold water will make that a reality!
My landlords are super, and live just a little walk away. They recently got two little black lambs that, as Brett put it "probably won't see winter". Sigh. The trouble with being vegetarian. But now I have some little buddies to eat up the leftover veggies I have without risking a compost. There are also 5 dogs that live on the property...my favorite is the Australian sheep dog named Tetra. She comes to say hello and is a little sweetheart.

Evenings at the cabin are spent drinking tea, painting and reading. I'm working on "My Life", Fidel Castro's biography. It's a big read and I'm just about to get into the good stuff...they're about to march in to Havana.

There is also a small garden just outside the door. I planted some beans and lettuce and will get some squashes and maybe potatoes to through in. I seem to have a legacy of gardens that I tear the weeds out of, plant and then move away from...Golden, Edmonton, now Whitehorse! Thank goodness the main weed here is fireweed, which is a beautiful plant in its own. The raspberry plants are also taking over the garden...so when I leave there will be something left I suppose.
I saw my first bear the other day. About 7km down the road from my house this BIG black mass was hanging out by the road near a few other homes. Now, why this beautiful creature is spending its time with the only humans within 100's of kms of wilderness is kind of beyond me! Now hopefully I don't see that guy again....

Last weekend Maya, Martina, myself and about 1/2 of Whitehorse took off to Haines, Alaska, for the 17th Annual Great Alaska Craft Beer and Homebrew Festival. Yes, I went to the USA for the beer, which was outstanding, even after many tastes (the Haines Brewery Spruce Tip actually uses spruce tips in the brewing and it is the finest beer I have ever tasted). The festival was held at the fair grounds, which also happened to be the set for the movie White Fang. Amidst the revelling in beer was first a band that sounded like it came from the Kootenays and then a bluegrass band. Adults in overalls where out in full force. The police where there but only to keep an eye on girls passed out in the sun...I'm surprised they didn't stand so as to make shade for them they were so nice.

Our trip over was great. Spotted 3 grizzly bears by the road and saw Kluane National Park for the first time, it looks absolutely stunning. The Haines Junction, YT to Haines, Alaska, is probably one of the finest drives. There were a lot of superlatives and explicit language as well as some sheer silence to describe the views. Shortly after arriving at the summit, we dropped down into coastal forest and came to a screech at the border (who puts a boarder crossing station on a steep hill??). We were greeted by none other than a fine Mr. Allgood. Yes, it was his name and I am sure that he got drafted by the border service to work at that particular crossing based on his perfect name. After confirming that we did not have any ivory or firearms (I accidently lied about some apples and eggs for no apparent reason), we were in the USA, my first trip since I lifted my self-imposed travel ban when GWBush got re-elected. A few kilometers past the border was my favorite sort of business, the "Food Gas Beer" establishment, but we had just eaten at the Frosty Freeze in Haines Juction so rolled past.

Haines sits at the mouth of the Chilkat River at the end of the Lynn Canal, close to Skagway. They throw down not only a great beer festival but also a Hammer Museum, a great shop called the Mountain Market and a tiny Mexican restaurant. We found that nothing in Haines was easy to find...a restaurant here, campground there...but it made for great exploration (especially on tired hungry bellies).

On the way home from Haines, Maya and I stopped just inside BC to go for a hike off the road. Looked easy enough, just up to a nice ridge to see what we could see. Well, after a few hours of slogging through ankle/knee/waist deep snow we decided that maybe we'd come back later in the summer and brave the bears instead. The views were amazing though and it was a great day out in the sun beating the willow, crossing creeks, kicking steps into snow and looking at rocks and ice.

We also stopped at Million Dollar Falls to see if it really was worthy of its name. It is a pretty stunning waterfall with some exellent trail crew boardwalk installation and a really nice campground (for the Alaska-Yukon RV season).

For Fun

Whitehorse is an incredible city, and the North is an incredible place.

Now, I've only been here for less than 10 days, but have been able to check out a few things and make a few observations.

First of all, anybody you ever knew who now lives in Whitehorse will instantly renew a friendship and share their friends. The connections here are unreal as there are lots of transplants and newbies here. I'm not sure what the term is for somebody who lives in Whitehorse, but I would just call them "nice people". Within a few days of being here, I went to a potluck with Alison who I met while she was at the College in Golden. It was like Golden except that the hostesses mother, from Vancouver Island, smuggled a frozen chicken on the plane for dinner, which reminded me of how far food travels to get to the table up here. Unless of course it's fish, game or berries, much of which is not in season right now.
The recreation possibilities are virtually endless and I am looking forward to my upcoming weekend of "100 mile recreation", kind of like the 100 mile diet. As I have been driving so much lately I thought it prudent to reduce the footprint and stay within 100 miles of Whitehorse. Which means I could go birdwatching, hiking, biking, fishing, running, canoeing, swimming, or possibly grizzly bear wrestling. There is a beautiful trail along the river that connects the downtown (and the S.S. Klondike!) with the campground and the fish ladder (have to go check that out too) at the other end of town. Lots of trails around town to check out as well.
There is a serious arts scene here as well. Lunch time concerts (free) in a little park a few blocks from the office. Lots of galleries. Pottery studio for $5/hr that I will check out on Sunday. Buildings that double as works of art (CBC North is the pinkest pink I've ever seen). I await the cancan dancers this summer. And the festival season! As well as the tourist season.
As part of the environment forum last week, I also attended an evening presentation with a local artist, Marten Berkman and he spoke about the question of whether art can really move people to be connected to place. If a photograph in a boardroom can make people who make decisions about the land actually care about it. It's certainly a good question and one that I'm not sure has an answer.
There are tonnes of good food options here, my favorite thus far being a little cafe called Baked which is right downtown (well, everything is right downtown, really). There are rumors around town that a little brewpub is supposed to open soon, but I don't really know. One of the weird things about the Yukon is that in order to have a liquor license you need to have a hotel. So there are really no standalone bars (no Taps, that's for sure). I guess it's to keep those rowdy goldminers on the downlow when they roll in to town?? If anybody can explain this one, please post in the comments!

At any rate, the bottom line is that there are lots of fun things to do in lots of pretty spots here and it's exciting to be in a brand new place to explore!