Yukon (1983: Doomsday)

The Yukon is a loosely knit confederation of settlements in the extreme northwest of the Canadian Arctic. It is a direct continuation of the former Canadian territory and since 2004 has been associated with the. Modern services are only slowly being retored to the Yukon, and the territory remains a wild frontier in every way.

Background
The Mackenzie and Stikine Mountains isolate the Yukon from the Northwest Territories to the east and British Colombia to the south. Since nature separated the Yukon from its neighbors, it seems natural that it would be a distinct territory; however, for much of its history its population was so low that a separate government hardly seemed justified.

The Yukon was carved out of the Northwest Territories in 1898 at the height of its world-famous gold rush. However, the territory quickly declined, and its population dropped below 5,000 by 1920. From the time of World War II, the Canadian government began to improve the Yukon's infrastructure and services, paving the way for growth in the mining of other minerals. A small tourist sector began to take shape around this time, and by 1981 the population had risen to 23,000, around three quarters of whom lived in the capital. The Yukon depended on imports from the south for almost all of its food, fuel, and manufactured goods.

Aftermath
Although there were no nuclear targets in the Yukon, the capital - and most of the people - faced famine conditions within a few weeks of the attacks. The territorial government quickly made contact by air with surviving communities outside the territory's borders, but the difficulty of travel meant that these early contacts would not last.

Government Leader Chris Pearson announced a strict system of rationing to conserve Whitehorse's dwindling food supplies, but it was clear that even this would not save the community. A settlement that size simply could not live off the land in the Yukon's harsh climate. People began to leave. A few large exoduses departed the capital in the first year or two. A sizeable band reached the port town of Skagway, in relative safety. Others who went south into British Columbia fared worse, as parts of that province were given over to violence. Several wandering clans in the region have known Yukon origins. A small few eventually settled in the growing community of in the early 1990s.

Interim
The Yukon's resources and population shrank quickly. Daily life in the 1990s had much in common with the 1890s. Local wood and coal provided fuel, and hunting and trapping was a primary source of food. Much of the remaining population of Whitehorse dispersed to smaller, self-sufficient settlements in the surrounding area.

The idea of the Yukon Territory persisted, however. The Legislative Assembly (from this point on, usually called the Territorial Assembly) passed a resolution in 1985 that can be considered the beginning of the new Yukon. Every settlement still in contact with the capital was called upon to send a delegate to the Assembly's next Council, so that it could beter represent the scattered communities of the territory now that Whitehorse was so depleted. The 1986 Assembly took steps to re-configure the government to fit the new situation. Deprived of resources, the government's main role would be to foster unity and resolve disputes. A census in 1987 helped show exactly what parts of the territory were still participating in the government.

Outreach
Reliable communication with Alaska was restored c. 1989. Alaska was then under the authority of the, and the Territorial Assembly was the first Canadian survivor government that US authorities were aware of, so it caused considerable excitement. The APA was in no position to offer help, however, and did not even send an official envoy until 1993 in a mission that combined exploration with diplomacy. The report described the Yukon as "a tribal confederation in essence", noting that while the forms of Canadian territorial government had been preserved, the Yukon had very little in common with a modern state.

The surviving Canadian government sent a fleet to explore the Pacific in 1994-5 that famously made contact with the thriving Commonwealth of. Although the fleet commanders had been informed of the surviving Territorial Assembly in Whitehorse, they decided that the necessary detour to Alaska would not be worth it, resolving to send an expedition at a future date. The Victorians, however, did send emisaries to the Yukon in 1996 as part of an overall policy of exploring the entire region of western North America. Yukoners were happy to learn of another surviving Canadian province, but the news did not much change daily life in the territory.

Alaska became an independent state when the American Provisional Administration disbanded in 1995. With independence Alaskans became more interested in their nearest neighbor. Trade resumed along the Yukon River for the first time in decades, the river being, once again, more reliable than the roads. The Territorial Assembly sent a permanent envoy to Sitka - the Yukon's first diplomat abroad. A diplomat was sent to Victoria in 1998, but no permanent embassy was established.

Commissioner Douglas Bell retired in 1998 after a very long term helping lead the Yukon's survivor government. The Territorial Assembly decided to merge his position with that of Government Leader: since Canada no longer existed, it did not make sense to maintain a separate office to represent its government. From then on, the Yukon's Commissioner, chosen by the Assembly, acted as both head of state and government.

A Canadian mission did arrive in the year 2000. The Yukoners warmly greeted the new arrivals and expressed the wish for a reunited Canada some time in the far-off future. Bell, Pearson, and other local leaders were presented with the Order of Canada in recognition of their heroic leadership. Despite this and other similarly Canadian outpourings of good will, both nations recognized that geography kept them very far apart for the time being.

Association
The growing river trade had brought a small number of Alaskans into the Yukon. Beginning in the late 1990s, a few began investing in small mining operations. The Alaskan government voted in 1999 to send aid to help modernize some of the Yukon's key institutions. By and large these were the same institutions as had existed before Doomsday: the Mounted Police, Whitehorse General Hospital, Yukon College. Alaskan aid helped provide these key organizations with such amenities as electric power. Bandit raids, always a problem to the south of Whitehorse, could be more effectively stopped.

By the early 2000s, talk began to circulate about the possibility of the Yukon's merging with Alaska, in light of the ever-closer economic relationship between them. While some Yukoners liked this idea, it never had much chance of success. The territorial government may have been reduced to a "tribal confederation", but it had far too much history to be abandoned. The territory had survived Doomsday intact, and most Yukoners were tremendously proud of that. On the other hand, it was hard to ignore the fact that any future improvements would depend on Alaska, and, indirectly, on Australia-New Zealand.

Representatives from Jervis Bay arrived in 2001 and offered the Yukon a Compact of Free Association, which in the Yukon's case would basically be a formalized agreement on government aid. The territory moved slowly, but three years later agreed to the terms, joining the Aussie-Kiwi bloc in a solemn ceremony in Whitehorse.

Becoming an associated state put the Yukon in contact for the first time with the wider world. Being part of a community of mainly Oceanian nations was somewhat jarring at first, as was the sudden exposure to news from Asia and South America.

Victoria made contact with the surviving British monarchy in in 2005. For Yukoners, this raised the question of continued loyalty to the monarchy. The ANZC was ambivelent, and the matter was never resolved. The Compact of Free Association gave the Yukon the right to join a revived Canadian federation when one should arise, and presumably this would include the Crown. On the other hand, King Andrew and New Britain were internationally unpopular, and no one seemed to be in a rush to forge ties with them. The prevailing opinion in the Yukon was to "wait and see".

The Yukon did not immediately join the in 2008 due to remoteness and general mistrust. The shock of being grouped with the Pacific islands on the international scene had not quite worn off, and anyway many Yukoners did not see what benefits membership would bring. However, others supported the idea of international cooperation, and the ANZC, eager to add a member to its voting bloc, applied some pressure. The Yukon finally requested to join and was admitted as a member early in 2010.

Government
The Yukon is governed by the Territorial Assembly, a council of 21 to 28 members. Its size fluctuates because some outlying communities participate only sporadically. The Assembly elects the Commissioner of the Yukon, who acts as head of both state and government. The Yukon has an independent judiciary. Security is maintained by the Royal Mounted Police, who answer to the Assembly.

Culture and economy
Despite being connected to Australia-New Zealand, the Yukon remains a wilderness where most people subsist off the land or provide for small local markets. Trade with Alaska and the ANZC has led to some development of its mineral resources, especially silver, lead, and zinc. The Commonwealth dollar, introduced informally in the late '90s, has not replaced barter as the main means of exchange.

Traditional First Nations crafts made a comeback out of necessity, as hand-crafted goods were needed to survive after the collapse of trade with the south. The Yukon has developed a distinct style of clothing and decoration that has caught the eye of ANZ anthropologists.

Yukon College remained a place of higher education throughout the post-Doomsday period, but the deteriation of town life in Whitehorse, and the decline of the market economy, meant that neither students nor professors could afford to stay there full-time. The ANZC has made supporting the college one of its top priorities in the territory.