Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy and Yukon Premier Ranj Pillai were each issuing their own statements on unidentified objects shot down over their respective jurisdictions about a year ago. That’s when Dunleavy argued Alaska remains “the most strategic place on earth” for geopolitics and national defence.
As of last week, the Republican governor and the Liberal premier have signed formal deals to join forces on intergovernmental affairs like Arctic security and to upkeep the Alaska Highway.
On Feb. 9, the two northern leaders inked an Alaska-Yukon intergovernmental relations accord and a memorandum of understanding on the Alaska Highway. Perched in front of a large map of Alaska and the Yukon, Dunleavy joined Pillai at a press conference and signing ceremony at the MacBride Museum in Whitehorse during Dunleavy’s first official trip to the territory.
A British Columbia-based expert in geopolitics said the ties between Alaska and the Yukon aren’t a totally new thing given the history of interaction between the two northern jurisdictions.
“It’s a considerable, I think, extension of a hand in friendship and partnership from Alaska,” associate professor Will Greaves of the University of Victoria told the News by phone on Feb. 13.
Greaves, who is currently on study leave from teaching at the University of Victoria, argued that, obviously, these deals could’ve happened sooner, particularly since it’s Dunleavy’s second term.
“What I think is a bit different is that this was a higher level of political visibility for the relationship,” Greaves said.
As noted by Greaves, a high level of interest and political concern surrounds some key issues affecting both places but neither the state or the territorial government has the final say on major topics that they are dealing with.
“I think that puts the governor and the premier in kind of a difficult spot,” he said.
It remains to be seen if these agreements will bring “positive tangible benefits” to Yukoners and Alaskans, according to Greaves.
Realistically, it’s more of a signal of their mutual priorities to higher levels of government in each jurisdiction, per Greaves.
“They’re using the tools that are available to them, but they don’t have all the tools they need to achieve the outcomes they’re looking for,” he said.
During the press conference, Dunleavy compared what he called “long overdue” formal ties between the U.S. state and the Canadian territory to a next-door neighbour who you’ve never talked with.
“That’s what we’re doing. We’re finding out what the commonalities are, what the interests are and what the opportunities are. This is not a one off for me. And I don’t think it’s a one off for the premier,” Dunleavy said.
“I think this is going to be an enduring relationship, because the world is changing rapidly, and if we’re going to benefit from it and not be a victim of it, this is something that needs to happen.”
Dunleavy indicated the high-altitude objects of February 2023 were a way to test current defence systems.
“We’re on the front line. We chase out Russian fighters and bombers almost on a weekly, monthly basis. We have Chinese warships, they’re going right past Alaska, in the Bering Strait,” Dunleavy said, adding that many people don’t realize that Alaska is only two-and-a-half miles from Russia.
“That balloon was a canary in the mine, and it should be a wake-up call to everyone.”
Alaska has a lot more in common with the Yukon than the states of Iowa, Hawaii or Pennsylvania, such as climate, history, people and environment, according to Dunleavy.
One commonality shared by the Alaska governor and the Yukon premier is that the jurisdictions they lead tend to get left behind at the national level, as some northern leaders in Canada have decried.
Dunleavy gave an example from his side: It was the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Airlines were grounded. Ports were in trouble. Overland routes were shut down. That’s when it hit him that the more than 730,000 people of Alaska would probably take a backseat compared to New York or California when it comes to dealing with the virus nationally in the United States.
“At that moment, you realize that Alaska has about 10 days’ worth of food,” he said.
“We ended up deciding at that point that we aren’t going to wait for somebody to take care of us. And we can’t wait for somebody to take care of us. And so, we have to start acting like a sovereign on our own.”
Dunleavy indicated Alaska and the Yukon will keep talking about their approaches to Arctic security, homeland security and Northwest Pacific security to see where they can agree and tighten relations.
He noted Alaska has an air force presence, army presence and the largest coast guard presence in the country. The lack of icebreakers in the Arctic is a discussion to be had, he said, but part of the conversation around beefing up security will be to address the “conflicts of the future” involving intellectual defences against cyber hacks, technological crashes and communication jams.
Pillai indicated that the relationship building involves looking at their ability to share information, as well as collaborating on a series of applications to the U.S. federal government for money to maintain and upgrade the Alaska Highway in Canada.
Both sides are urgently eyeing fixing up the portion of the road between Destruction Bay and the Canada-U.S. border at Beaver Creek.
Per the memorandum of understanding, since 1977, a funding arrangement known as the Shakwak agreement between the U.S. and Canada funded highway repairs and maintenance. The agreement covers the Canadian section of the Haines Road and the Alaska Highway from Haines Junction to Beaver Creek, known as the Shakwak corridor. The new deal acknowledges the road is vital for security, trade, tourism and life essentials.
However, thawing permafrost and other impacts are causing the road to deteriorate. As noted in the deal, both sides of the border agree to bring the corridor to “good condition” and maintain it for safety reasons, as well as international partnerships and cross-border connections.
“There’s always challenges with that road, and it’s important, and it’s a key piece of infrastructure,” Pillai said.
“The difference now is that under the leadership of the governor and his team, Alaska has come to the table and said, ‘Hey, you know what? We should be partners on this.’”
Greaves noted there are plenty of examples of cross-partisan cooperation between American and Canadian sub-national governments at state, provincial and territorial levels because “you can’t choose who, you know, your neighbours necessarily elect.”
He isn’t surprised that Pillai and Dunleavy sat down and identified common interests. (Pillai has repeatedly expressed his will to work across party lines and has a confidence-and-supply deal in place with the Yukon NDP.)
“I do think, though, that it indicates some of the likely limits on that cooperation,” Greaves said about matters like climate change mitigation and adaptation, some areas of sustainability and conservation policy.
“What is happening with the Republican Party in the United States at the moment shows that there are going to be some areas that you probably can’t collaborate on with the State of Alaska until there’s a change of leadership,” he said.
“We know that there are projects that the governor would like to see go ahead in Alaska that have not gone ahead, because they are worried it would be so devastating for local environmental systems, right? So, his priorities are pretty clear.”
Don’t expect an Alaska-Yukon climate change strategy anytime soon, Greaves said.
Contact Dana Hatherly at dana.hatherly@yukon-news.com