The majority House leader of the Alaska House of Representatives is confident the resolution he sponsored, which honours the importance of Alaska-Canada relations and recognizes Canada’s sovereignty, will pass overwhelmingly.
Republican Representative Chuck Kopp told the News by phone from Juneau, Alaska, on March 17 that the purpose of House Joint Resolution 11 is “to strengthen ties in a world that seems to be going crazy right now.”
“We want our congressional delegation and the leadership of our country to pay attention to the voice of Alaska,” he said.
Kopp added that they do everything possible to amicably and quickly end the trade conflict and the “disruptive talk about Canada's sovereignty and also some of the misinformation about Canada's excellent work at the border to secure it from illegal entry and from importation of illegal drugs.”
Kopp, who voted for and supported U.S. President Donald Trump's candidacy, has been busy rallying up support for the resolution.
"This is not about the president as an individual, and this is not a party thing for me. To me, this is a democracy thing, and this is helping protect the sovereignty and dignity of our nation next door," Kopp said.
Yukon Premier Ranj Pillai, Whitehorse Mayor Kirk Cameron and Dawson City Mayor Stephen Johnson virtually testified before the Alaska House Resources Committee in support of the resolution on March 14.
“The Alaska-Canada relationship really doesn't have a comparison in modern times,” Kopp said during the interview.
The state and the country both have small, remote communities in very northern areas.
Each have had world leaders threatening its existence, Kopp noted, with Russia President Vladimir Putin saying Alaska should be part of Russia and Trump repeatedly talking about annexing Canada.
“I would take no less exception if I was a Canadian citizen with America saying that I should be their 51st state,” Kopp said.
“This whole idea of forced acquiescence is unfathomable to someone who believes in democracy and someone who believes in the autonomy of nations and peoples and how important their identity is as citizens of sovereign countries.”
Kopp said long-standing Alaska-Canada partnerships on military, trade and cultural exchanges deserve defending. He comes from a military family, so he’s sensitive to security and Arctic leadership.
“Canada is our only neighbour. We only have one neighbour. We are cut off from the rest of the world,” Kopp said.
“It's always been Canada first for Alaska.”
He reflected on the Second World War when Alaska was occupied by the Japanese. He said Canadians helped build the road to retake Alaska and “to continue to use Alaska as a strategic gateway to the whole northern hemisphere.”
Kopp pointed to new economic opportunities on the rise.
“Alaska and Canada have shown the ability to work together for sustainable development, mining, energy security, environmental protection, fisheries,” he said.
“We are economically dependent upon one another, and we both understand how much disruptions to trade can hurt our mutual industries, fisheries, tourism, mining and energy.”
The Whitehorse mayor had a couple of minutes to make some key points about the Yukon-Alaska relationship while speaking in support of the resolution, which he called a “good piece of work.”
“This is very helpful to us,” Cameron told the committee.
Cameron pointed to Whitehorse’s sister city relationship with Juneau, and the economic, social and cultural links to Skagway and Haines. He reiterated his invites to Alaska mayors to join an alliance of mayors from border towns and cities. He highlighted events like the Haines bike race and beer fest.
“I believe that is going to be very important for us to get some strong messages across to the United States government on the importance of how much we connect with each other,” he said.
Cameron submitted to the committee his remarks in full and a letter inviting the Haines mayor to join the border alliance as supporting documentation.
Kopp expects his resolution to pass by the end of the month.
He anticipates similar resolutions could come out of other states to make their way to Senate and Washington, D.C.
Contact Dana Hatherly at dana.hatherly@yukon-news.com
