Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy and Yukon Premier Ranj Pillai discuss the roles they can play to uplift northern neighbor jurisdictions.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska: With an air of joviality and high rapport, Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy and Yukon Premier Ranj Pillai participated in a plenary discussion hosted during the 2024 Arctic Encounter Symposium to converse on the potential for closer partnerships and improving the cross-border relationship that has existed between northern neighbors Alaska and Yukon for decades.

Held at the Dena'ina Civic and Convention Center in downtown Anchorage, the 2024 Arctic Encounter Symposium celebrated not only the rich and diverse cultures throughout the northern hemisphere but also its 10th anniversary as the largest Arctic-focused conference in the United States.

Giving ambassadors, lawmakers, businesspeople, and Indigenous people a common ground to share their experiences in the realities of the north, the AES once again welcomed over 200 speakers from more than 30 countries within 50 sessions covering geopolitics, climate change, youth, federal funding, energy, innovation, finance, and many others involved in the complex and unique environment of the Arctic.

"The Arctic Encounter Symposium (AES) is the largest annual Arctic policy and business event in the United States. AES aims to confront the shared interests and concerns of the United States and the global community as we look north to the last emerging frontier - the Arctic." – Arctic Encounter Symposium.

True Arctic leaders

While AES can be broadly covered through its many amazing panels and discussions, perhaps one of the more exciting discussions from this event was a session with Alaska Gov. Dunleavy and Yukon Premier Pillai.

Held on the final day of the conference, Pillai and Dunleavy spoke not on the main stage but tucked below in one of the many breakout rooms. It was almost modest given the significance of the topic, but the two Arctic leaders took it in stride and began the discussion in a way many in the North enjoy: a wager over sports.

And nothing says cross-border relationship building like a little friendly roasting.

Governor Mike Dunleavy

At the Arctic Encounter Symposium, Yukon Premier Ranj Pillai settles a wager he made with Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy before last month's Arctic Winter Games.

Held earlier in the year, the 2024 Arctic Winter Games was hosted in Alaska, bringing athletes from Northwest Territories, Yukon, Nunavut, Alaska, Kalaallit Nunaat, Nunavik (Northern Quebec), Northern Alberta, and the Indigenous people (Sami) of Norway, Sweden, and Finland. The two leaders shared a wager on whose region would take home the most medals.

Encouraged by his territory's team to make a bet with Dunleavy that Yukon would win more medals, the loser would have to don the gear of the other team.

"As you can see, he has a bag with him," Pillai said before the session got underway.

"I thought he was going to say I had to shave my head," Dunleavy joked.

When the games concluded, Alaska claimed 222 medals compared to Yukon's 161. However, Pillai did make it a point to note that Alaska holds a significant population advantage of over 700,000 people compared to Yukon's 45,000.

Nevertheless, in good fun, the premier graciously wore an Alaska beanie and "Team Alaska" parka, honoring the bet and representing the nature of Alaska and Yukon's leaders – northern men who can roll with the punches.

Golden Arc alliance

Building closer bonds between Yukon and Alaska is an idea brought forward by Hecla Mining Company President and CEO Phillips Baker Jr. during a keynote speech at the 2023 Alaska Miners Association convention in November.

"This is really an opportunity for Alaska, it is an opportunity for the Yukon, it is an opportunity for British Columbia," he said. "You have to take advantage of the fact that you have this money that is available for critical minerals – this is our time, we need to take advantage of that."

This was spoken on the premise of funding being made available for reliable and sustainable supplies of the minerals critical to North America's economic and green energy future – despite the apparent setbacks with the recent federal decisions that seem to contradict that very goal – the fact that those resources are still there does not change.

Although Northern B.C., Yukon, and Alaska have individually and collectively been legendary for their precious metals since the gold rush days of the 19th century, they still remain a virtually untouched source of the minerals and metals needed for the energy transition and technological innovations of the 21st century.

A potential trilateral cooperation between these jurisdictions would go well beyond the synergetic advantages of being able to transport personnel from one site to another. As it stands, each of these regions offers key transportation and energy infrastructure links that, if coordinated, have the potential to offer benefits to all three in a chain of production.

During the speech, Baker pointed to the port of Skagway in Southeast Alaska as a prime example of an asset that has cross-border implications and offers multi-jurisdictional opportunities.

This was also a point stressed during the discussion between Dunleavy and Pillai, as the Port of Skagway is the most economical deepwater port available to the Yukon that enables transportation of minerals to the wider world.

Nevertheless, while mining is a viable reason to expand collaboration between the northern regions, the governor and premier envision more than that.

Northern camaraderie

Justin Kennedy/Government of Yukon

Gov. Mike Dunleavy and Yukon Premier Ranj Pillai pose for a photo during a visit to Whitehorse in February.

Taking his first trip to the capital of Yukon back in February, where Dunleavy and Pillai signed two initial cooperation agreements at the MacBride Museum in Whitehorse, the premier returned the gesture and joined the governor in Anchorage for further discussions on broadening cross-border relations.

"We have a long relationship with the Canadians. They helped us during WWII; we were allies. Canadians died in Alaska fighting the Japanese out in Kiska and Attu. We helped build a road together through the Yukon in the '40s," Dunleavy said. "We think we have a lot of opportunity. Everything from communication, transportation, energy transmission – hooking Alaska up with the rest of North America through the Yukon. Our internet services, our broadband, our security, our icebreakers. We should be big players here in Alaska and not just leave it up to Toronto and Washington to do these things."

Pillai followed up by mentioning educational agreements since 2012 that have allowed Alaskans to attend Yukon University for resident rates and vice versa for Yukon students who attend the University of Alaska Southeast.

"Perhaps an opportunity exists for Alaska to help Yukon students train in healthcare fields, an area that is both in demand and at capacity for training in Canada," he said.

Just before the presentation, the Yukon Premier said he had been on a joint phone call with other Canadian premiers, and there is an opportunity to tie Yukon and northern Canada with the North American electrical grid – an opportunity that might extend to Alaska as well.

"We think that's really important in the Yukon. We've looked at all the other opportunities...and now what we're seeing is interest from Alaska and other provinces," Pillai said.

Dunleavy raised the point that a major area of existing cooperation between Alaska and the Yukon is the Alaska Highway.

"We share costs in that; our share has dropped off in the last few years," Dunleavy said. "But, as a result of our renewed discussions and the importance of Yukon and Alaska to each other, we're going to be working with Yukon and making sure that we get more money into that highway, so that highway is in good shape...and it's maintained. Because in many cases it's mostly Alaskans who use a big portion of that highway."

Dunleavy said Alaska's isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic gave him time to think about the benefits of sharing across the border in times of difficulty.

"We want to be not just good neighbors, but we want to put our heads together to stave off and create things," Dunleavy said. He'd like to see the cooperation go further, including a railroad route along the Alaska Highway corridor.

"Imagine a transportation corridor that goes through Alaska, goes through Yukon, goes down to through B.C. and goes through Canada-a designated corridor that could have rail, could have pipelines, could have transmission lines where Alaska is no longer stranded, where the Yukon is no longer stranded in terms of energy systems," Dunleavy said. "I think it would bode well for surviving successive administrations and elected officials, but it would also bode well for investment. I think it would lower costs for energy, I think it would broaden the possibilities for interconnectivity worldwide. I think we have a real opportunity to demonstrate between our two sovereigns, and bring other sovereigns into a northern North America Free Trade Zone."

Pillai said Canada was pursuing use of the Alaska Highway corridor, but he noted that any work through Canada must be done with all parties at the table.

"It's really about working with the First Nations governments on the Canada side...to figure out what goes through that economic route," said Pillai. "As we get ready to look at the North American Free Trade Agreement. I think now is the opportunity for us. Maybe it's the North that really is the driver, to make sure that as those chapters get reviewed, where do we go when it comes to Indigenous economic reconciliation, not just for the North but for North America? That becomes really the catalyst and the anchor point for us to be able to do things through the northwestern part of North America."

Similar land, shared defense

Topics also covered shared ecology, from the Bison native to Alaska and Yukon to salmon that once existed within Yukon.

In an emotional moment, Pillai related near-nightly visits he made to the family's fish camp, often with his youngest son. He said his two sons, whose grandfather is Tlingit from Southeast Alaska, have gone to fish camp many times but have never fished there.

"It's really hard for them to be there with their mom and for her to talk about what it used to be like," he said.

Dunleavy didn't specifically address salmon but pointed at past examples that Alaska and Yukon have worked together in the past to solve problems and pledged to do so.

"A number of these things we're talking about, I think we have some real opportunities to build upon, where all Alaskans and Yukoners can come together," Dunleavy said.

"We're determined to actually hammer out agreements. We're determined to not just have understandings but joint investments on things like the highway, solving problems like the salmon, and like missing and murdered Indigenous women. Trafficking, for example, going across the border. All of these things are problems, and we believe we will be able to effectuate them in a positive way," Pillai said.

Additionally, the duo spoke on cross-border firefighters, given the recent years of heavy wildfires that have hit Canada and vice versa in Alaska some years prior.

The Office of the Governor

Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy and Yukon Premier Ranj Pillai pose with the signed agreements to increase collaboration between Alaska and Yukon.

During the meeting in Whitehorse, the two leaders also signed an agreement to pursue friendlier relations on fighting fires, wildlife management, and cross-boundary work opportunities. The agreement, dubbed the Intergovernmental Relations Accord, committed to five years of actively pursuing more collaboration.

Similarly, during the February meeting and the Arctic Encounter Symposium, Dunleavy described Alaska as being "on the front line" of Arctic security. He said that Alaska has the largest Coast Guard presence in the U.S. in addition to its Air Force and Army bases.

"We chase out Russian fighters and bombers almost on a weekly, monthly basis," Dunleavy said during his time in Whitehorse. "We have Chinese warships going right past Alaska in the Bering Strait...and we theorize we're within the [Korean] missile umbrella range."

Dunleavy also described the balloon that was shot down over the Yukon last year as a "wake-up call," necessitating new approaches to Arctic security. He said there's room for partnership defending against high-tech warfare.

"[Our] joint military presence does look out for both Yukon and Alaska, and so we'll see where it takes us," Dunleavy said.

Pillai recalled an interview with The Globe and Mail early last year, one of Canada's most widely read newspapers, and was asked if he thought there was any possible threat at that time, in the context of the northern coast and being generally inland enough to be buffered away from adversarial countries.

Taking office in January, it was his first interview with a national newspaper.

"Yeah, there is a threat, we're threatened; the Beaufort Sea, we got to keep an eye on the Beaufort Sea," he answered.

"I remember, I walked out of the interview thinking to myself that they're gonna laugh at me, they really think I have a tinfoil hat on," he recalled. "I went back to my hotel room, I packed up; we'd just signed a Canadian Healthcare Transfer Agreement, I got on a plane the next morning, by the time I got to Vancouver, and I was at the Vancouver airport that first balloon had gone down over the Beaufort Sea."

Having an understanding of the overall picture of its position, as it is also close to Alaska, which faces risk from Russia, North Korea, and China, the premier knew then as well as now that preparation must be made before any event – because perhaps next time it won't be as benign as a balloon.

Touching as many aspects as possible, reiterating points made in previous talks such as the coasts, arctic trade passageways, stewardship, Indigenous involvement, energy, and education, Alaska and Yukon's leaders have a north-forward attitude and will aim to build an Arctic that lasts.