In the small city of Alaska, Canada-United States tensions belong to a long-term relationship

Chelsey and Dustin Stone were preparing for another crowded tourist season when they got the first call.

“He was very annoyed, right,” Dustin said.

The couple runs a small hostel consisting of nine rooms in Skagway, Alaska, called The Whitehouse. In winter, they must close part of the hostel because the wind blows heavily.

The man on the phone was a guest of Whitehorse – 140 km from Skagway – and was canceling his room and trip to the city, due to the US government’s approach to Canada since the election of US President Donald Trump.

“He does not want to be here, and I said this is very true, and I understand and I am very sorry. Please note that this is not what we feel … I really hope you will one day come back to Skagway.”

Some people at Whitehorse have indicated directly that they will not travel to Skagway, or other Alaska cities.

In the message of March to the mayor of Skagway Sam Pass, Karen McCoul, a resident of Yukon, wrote that she “disintegrated with America, with Alaska, and with Scarway.”

“I cannot vote in America, but I can vote in my dollars,” says the message.

Chelsea says that the hostel had between 10 to 15 cancellation since the Canadians began Boycott to the United States.

She says it is difficult, because they only return to normal after the epidemic, which barely survived their work. Now, companies, like their business, are especially vulnerable to this stagnation in travel.

“The financial strike is absorbed, but what really hurts me is just watching our relationship with Yukon collapsing in the actual time,” Dustin said.

This relationship, which some politicians in Alaska are looking to address by a decision.

House of House 11, titled “Confession and Honoring the Relationship between Canada and Alaska”, aims to clarify that despite the speech from the south, in the north, the relationship between Alaska and Canada is sacred.

The relationship with old roots

Skagway sits along Panhandle, in the southern part of the state. The largest part of tourism comes from 1.2 million travelers of a tourist ship, according to the Alaska Travel Industry Association, which visits the town of about 1100 in the warmer months.

But people often take two hours by car south to Skagway. They come to a change in the scene, or annual events like the Santa Train at Christmas or Bibli in the spring.

People in Skagway regularly go to Whitehorse, also – to buy groceries in Big Box stores, as well as for dental and veterinary appointments.

Traveling has old roots.

“Skagway is a truly important entry point to reach the coasts to reach the internal Tlingits, and Chilkoot Trail was a commercial road between those groups,” said Jaimi Bricker, Director of Tourism in the region and the tribal president of the traditional council in Skagawi.

During Goldrush, Skagway continued this connective tradition. Thousands passed the Chilkot pass between Alaska and Yokon to search for millions.

Becker says that the rapprochement between the two regions can make it feel that Yukon is “an extension of the family, in every form and shape.”

The government arrives

The Skagway town, the local government, expressed its support to Canada in a letter sent to Rang Pelay, Prime Minister Yukon. It has made clear the value of the relationship between the two regions. The message was not signed by Bass, a step that Dustin says the wrong message to their northern neighbors.

Soon after sending this message, the Republican State Office Chuck Coop presented the joint decision in the House of Representatives 11, a legislation that focuses on the importance of preserving positive economic relations, but also in good faith between the two regions.

According to the decision, Alaska exports nearly $ 600 million of goods to Canada and imports about $ 750 million from Canada every year. In addition, more than 47 companies owned in Canada are operating in Alaska and employing 4,350 residents throughout the state.

“The joint decision in the House of Representatives 11 is an unpredictable confirmation of strong friendship ties, joint history, mutual defense, and support that linked our country to Canada for centuries … We are talking to that relationship,” said CoB before Alaska State Business Committee.

The decision does not enact any laws – it is a symbolic gesture

On Wednesday, the decision was transferred to a third reading 4 oppositions out of 40 representatives. The state’s Senate is scheduled to make a vote on May 5.

Bass and KOPP rejected interviews on the message and the decision.

Population speaks

The loss of the relationship between Alaska and Yakon worries both Becker and Dustin, the owner of the hostel.

Dustin said: “It is sad that our (federal) government, as you know, has pushed this spaciousness among our societies.”

But some of the residents of Skagawi do not have the same level of concern about the Canadians ’decision not to come to visit.

Trish McGEE, a quilt store owner for a long time, now retired and live outside Skagway, is not anxious either.

“Well, don’t come,” she said. McGoy, a fans, says that people need to give Trump a chance. She says she does not hate Canadians, but she does not constitute the largest part of the tourism dollars.

“Everyone (all over the city) only needs a tourist season to start … and go to work.”

Magnets and posters in support

However, many residents want to show Canadians that they are lost.

“We love our Canadian friends,” says Scott Logan, who lived in Skagway for 54 years. He got the magnet – the small Canadian flags – to prove this.

He led all over the city holding the magnet on the cars of friends who said they wanted to.

Logan said: “The Canadian flags of your friend’s friendly car, to give you a hint of solidarity.”

He made the tourism office stickers – a heart with both Alaska and Yakon’s flags and “friendship behind the boundaries” through it – to show their love.

Becker says that some of the city’s companies also show solidarity by providing discounts for India this summer.

Anxiety, but hopes to obtain a decision

Dustin and Chelsea understand why Canadians may not want to take the trip now.

“It is strange that it was absorbed in this biggest conversation in this biggest struggle now,” Dustin said.

“It seems as if we usually float over all of this because we are just the eccentric who lives in the middle of any place that no one thinks.”

For Becker, she appreciates the Canadians who take the trip to her hometown, but they also understand why some Canadians do not take the trip.

She said: “This makes me sick on my stomach that our friends, family and neighbors are concerned about what is going on in our countries.”

“But I also feel hope, and (I see A) is really a strong relationship with people in our area.”