Official Visit to Yukon - Day 2

His Excellency attended a welcoming ceremony with Chief Eddie Taylor of the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in and His Worship Peter Jenkins, Mayor of Dawson City. The ceremony was held at the Dänojà Zho Cultural Centre, in Dawson City.

The Dawson City Nuggets were a hockey team from Dawson City that, in 1905, challenged the reigning champions, the Ottawa Senators—then known as The Silver Seven—for the Stanley Cup. It took the team 23 days and $30,000 to travel east to play in the challenge. They travelled by dog sled (Dawson to Whitehorse), train (Whitehorse to Skagway), ship (Skagway to Vancouver) and then again by rail (Vancouver to Ottawa) to arrive in time for the two games on January 13 and 16, 1905.

In honour of His Excellency's visit, a drumming dance was performed.

After his speech, the Governor General answered questions from the students.

During his visit, the Governor General addressed the students: "This is an exciting time to visit Yukon College. I know that some years ago, when this campus moved from the banks of the Yukon River to its present location, Elder Angela Sydney named it Ayamdigut. I believe that this word, which means “she got up and went” in Tlingit, also serves as a wonderful description of the energy and dynamism of the students and faculty at Yukon College, and of northerners in general."

The Yukon Research Centre of Excellence at Yukon College hosts a number of programs and services, expanding Yukon’s research capabilities and knowledge on northern climate change by focusing on multidisciplinary issues and applied research on cold and varying climatic conditions, with a view of developing, commercializing and exporting sustainable cold-climate technologies and related solutions for subarctic regions around the world. The research groups include the Northern Climate Exchange, the Yukon Cold Climate Innovation Centre, the Northern Research Institute, the Social Economy Research Network of Northern Canada, and the Yukon Technology Innovation Program.

Linda Harvey performed a welcome song in front of His Excellency and the students.

On the second day of their official visit to Yukon, Their Excellencies visited Yukon College in Whitehorse. Upon their arrival, they were greeted by Dr. Karen Barnes, Vice President of the college, and other representatives. The Governor General also toured the Research Centre of Excellence where he participated in a discussion on research initiatives.

The Governor General then attended the friendly alumni hockey game between the Dawson City Nuggets and the Ottawa Senators Alumni, which was a re-enactment of the January 1905 Stanley Cup Championship game in Ottawa. For this occasion, he did the official puck-drop.

The Governor General and his wife cheered on both teams.