Back in the 1980s, Yukon radio listeners with a penchant for country music tuned their dials to The Lovin’, Hurtin’, Gamblin’, Travellin’, Drinkin’, Truck Drivin’ and Mom Show on the CBC, where Craig Mackie hosted an hour’s worth of entertainment.
Mackie taped the show in Inuvik for a brief time. “I was soon rescued by a call from CBC Yukon offering me full-time work,” he says, from his home on Prince Edward Island.
“My wife, Margaret Flood, was sevenmonths pregnant with our first child, and the offer of full-time work in the Yukon—one of
the most beautiful places on this planet— was impossible to resist.”
During his time with CBC Yukon, Mackie developed the afternoon program Mosaic that he hosted for nearly two years. But in 1985, his radio career took him and his family to Iqaluit (then known as Frobisher Bay). “I was offered an opportunity to become the manager for the CBC,” he says. “It was another
chance to see more of Canada’s North. And at heart, I am an explorer and love to travel.”
All three of the Flood-Mackie children were born in the North. “What other family can claim to have a son born in each northern capital?” he asks. His brief stint in the Yukon gave
him good memories of working with musicians like John Steins, Scott Sheerin, Manfred Janssen, Harmonica George McConkey, Daniel Janke, and many others. “Along with technician
Tim Kinvig, we recorded a number of concerts and coffee houses all over the Yukon,” he says.
Since retiring from his job as managing editor of CBC P.E.I.,
the avid curler has twice represented his province in the sport
at the national level. “I’m also studying history at the University of Prince Edward Island,” he says, “and, for the first time since
leaving the Yukon, I am motorcycling again. It’s great.
“P.E.I. is much like the North. There’s a small population that is relatively isolated from the mainland. People know each other.
People look after each other.”
It’s more than just the colourful five percent that former Yukoner Robert Oliphant remembers about the territory. “It is a place of tremendous conversation and community caring,” says the fifty-three-yearold, from his Cabbagetown home, in downtown
Toronto. “It is also, in Robert Service’s words, ‘a land of immense beauty’.”
Oliphant moved to the Yukon in 1993 “to get away from city life” and take on the position of minister for the United Church on
Main Street in Whitehorse. He was the first minister to hold services in the new church erected in 1994 after a fire in 1992 destroyed the old church.
During the six years he lived in the Yukon, Oliphant spent a lot of time outside the church helping the community. “I volunteered
at the Whitehorse Correctional Centre—in chaplaincy—[and] at the alcohol and drug treatment centre, in spiritual care,” he says. “I was treasurer of Nakai Theatre, [and] I was involved in a variety of socialjustice and community programs.” The avid
berry picker also admits to having “already given up my secret and best spots”.
After moving away from the territory, Oliphant took his interest in serving the public to the political arena. “I am the Member of
Parliament for Don Valley West, a midtown Toronto riding,” he says. “That doesn’t leave much time for studies or hobbies, [but] I like to think that Yukon gets an extra seat in Parliament
this way.”
Given his enthusiasm for his community and his work, it’s obvious that a life of public service suits Oliphant. “Again, it is about the people. Working with and for people is tremendous,”
he says. “I am hoping that I can make a difference. I love Toronto’s diversity and vibrant multicultural neighbourhoods.
Every day offers a new experience.”
Oliphant makes it back to the Yukon for special occasions, like weddings, which keeps his memories of the territory vivid. “I
remember one particular New Year’s Day, driving from Haines Junction to Haines,” he says. “The sky was a clear, bright blue; the temperature absolutely frigid; the mountains gorgeous; and the eagles in flight. Hard to beat that.”Top