Law and Government
In 2004, the Yukon government removed the mayor and the town council, as a result of the town going bankrupt. The territorial government accepted a large portion of the responsibility for this situation in March 2006, writing off $3.43 million of the debt and leaving the town with $1.5 million still to pay off. Elections were set for June 15, 2006. John Steins, a local artist and one of the leaders of the movement to restore democracy to Dawson, was acclaimed as mayor, while 13 residents ran for the 4 council seats.
The government of Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in, now a self-governing First Nation, is also located in Dawson.
Read more about this topic: Dawson City
Famous quotes containing the words law and/or government:
“If he who breaks the law is not punished, he who obeys it is cheated. This, and this alone, is why lawbreakers ought to be punished: to authenticate as good, and to encourage as useful, law-abiding behavior. The aim of criminal law cannot be correction or deterrence; it can only be the maintenance of the legal order.”
—Thomas Szasz (b. 1920)
“The government is not God. It does not have the right to take away that which it can’t return even if it wants to.”
—Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904)