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In a series inspired by a colleague, the Richmond Sentinel presents some interesting laws that simply don’t sound real in the Yukon and Northwest Territories.

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I can’t believe that’s a law: Yukon and NWT edition

By Matthew Cheung

Published 11:08 PDT, Fri March 28, 2025

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DISCLAIMER: The following article is for informational and entertainment purposes only, and does not reflect the opinions or views of the Richmond Sentinel.

Following up the Albertan edition, we now venture up north to explore the Yukon and Northwest Territories in our 13-part series that examines some peculiar laws and bylaws ever enforced in these territories. Some bylaws and laws include prohibition of destroying highways, transporting hazardous materials, dog sledding, and gambling establishments.

1. Starting off in Dawson City, one that seems very usual is the prohibition of destroying highways. According to the Town of the City of Dawson Bylaw #00-21 part 4.01 “no person shall cause or allow or do any act which is likely to cause or does cause damage to or interfere with the operation of one or more of the following: a highway, a culvert, a bridge, a traffic control device, or any public property or permitted private property situated on a highway or within a road allowance. The thought behind this bylaw may be to protect public infrastructure and ensure the safety of residents and travellers, to this day, the law is still enforced in order to maintain the integrity of the routes.

2. Staying in the municipal of Dawson, the city also prohibits the transportation of hazardous materials on highways. Specifically in Bylaw #002-41 part 4.05 it states “no person shall: (1) excavate or otherwise destruct a highway, including the road allowance thereof, or (2) transport material or loads of material over a highway which would be of an extraordinary use likely to imperil the highway or people living on or near the highway.

3. Everyone loves finding wildlife, and some have made capturing wildlife their passion in life. In the Yukon however, capturing wildlife is not as easy as snapping a photo and posting it. According yukon.ca, a permit is required if someone is the operator of a wildlife photography business and planning on filming or photographing the hunting of wildlife in the Yukon with a drone. The permit is free of charge, but applicants will be required to present. That seems pretty surprising to just take a photo of wildlife, but it is not a long process, assuming the required documents are submitted.

4. Returning to Dawson City, we look at a law is as old as Canada’s history. Just recently, in November 2024, a city councillor by the name of Darwyn Lynn refused to swear an oath of allegiance to King Charles due to the Crown’s historical relationship with Indigenous people. This led to a stand-off, that was eventually resolved when amendments to regulations in the Municipal Act were made, making it option to swear an oath of allegiance to the constitution of Canada.

Northwest Territories

5. Moving over to the Northwest Territories, in Hay River, it is prohibited to use dog sled on the sidewalk, due to the fact that it could be dangerous and could lead to serious injury. With the Northwest Territories being filled with snow, dog sledding is a common use of transportation, one that could also result in an accident. (mindfullyamerican.com/15-canadian-laws-that-are-almost-too-weird-to-be-real/?utm_source)

6. Gambling, especially online, has become a very popular past time for many people in North America. With companies like Stake, Bet365, MGM Casino, FanDuel gaining traction, so has the number of casinos. Richmond alone is in close proximity to three casinos, Starlight Casino, Cascades Casino, and Richmond’s own River Rock Casino. Unfortunately, this is not the case in the Northwest Territories where gambling is limited. The main reason behind this is because current laws do not support casino operations, the region population is also sparse. (talksport.com/ca/casinos-ca/2242800/is-gambling-
illegal-canada/)

If you think we missed any peculiar laws in these regions, feel free to email us at newsroom@richmondsentinel.ca or comment under the post on one of our social media accounts. In the next edition, we head down south to see what laws and bylaws, were, or still are, enforced in Saskatchewan.