Yukon who is who

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Ione Jean Christensen, nee Cameron (b. 1933)
	
Ione Cameron was born in Dawson Creek, British Columbia to North-West Mounted Police constable Gordon Irwin (G.I.) Cameron and Dawson City-born Martha Ballentine Cameron. Ione was a year old when her family went to live at Fort Selkirk on the Yukon River.((Martha Cameron, //Fort Selkirk Oral History.// YTG Heritage Branch, 1984.)) The family moved to Whitehorse in 1949 where Ione finished high school. She received an associate in arts degree in business administration from the College of San Mateo in California. She married geologist Art Christensen in 1968.((2018 website: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ione_Christensen))
	
Christensen was the first woman to hold many positions including Yukon Justice of the Peace (1971), mayor of Whitehorse (1975 and re-elected in 1977), and Yukon Commissioner (1979). She resigned her Commissioner's position in 1979, the same year she was appointed, when the position was downgraded to a mediator position. She ran as a Liberal in the federal election in 1980 but lost to Progressive Conservative Eric Nielsen. She has chaired or acted as executive director for several boards, committees, and hearings including Petro-Canada's northern operations, and the drug and alcohol treatment centre in Whitehorse.((Tim Querenguesser, "Senator Christensen announces retirement." //Yukon News// (Whitehorse), 15 December 2006.)) In 1994, she was appointed to the Order of Canada for her life accomplishments in promoting, supporting, and encouraging the preservation of Yukon history.((Julia Skikavich, "Yukon senator caps political career." //The Whitehorse Star// (Whitehorse), 15 December 2006.))
	 
Prime Minister Jean Chrétien appointed Christensen to the Senate in 1999 after former senator Paul Lucier died. As a senator, Christensen sponsored amendments to the Yukon Act, the lack of which had prompted her resignation as Commissioner twenty years before.((Tim Querenguesser, "Senator Christensen announces retirement." //Yukon News// (Whitehorse), 15 December 2006.)) She worked on issues including nuclear energy, water supply, global warming, First Nations' youth in urban Canada, First Nation economic development, foetal alcohol syndrome disorder, cruelty to animals, and the 2007 Canada Winter Games. Christensen voted in support of the gun registry bill. In 2006, she ended her time in the senate with a statement addressing the Conservative's cuts to literacy programs.((Julia Skikavich, "Yukon senator caps political career." //The Whitehorse Star// (Whitehorse), 15 December 2006.))
	
Ione Christensen was one of ten inductees into the Order of Yukon on New Year’s Day in 2020.((Chuck Tobin, “Territory celebrates first inductees into the Order of Yukon.” //The Whitehorse Star// (Whitehorse), 3 January 2020.)) Ione was awarded the King Charles III Coronation Medal in 2025 in recognition of her groundbreaking achievements and exceptional leadership. Her contributions have shaped the region’s legal and political landscape.((“Yukoner receive King Charles III Coronation Medals.” Yukon Government, news release #25-165. 2025 website: Yukoners receive King Charles III Coronation Medals | Yukon.ca))