Yukon who is who

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Les McLaughlin (1942 – 2011)
	
Les McLaughlin was born in Valleyview, Alberta and his family moved to the Yukon when he was three years old. He grew up in Whitehorse and was an active hockey player.((Stephanie Waddell, “Late broadcaster mourned as ‘good friend’ to Yukon.” //Whitehorse Daily Star// (Whitehorse), 10 January 2011.))
	
WHTV started telecasting to wired homes in Whitehorse around 1958. Cable vision had arrived in Whitehorse before it reached many bigger centres to the south. Residents had to buy a black and white television set and they were not cheap. There was one channel that broadcasted old movies, announcer-operated bingo games, and one daily newscast read to a self-directed camera. Sometimes the camera was directed from the back of the Whitehorse Inn to the front of the liquor store. The station manager was Bert Wybrew and he was a one-man show at first. McLaughlin was working as a teenaged volunteer at the military-run radio station CFWH when Bert asked him to host a teenaged dance party on Saturday mornings for WHTV. Les was to round up a group of teens and bring them to the station. Then he would be the on-camera host as Bert played rock-and-roll through the sound system behind the camera. The dance floor could accommodate about eight people and Les sat behind a desk where he worked to overcome his stage fright.((Les McLaughlin, “Mic fright turned to stage and camera fright.” //Whitehorse Star// (Whitehorse), 8 August 2008.))
	
McLaughlin was hired by CBC in Whitehorse in the early 1960s and over the years recorded many special people and events that helped to preserve Yukon history. In 1965/65, McLaughlin and Cal Waddington did their first documentary for CBC with McLaughlin as the reporter and Waddington as the producer. It was a piece about the closure of Yukon Consolidated Gold Corp (YCGC). More than 200 hours of McLaughlin’s broadcasts on the north are housed at the Yukon Archives and the Prince of Wales Heritage Centre in Yellowknife. He received the Commissioner's Award, the CBC President's Award, and was recognized by the Yukon Historical and Museums Association with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1996. McLaughlin was one of the founders of the True North Concert series and produced more than 1,000 recordings of northern musicians. ((Stephanie Waddell, “Late broadcaster mourned as ‘good friend’ to Yukon.” //Whitehorse Daily Star// (Whitehorse), 10 January 2011.))

Les continued to work for CBC after he moved to Montreal and then Ottawa as a northern service producer. McLaughlin retired in 1995 but returned to the territory in the summers and continued to record Yukon’s history and culture. He produced musical works by Yukon musicians including a record featuring Hank Karr and Al Oster. He went on to become the producer for Karr’s albums and DVDs. He also produced //Yukon Nuggets,// short pieces about the Yukon heard on CKRW and posted on the Hougen Group of Companies website.((Stephanie Waddell, “Late broadcaster mourned as ‘good friend’ to Yukon.” //Whitehorse Daily Star// (Whitehorse), 10 January 2011.)) 
	
Les McLaughlin received a 1996 Heritage Award from the Yukon Historical and Museums Association for his work in recording the voices of northerners and the stories about their lives and times.