Frederick Howard Collins (1903 – 1982)
	
Frederick Collins was a former army officer and then made the civil service his career. Col. Collins served in the First and the Second World Wars.((“In Memoriam.” //Northern Lights,// No. 99, Advent, 1983: 20.)) 
Collins worked in the federal Treasury Board in Ottawa before he was appointed Commissioner of the Yukon in 1955.((“Frederick Howard Collins,” Yukon Government, //Commissioner of Yukon// 2018 website: http://www.commissioner.gov.yk.ca/about/Frederick_Howard_Collins.html.)) He worked with Mr. Thompson, the newly appointed Superintendent of Schools, to achieve three objectives in education: to decentralize elementary schooling in Whitehorse by building a number of smaller schools outside the downtown area, to provide vocational training facilities that would be available to all Yukoners, and to continue the integration of Indigenous and non-Indigenous children in all territorial schools.((Marjorie E. Almstrom, //A Century of Schooling: Education in the Yukon 1861 – 1961.// Whitehorse, 1991: 178-79.))
	
Because of his past treasury board experience, Collins was familiar with the federal financial agreements with the territory. During his term as Commissioner, the Yukon Council ruled that the Commissioner had to be asked to attend sessions by the Speaker and on a motion by the whole council. When the member passed motions that Collins disagreed with, he asked Ottawa for clarification and was told that the Commissioner’s role would be similar to that of a provincial Lieutenant Governor or the Governor General in that he could withhold consent, but it was not advisable on matters under the Council’s legislative purview. The north was a busy place and federal departments were directed to advise Collins in advance of activities affecting the territory. The Council wanted an advisory committee on finance, and Ottawa sided with Collins in reiterating that all responsibility for the territorial budget would remain with the Commissioner and his officials under direction from the Ottawa department.((Linda Johnson, //At the Heart of Gold: The Yukon Commissioner’s Office 1898-2010.// Legislative Assembly of the Yukon, 2012: 60-63.))
	
Collins was the first commissioner to live in the Commissioner residence in Riverdale, a subdivision of Whitehorse. F.H. Collins school is named for him. Collins was the Commissioner and Chief Executive of the Yukon from 1955 to 1962.((“Frederick Howard Collins,” Yukon Government, //Commissioner of Yukon// 2018 website: http://www.commissioner.gov.yk.ca/about/Frederick_Howard_Collins.html.)) Frederick Collins and his wife Sybil were well liked; he was very outspoken, and she was charming. After Collins retired in 1962, they moved to St. Catharine’s, Ontario.((Joyce Hayden, //Victoria Faulkner: Lady of the Golden North. A Biography.// Whitehorse: Windwalker Press. 2002: 83-85.)) After his death, a scholarship was established in his name at F.H. Collins High School in Whitehorse.((“In Memoriam.” //Northern Lights,// No. 99, Advent, 1983: 20.))