July 9, 1956 

   “The reason Canada has given up the idea of an Alaskan corridor from the Yukon through to the Pacific Ocean is that Ottawa was not willing to pay the price demanded by Washington, according to informed sources in Washington.

   Hon. Lester B. Pearson, minister for external affairs, floated a balloon some months ago in which he said he was considering asking Washington for an Alaska corridor. Mr. Pearson punctured the balloon recently by telling Parliament that he no longer considered a corridor necessary at this time and that lack of a corridor was not holding up development of the Canadian north in the Yukon and British Columbia.

   It is reported in Washington that the United States would give Canada a corridor only if Canada gave United States the right to share power development on the Yukon River and

also possibly the Columbia River. Canada felt this was too heavy a price to pay for the corridor and the idea was dropped, informants here say.

   There never was any official negotiation between the two countries. Mr. Pearson said he was thinking about making the request. The Northern B.C. and Yukon members of Parliament supported the idea. Delegate E. L. Bartlett of Alaska supported the idea in the U.S. Congress and flew to Ottawa (without State Department authorization) and held talks with Canadian officials.”

(The Windsor Daily Star – Windsor, Ontario)