Yukon tour company seeks government bailout

A Yukon First Nation tourism venture is on the brink of bankruptcy, and its owners are asking the Yukon and federal governments for money to keep it going.

Not enough customers have signed up for Great River Journey's $1,000-a-day Yukon River wilderness tours over the past couple of years.

The Whitehorse-based company's operators say their bills are piling up and they need at least another $1 million to survive the next season.

But Yukon government officials say they have already given the company $630,000 as a start-up contribution and they cannot give any more.

"We do have a maximum contribution of $500,000. They've maxed that out," said Terry Hayden, assistant deputy minister of operations with the Economic Development Department.

"We do not have the mandate to be a source of investment funding or to provide ongoing operation."

Hayden said the tour company should look to the private sector for help.

Great River Journey is owned jointly by Great Northern Journeys Inc., a private company, and an aboriginal development corporation representing four Yukon First Nations.

The company charges $5,495 US for a five-day, four-night tour, and $6,495 US for a week-long tour, according to its website.

Great River Journey president George Asquith told CBC News that investors have already put more than $11 million into the company.

About half that amount has come from private investment, but millions of dollars more came from federal government grants and loans.

Asquith said he's asking the company's three primary funders the federal and Yukon governments, as well as First Nation investors to provide $400,000 each to keep Great River Journey afloat.