Yukon Supreme Court case will set a key precedent for all First Nations

This Wednesday, while Ottawa will be focused on the annual ritual of the federal budget, the Supreme Court will hear a case that explains a lot about why Indigenous people cannot trust Canada’s settler governments.

The case concerns a classic white-man-speaks-with-forked-tongue situation, this one in the Yukon. It concerns the future of the vast Peel River watershed, which some environmentalists call the last intact watershed in Canada.

Yukon First Nations could decide who represents the territory

At the Yukon First Nation Forum for the Federal candidates held on September 29th, hosted by the Council of Yukon First Nations, it was a packed house of over two hundred people in beautiful downtown Whitehorse. All the political parties were represented, including the Conservative candidate. He has attended some but not all of the various debates held in the Yukon. This debate was broadcast on a First Nation owned community radio station, CHON-FM, and was live-streamed on YouTube. 

There were two introductions to the debate, one by the Chief of the Kwanlin Dun First Nation, Doris Bill, on whose traditional territory the forum was held. The other introduction was by the Grand Chief of the Council of Yukon First Nations, Ruth Massie. 

Yukon Cuts Income Tax After Record-Setting Budget Surplus

WHITEHORSE - The Yukon government is cutting personal income tax rates as it announces yet another record surplus budget.

The territory expects to be a staggering $1.37 billion in the black for the 2015-16 fiscal year, said Premier and Finance Minister Darrell Pasloski during a budget address on Thursday.

"We believe in managing finances in a way that ensures we have money when we need it most,'' he told the legislative assembly on the first day of the spring session.

Yukon Council of First Nations declares territory to be frack free

''Today the Council of Yukon First Nations passed the following resolution:

"Be it resolved that the Council of First Nations calls on the Yukon Govt. to prohibit fracking in the Yukon and declares our traditional territories to be frack-free."

First Nation of Na-Cho Nyak Dun --Mayo Band submitted the resolution and it was seconded by the Ta'an Kwäch'än -Whitehorse-Lake Labarge First Nation.

The resolution was passed by full consensus of the general assembly of those present.

Original Article
Source: rabble.ca
Author: George Lessard

Yukon's court ruling on free-entry mining could help Idle No More

On December 27 this past year, the appeals court of the Yukon Territory gave an important ruling regarding the rights of First Nations in relation to Yukon's free-entry mining policy. The plaintiff in the case, the Ross River Dena Council tribe, considers that Yukon's government cannot allow quartz production on its territory without first consulting the Council. The Kaska nation, to which the Ross River Council belongs, owns more than 63,000 square km, which represents nearly 13 per cent of the entire Yukon Territory.

Opposition MPs criticize PM Harper for riding non-Canadian ATV in rare Yukon ecosystem

PARLIAMENT HILL—Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s much-vaunted message machine blundered when they plunked him on a Japanese-made ATV to churn up and down unlikely Yukon sand dunes in one of the rarest ecosystems in North America, say opposition MPs.



Mr. Harper (Calgary Southwest, Alta.) plunged into his all-terrain adventure in the midst of a controversy over ATVs that is just starting in the pristine territory and as pressure grows across the country for more regulations to control the rugged and powerful machines in light of injuries and fatalities incurred by adolescents and even children whose parents either take them on rides or let them drive ATVS.



Stephen Harper's ATV Ride In Yukon Ruffles Local Feathers

Stephen Harper's ATV ride through a "fragile ecosystem" has left some Yukon locals irritated.

The prime minister posed for photos Monday sitting atop an ATV in the Carcross Desert and, according to iPolitics, unknowingly rode into an ongoing environmental dispute in the Arctic territory.

According to the territory's own website, the dunes are "home to a variety of rare plants and animals unique to this habitat" and constitute a "fragile ecosystem" created from deposits of sand and silt left on the bottom of Lake Watson at the end of the last ice age.

Yukon NDP wants oil furnace industry regulated

The Yukon NDP has uncovered reports showing the government was warned years ago that the unregulated industry was putting the lives of Yukoners at risk.

"Yukoners are still reeling from the tragic loss of life just two weeks ago," said Liz Hanson, leader of the New Democrats, who are calling for the Yukon Party government to regulate the industry.

Five people died last month in Whitehorse of apparent carbon monoxide poisoning in a home heated by an oil-burning furnace. The investigation is ongoing.

NDP researchers have now come across reports at least two years old, warning the government of the dangers of malfunctioning oil furnaces.

"It was very upsetting to me as a citizen and a politician because we expect we can trust our government to take action when they have information," said Hanson.

Self-regulation 'has put Yukoners at risk'

After five successive surveys, Ontario furnace experts found almost all Yukon installations they inspected failed to comply with national standards.

"Only four of the 305 sites inspected between 2007 and March 2010 complied with the minimum standard code for installation and maintenance of appliances. That is 1.3 per cent of the sites inspected," said Rod Corea of NRG Resources Inc., which provides safety and technical training and consulting services on fuel-burning appliances.

"Self-regulation has failed to supply minimal safety standards and indeed has put Yukoners at risk in their oil heat industry. Hopefully you will find the results of this survey helpful. Hopefully you will be able to take action to do something about them before something unfortunate happens."

About 80 per cent of Yukon homes are heated with oil furnaces. Critics point out that teens in the fast-food industry require more training than furnace inspectors in the territory.

"You can be more confident in Pizza Hut or A & W that the person there is more aware of the risks that can happen to you in their establishment than the person that is going in to check your furnace. And that's upsetting," said Kate White, New Democrat MLA for Takhini-Kopper King.

The oil burner safety report from 2010 is now available from Yukon Housing Corporation officials.

Original Article
Source: CBC 
Author: cbc news 

Cost of Faro’s toxic tomb to top $450 million

It will take 45 years to seal Faro’s toxic tailings off from the rest of the world, making it one of the most expensive mine remediation projects in Canadian history.

Closing Faro’s tomb will cost over $450 million and require constant maintenance for at least 500 years.

These are the early figures from the Faro Mine Closure plan, now being prepared for an environmental assessment in the fall. Many details still have to be finalized, but this is the first time the daunting, multi-centennial task has been outlined in one coherent plan.

It won’t be easy burying the former lead zinc mine. The 25-square kilometer mess consists of 55 million tons of tailings, 320 million tons of waste rock and contaminated spill sites.

“Right now, we haven’t got the details of the design and specifications for all of the future, but what we do have is a single direction that we can take,” said Stephen Mead, the project’s senior manager.

As industry encroaches, Yukoners make last stand to preserve unspoiled wilderness

BONNET PLUME LAKE, YUKON—In the long, often biting, argument over the Peel River wilderness, few places rouse more passion than a region below Aberdeen Canyon, where nature still has the upper hand over humans.

Here the Wind, Bonnet Plume and Snake Rivers reach like long fingers across a mountainous landscape.

They put a lifelong grip on anyone lucky enough to feel their touch.

The only way in is by air. There’s a steady, growing traffic of helicopters and float planes ferrying mining exploration crews to and from remote camps or dropping off well-heeled hunters and adventurous paddlers with their canoes and kayaks.