The current “fiasco” with the Peel plan is threatening the credibility of land use planning all over the Yukon, says the territory’s planning council.
“People have to have confidence that the time and money invested in the planning process is going to be worth it,” chair Ian Robertson said during the Yukon Land Use Planning Council’s regular meeting in Whitehorse Friday.
“The credibility of doing regional planning is now suspect,” he said.
The council now needs to pinpoint exactly where and how the Peel plan went “off the rails” so it can figure out what repairs are needed.
“The sides shouldn’t be so far apart by now,” said Ron Cruikshank, the council’s executive director.
By the time a plan reaches the “final recommended” stage, the major differences should have been ironed out, he said. The Yukon and First Nations’ governments should simply be fine tuning minor details.
Instead, the territory’s trying to unilaterally write a whole new plan from scratch and the four First Nations are threatening to take the mess to court.
What the government's doing is illegal because it violates the Umbrella Final Agreement, say the Na-Cho Nyak Dun, Tr’ondek Hwech’in, Vuntut Gwitchin and the Gwich’in Tribal Council.
The final recommended Peel plan is the result of seven years of research and consultation by the Peel planning commission at a cost of $1.5 million. Land use planning is a requirement under the Yukon’s modern-day treaty.
Robertson, who is a professional planner with decades of northern experience, says it looks like the First Nations have a strong court case.
“There is enough evidence, that’s well documented, to show that they [Yukon government] have not followed the spirit, if not the intent, of the UFA,” he said.
According to the process, the government is supposed to be consulting only on the final recommended plan. Once that’s over, it can decide whether to accept, reject or modify it.
“The modifications should stem from the consultations,” said Cruikshank.
Instead the government is consulting on the plan and its modifications all at the same time.
It’s also trying to turn back time. Its four “concepts” are basically scenarios and the Peel commission already put those forward in early 2009. It then produced a draft plan, a recommended plan and a final recommended plan, with consultation done all along the way.
“Are they [the government] planning to take those concepts and develop a draft plan now,” said Cruikshank.
And will that draft go out for public consultation.
“If they are following the process, they have to, since the concepts have been developed with no public involvement,” he said.
The council needs to do a rigorous examination of the new concepts, but the government hasn't supplied enough details for it to do that, said Cruikshank.
As for the new land use designations, the council has a big problem with the government’s use of the term Restricted Use Wilderness Area or RUWA. Industrial development, such as mines and roads, would be allowed throughout this zone.
“The word wilderness is not appropriate for the zone,” he said.
And then there’s the government’s colour scheme.
Robertson said the government is “dicking around all over the place” with the Peel plan and the colours are just part of the confusion it’s created.
A lay person can’t possibly absorb information from 20 different maps, commit it to memory and then try to piece it all together, he said.
There should be one map that shows all the values in the region so people can understand it, he said.
There also needs to be a clear implementation plan if the government hopes to regain the public’s trust, he said.
When land use planning in the Yukon first got underway “the resource industry wasn’t too concerned about it because it wasn’t going to play,” Robertson said.
It didn’t think it had to because it could go through the back door to government, he said.
Even after it was persuaded to come to the table, it didn’t take it too seriously because the message from government was “Don’t worry boys, we’ll look after you,” he said.
But that’s no way to produce a successful plan, he said.
Nobody should be allowed to “come in through the back door” and everyone should have to put all their cards on the table, he said.
Council member Shirlee Frost, a member of the Vuntut Gwitchin, is concerned about the division the government seems to be creating along racial lines.
“What I’m concerned about is the separation of First Nations and the public,” said Frost.
The government’s literature makes it clear that only three per cent of the Peel belongs to First Nations while the rest is public and under its control, she said.
It’s as if they don’t think First Nations are also members of the public, she said.
Under the land claim agreements, First Nations were supposed to be partners in the planning process so there would be no surprises at the end, she said.
“In the Peel process, it has failed miserably, “ she said.
It’s also ironic that the government seems to have lots of money to promote its new “concepts” while the Peel commission was always forced to pinch every penny, she said.
The third council member, Mel Stehelin, was expected to attend, but he didn’t show up. Nor did the Yukon government send its Peel officials to hear what the council had to say.
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