The Tr’ondek Hwech’in take the position that the public consultation process the government of Yukon is presently engaged in with respect to the Peel Watershed Regional Land Use Plan is inconsistent with the consultation process mandated by section 11.6 of Yukon First Nation final agreements.
Put another way, we believe this process violates our agreements.
Our position is that it is not open to the government of Yukon to propose a new land use designation system or any of the new concepts advanced by the government as part of the final round of public and intergovernmental consultation required by our final agreement. Chapter 11 sets out the procedure to be followed.
The introduction of sweeping new proposals at this stage of the Peel land use planning process undermines the process set out in Chapter 11. In our view, advancing these new proposals at this time amounts to a rejection of the constitutionally-protected process set out in our agreement.
We believe that the consultation process mandated by our agreement is bounded on the one hand by the Peel watershed land use planning commission's final recommended plan, and on the other by modifications the parties earlier proposed to the Peel planning commission's earlier recommended plan in December 2009, together with the reasons advanced in support of those modifications. Those are the legal boundaries for this consultation, as set out in 11.6 of our agreement. Consultations outside of those boundaries violate our agreement.
The government of Yukon had six years to provide input into the Peel watershed land use planning process, but for political reasons chose to restrict its input on substantial issues to vague general comments. As a result no one really knew where the government was coming from, including the Peel planning commission.
Had the government of Yukon brought forward its new concepts two years ago, as proposed modifications to the December 2009 recommended plan, the commission would have had the opportunity to factor those concepts into the final recommended plan. Even if the final plan did not reflect them, Yukon’s new concepts would now be reasonable and lawful subject matter for the present consultation.
But it is not reasonable or lawful for Yukon to introduce sweeping new concepts now, after the commission has ceased its work. As per Chapter 11 of Yukon First Nation final agreements, the present consultation is circumscribed by the final recommended plan and the parties’ recommended modifications to the earlier plan.
And to be clear, any consultation that takes place between the government of Yukon and the Tr’ondek Hwech’in is without prejudice to our ability to assert that the government of Yukon has not complied with the land use planning process which is constitutionally entrenched in our agreement.
With respect to the present public consultation and the intergovernmental consultation to follow, the Tr’ondek unequivocally reiterate our support for the commission’s final recommended plan. As we have previously stated, we believe the final recommended plan is a reasonable compromise between our previous position of 100% protection and the interests of some segments of the Yukon populace that want to see industrial development in certain portions of the Peel watershed.
As we have stated repeatedly since the planning process started, the lands and waters of the Peel have unparalleled cultural and ecological value to our people. They have sustained us in body and spirit for thousands of years. The Peel is an incredible region that should be protected for the benefit of future generations.
We know that the majority of the Yukon public feels the same way about protecting the Peel as we do. The Peel really is a place of transcending importance.
As the Peel commission noted in their December 2009 recommendation:
“We can always decide to develop in the future, but once this decision is made, we cannot return to a pristine ecosystem and landscape – not in our lifetime, and not in the lifetimes of our great grandchildren.”
Throughout the Peel planning process, the Tr’ondek Hwech’in have been clear with respect to where we are coming from. We want to see the Peel protected. In marked contrast, the government of Yukon has been consistently vague.
This was clearly articulated in a Sept. 11, 2011 letter from Ian Robertson, chair of the Yukon Land Use Planning Council, to Albert Peter, chair of the Peel watershed planning region senior liaison committee.
Mr. Robertson wrote: “First Nations have made their preferences and position clear; the Yukon government has not. The net result is an impasse that put the Peel commission in an untenable position.”
The bottom line is that the government of Yukon did not and is not participating in the Peel planning process in accordance with the rules set out in our final agreement. The present consultation process is outside of the boundaries set out in our agreement.
Final comment:
From the perspective of transparency and open public dialogue, the present Yukon consultation process is seriously flawed.
The primary focus of the present consultation is to encourage people to make comments on the YG website, but once those comments are made, they disappear from public sight. In the previous consultation comments were available on the website for public perusal. This promoted dialogue and enabled people to learn from each other.
The open house approach of the present consultation likewise defeats dialogue and openness. In the previous consultation presentations were made at a scheduled hour and the public was invited to participate in an open dialogue with commission members, planners and other members of the public. This provided an opportunity for dialogue, debate and the sharing of ideas.
The present consultation seems designed to enable YG to present its thoughts and ideas to the public, not for the public to present its thoughts and ideas to YG.
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