Yukon gov't Xmas grinch circling the Peel?

Spoiler alert: The Yukon government may be waiting until the eggnog is flowing freely - anytime after Dec. 19 - before dropping its final Peel watershed land use plan bombshell.

The opposition says it sure looks like that`s the strategy. And the government didn't jump at the chance to deny the charge when it was quizzed in the legislature Dec. 3.

For your reading pleasure, here`s what was said, word-for-word.

NDP Kate White: For seven years, First Nation governments, industry and the public engaged in good faith with the Yukon government to develop a land use plan for the Peel watershed. However, the Yukon Party government then ignored the final recommended Peel plan. The public knows that 55% protection, as indicated in the final recommended plan, is balanced. Despite this, the government has been trying to impose on Yukoners and the four affected First Nations a completely new land use plan. We know that this government received final input from those First Nation governments just last week. Will the minister tell this House if his government has the agreement of the four Yukon First Nations to move ahead on a final land use plan for the Peel watershed?

Environment Minister Currie Dixon: As I’ve indicated previously, we have received input from the four affected First Nations with regard to the government-to-government consultation that we undertook with them. We are currently reviewing the input we’ve received from First Nations. Once we’ve concluded the review and consideration of the input we received from First Nations, we’ll determine how to move forward. We will remain engaged with First Nations as we continue forward, and especially, once it comes to implementation, we would hope that implementation would be something we could do in collaboration with First Nations.
As I’ve indicated in this House before and in the public before, we felt that the final recommended plan as presented by the commission was not balanced and, indeed, could be improved upon by applying certain modifications. We then consulted the public on those modifications and received a significant amount of input.
Of course, our intention is to move forward with a land use plan that provides protection for key areas in the Peel watershed region, but also allows for a balanced use and balanced provisions for access that allow our economy to continue on currently and into the future.

Kate White: The minister’s answers provide little comfort to those who want economic and legal certainty in this territory. The minister’s answers also leave much open to speculation. The staking moratorium in the Peel expires on December 31 of this year. The legislature’s last sitting day is on December 19. Most First Nation government offices will be closed over the Christmas week and, in some cases, into the new year. The public’s attention during the last half of December will be turned to celebration, to family and to friends. This government has a record of burying controversial items by announcing them on a Friday of a long weekend or during a holiday period. Is it this government’s intention to announce its own unilateral land use plan for the Peel watershed during the holiday period?

Energy, Mines & Resources Minister Scott Kent: There is no date that is set for a final decision on a plan for the Peel but, as mentioned by the minister of environment, we’re hopeful that all the parties have prioritized this for a timely conclusion of this important planning process.
I certainly recognize that there a number of Yukoners who have invested significantly of their time and their effort, no matter what side of the Peel debate they’re on — whether they want to see land used for traditional purposes or wilderness tourism, or whether they’re engaged in responsible resource activity and they want to make sure that there is a land base available to them going forward to find the next discovery like the Rackla or the White Gold.
This certainly isn’t an issue where you can run to one side or, like the New Democrats do, pick winners or losers. We’re trying to find a balanced plan for the Peel watershed, one with which we can ensure there remains healthy economic activity balanced against the environmental protection and the traditional uses that Yukoners value as well. That’s what we’re working toward.
We’re not going to put an artificial timeline on that. We’re going to ensure that we exhaust every opportunity to come up with a plan that works, not only for the Yukon government, but our First Nation partners as well.

Kate White: The lack of assurance by this government to not announce its own land use plan for the Peel watershed during the Christmas and New Year’s break is very troubling.
By refusing to rule out this possibility, it suggests that the Yukon Party government is contemplating just that. Such an action by this government would be an affront to democracy, would bring dishonour to the Crown and would be contemptuous to Yukoners and to all those who participated in the planning process. Most importantly, it would be a great disrespect to First Nation governments.
Will this government commit to not announcing its own land use plan for the Peel watershed during the holiday period and to extending the interim subsurface withdrawals in the Peel region until after December 31?

Minister Kent: What I’ll commit to is announcing the final Peel watershed plan when it is ready. That’s something that the minister of environment has talked about. Again, we’re reviewing input from First Nations that we’ve received over the past while. That final round of consultations with our First Nation partners has been ongoing for some time now. There is a lot of information and we want to ensure that we exhaust every opportunity to find a plan that not only works for us as the Yukon government, but also works for our First Nation partners.
Again, with respect to the announcement of a final plan or the extension of the staking withdrawal in the Peel watershed, we certainly want to exhaust all the opportunities that we can to reach consensus with our First Nation partners and develop a plan that will work for all Yukoners no matter where they are on this issue.
Again, as I’ve mentioned, the NDP seeks to always run to one side of any argument. We need to, as government, be responsible and find a balance that works for Yukoners, whether they’re First Nations in that area or whether they work in Marwell here in Whitehorse supporting the mining industry. We want to make sure that there are opportunities for everyone when it comes to the Peel watershed and the entire Yukon.