Former chief: 'Are we working together?'

MAYO –  It’s been almost 20 years since Robert Hager signed the Na-Cho Nyak Dun’s land claim agreement .

But things sure haven’t panned out as promised.

That’s what the former chief told about 70 people who attended a public meeting on the Peel watershed land use plan at the community hall on Monday.

“When I signed that final agreement, about 400 people, they said sign it because the government was going to work with us and we were all going to work together. Are we working together?” he said.

Hager, now 72, spent years hammering out that deal – a deal which included an agreement to jointly plan the Peel’s future land use.

“Now you people are telling us you disagree with the commission’s plan. Why don’t you join us and work with us and make this thing happen,” he said.

The alternative is a long and costly court battle, he warned.

“Stand on your agreement,” said Hager.  “Don’t try to change it….We’ll be in court for the next 40 years.”

The two government officials,  parked at the front of the room,  just listened to Hager and occasionally nodded.

They had reluctantly accepted an invitation from newly-elected chief Ed Champion to leave their near-empty open house next door for the much better-attended town hall meeting , where they heard speaker after speaker urge the government to protect the Peel.

People, like Bobby Lee Melancon. For years her husband, a hardrock miner, had told her about the beauty of the Peel.  Even though he works in the industry, he didn’t want to see mining in that region.

 Several months ago she had the chance to spend some time there herself.

“I thought ‘Oh my god, my husband’s right, “ she told the crowd. “The water is crystal clear. I’ve never seen anything like it in my whole life.”

The government’s rejection of the Peel plan shows complete disrespect for the First Nations, said Mayo resident Don Hutton.

At this late stage in the planning process, the government has “absolutely no right to tamper” with the final recommended plan, he said. Especially since it was involved with the process from the start.

As a long-time government employee, who also owns some Yukon mining claims, Hutton said he’s well aware of the role mining plays in the territory and recognizes the need for balance.

“But in the last three years 300,000 quartz claims have been staked in the territory,” he said. “It will take 15 or 20 years to find out what’s under the ground on those claims.

“We certainly don’t need to be looking at the Peel right now.”

Frank Patterson, who credits the Peel with helping him start to heal from addictions, said the government’s handling of the land use planning process makes him sick.

He told officials to tell Premier Darrell Pasloski that “we don’t want that plan that he’s come up with, that’s made a laughing stock of us.”

Elsie Hume, who is originally from Old Crow but currently works in Mayo, said the government has no right to develop a new plan by itself.

“Look at our own government doing this to us,” she said. “Going against our Umbrella Final Agreement, just railroading it in like we’re not alive. You should be ashamed of yourselves. “

She said the government should reconsider because it’s got a “big fight” on its hands.

The Peel controversy is not a debate about mining versus the environment – it’s much broader than that, said Beth Hunt.

The government’s rejection of the Peel commission’s plan undermines democracy itself, she said.

Nor does she believe the government really wants to hear what people have to say about the watershed.

“You heard from us for years and you didn’t like what we were saying,” said Hunt. 

“This new consultation period is just a sham. What use is land planning? Why should we participate if the government can then ignore the recommendations and do what it wants?"

The Na-Cho Nyak Dun is one of four First Nations that were part of the Peel planning process up until recently when the Yukon government decided to go it alone. The others are the Tr'ondek Hwech'in, the Gwich'in Tribal Council and the Vuntut Gwitchin.