Whitehorse, YT – Protests are planned across the Yukon and Northwest Territories today as legal arguments begin in a challenge brought by the Yukon Government over a proposed mining project in the Peel watershed.
The government is suing the Yukon Environmental and Socio-Economic Assessment Board (YESAB) after it recommended rejecting Silver47 Exploration Corp.’s Michelle Creek project due to non-compliance with the Peel Watershed Regional Land Use Plan, finalized in 2019.
The Government argued that the board didn’t have enough information to make a fair recommendation.
A protest is planned outside the Yukon Courts in downtown Whitehorse and CPAWS Yukon’s Outreach Manager Joti Overduin expects similar protests to occur in Mayo and Dawson City.
“We’ve seen that this issue has brought people out in communities in the past,” said Overduin. “I wouldn’t be surprised if subsequent rallies do end up happening in communities across Yukon.”
The Peel Plan, a landmark agreement aimed at protecting the region’s ecology, was signed by the Yukon Government and First Nations, including the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun (FNNND) and Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in (TH).
In 2017, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in favor of Yukon First Nations, affirming that the territorial government could not alter the Peel Watershed land use plan without proper consultation and adherence to treaty obligations.
“Yukon’s lawsuit makes a mockery of the Peel Plan…We will defend the Peel Plan as many times as we need to, until Yukon Government upholds the Plan and our treaty right to land use planning,” said FNNND Chief Dawna Hope in a press release.
Elizabeth Vittrekwa, a Teet’lit Gwitchin Peel advocate, says people in Fort McPherson, Tsiigehtchic and Aklavik will be marching in solidarity.
In a press release, Vittrekwa says her late father Charlie Snowshoe participated in the Peel plan from the start and always fought for their land rights.
“He always stood up for those things. Protect those things he told me. And we will.”
