The final recommended plan for the Peel watershed is a fair and balanced culmination of seven years of consultations in which First Nations were equal partners and Yukoners were given every opportunity to express their opinions.
Not only is the plan proportionally representative of the interests of Yukoners (80 per cent permanent/interim protection to 20 per cent development), but it preserves resources and potential development for future generations, instead of selling it all for a quick buck to international companies who will likely hire international and out-of-territory workers.
Not only does this plan protect one of the last truly pristine and untouched wildernesses on Earth, but it is also a sound compromise for development. Why should we give all our resources away so readily? If the current Yukon government were truly conservative and well informed, wouldn’t it strive to promote slow and measured growth for the protection and benefit of all Yukoners, rather than try to give it all away for a short term spike in the Yukon’s GDP?
We live in territory the size of Germany that supports only 30,000 people - surely we have enough of the territory open to development that we can take the time to be truly conservative and properly manage what we have left.
It is a joke to say that protecting and saving huge parts of the Peel will harm the tiny economy we have in this vast territory full of possibilities. If anything, accepting the plan would probably be recognized as one of the greatest achievements of sound sustainable development as well as environmental protection.
Thorin Loeks
Whitehorse