Skip to content

Carney wades into McIntyre Creek dispute

John Carney wants to be the NDP's candidate for Porter Creek South. The 53-year-old is a longtime director and former president of the Yukon Fish and Game Association.

John Carney wants to be the NDP’s candidate for Porter Creek South.

The 53-year-old is a longtime director and former president of the Yukon Fish and Game Association.

He wanted to seek the nomination for his home riding of Takhini-Kopper King. But it took him several months to obtain a leave of absence from his day job with the federal government. He works as a survey technician with Natural Resources Canada.

But Carney’s familiar with Porter Creek, as one of the founders of Friends of McIntyre Creek. He’s opposed to the city’s plans to build a bridge across the wetland, which he describes as an important wildlife corridor.

Mayor Bev Buckway has insisted this is a municipal concern. Not so, said Carney.

An unresolved dispute lingers over the boundary of the college’s endowment land, he noted.

Until it’s sorted out, no work should be done at the creek, he said. Carney faults the Yukon Party government for dithering on this matter, and not yet conducting a thorough assessment of the area’s importance as a wildlife corridor.

He worries the study, now underway, has too little time to do an adequate job.

Carney had no political affiliations prior to joining the NDP shortly after Liz Hanson became leader. He picked the party because it’s the “most democratic and most responsive to people’s needs,” he said.

All parties are poised for the writ to be dropped soon. The NDP must still name candidates for the ridings of Mayo-Tatchun and Vuntut-Gwitchin.