With less than a month before the staking ban for the Peel watershed expires, the government won’t say how work on the region’s land use plan is progressing.
It also won’t say if the prohibition on staking will be extended past December 31.
“This government has a record of burying controversial items by announcing them on a Friday of a long weekend or during a holiday period. Mr. Speaker, is it this government’s intention to announce its own unilateral land use plan for the Peel watershed during the holiday period?” asked NDP Opposition MLA Kate White in the legislature Tuesday.
“What I’ll commit to is announcing the final Peel watershed plan when it is ready,” said Resource Minister Scott Kent.
The government is in a final round of consultation with affected First Nations. Those talks were initially scheduled to wrap up in March.
Discussions appear to be at a stalemate, with First Nations threatening legal action if the Yukon government pushes ahead with its own plans, and the government unwilling to accept the planning commission’s recommended plan.
December 19 will be the last day of the fall legislative sitting.