Yukon MLAs from all three territorial parties with seats in the legislature want the opportunity to publicly question representatives from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), the court-appointed receiver put in charge of Victoria Gold Corp.’s Eagle Gold Mine after the heap leach facility failed last summer.
On March 25, PwC went through the court to effectively increase how much it borrows from the Yukon government — from $105 million to $220 million — as well as approve its 208-page third report to the court and its activities on remediation at the mine site.
A motion put forward by Yukon Party mines critic Scott Kent in the legislature on March 31 calls for PwC senior vice presidents Michelle Grant and Graham Page to appear as witnesses before Committee of the Whole to take questions about the mine site.
The motion sets out that the witnesses should appear in the legislative assembly on April 29 from 3 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Kent told reporters in the atrium of the legislative building on April 1 that he seeks to inquire about PwC’s exit plan: when will their work be done at the mine site and will they be able to sell the asset or turn it over to the government?
“I think there needs to be some accountability from them for the work they're doing up there and the money they're spending,” he said.
Mines Minister John Streicker suggested it’s the first time the legislature could hear from someone who is appointed by a court in this way.
Streicker said he hopes the opposition will support him or his government by allowing them to ask questions as part of the legislative process.
"I have not got my list of questions in place, but I would like them to tell a bit of the story of how this is unfolded," he said. He added his questions will be prepared but also adapted on the floor as other questions and responses come up, if the witnesses appear.
In the case of witnesses like those in Kent’s motion, House leaders will typically figure out how much time will be allotted to each caucus given PwC is not a government entity but rather a court-appointed receiver, according to an email from Yukon Legislative Assembly clerk Dan Cable.
"Any Member can ask questions of a witness provided there is time," Cable said.
Streicker reiterated to reporters in the cabinet office on April 1 that, in the weeks following the cyanide-laden landslide in June 2024, the government didn't have faith in Victoria Gold Corp.’s management or its leadership to protect the environment and people working at the site given the company wasn’t complying with mine inspector’s directions.
The Yukon government made the call to apply to the courts to get the receivership in place.
“They (Victoria Gold Corp.) weren't following the directions that we've given. They weren't showing us that they were going to follow the directions that we had given. So, they were either unwilling or unable to protect the environment and the people on site to a level that we felt good with. They weren't really communicating publicly, not in a way that we wanted,” Streicker said.
“We made the choice to apply to the courts to have a receiver put in place to do this work.”
Streicker reflected on the August 2024 court hearing.
“Victoria Gold appeared and said, ‘Hey, we don't want you to do this right now, because we are planning to file for bankruptcy protection’,” Streicker said.
“What that says is that you're not sure you've got the dollars in order to do the work to move forward.”
The Yukon Party pointed to a frequently asked questions page on the PwC website, which notes a company that has filed under the Companies' Creditor Arrangement Act (CCAA) for protection from its creditors is not in receivership or bankruptcy.
“Rather, it has filed under the CCAA in order to devise a plan of restructuring and compromise for its creditors that avoids the company going into receivership or bankruptcy, with a view to keeping the Debtor company operating, increasing the amount that may ultimately be paid to creditors and preserving the Debtor's employees' jobs,” reads the web page.
The receiver currently oversees the remediation work at the site. Streicker said PwC is addressing the directions since taking over.
Key milestones related to remediation and more are highlighted in the third report.
Milestones listed include building three temporary ponds and adding capacity to certain existing ponds for a total of 309,000 cubic metres of on-site storage capacity; modifying the water treatment plant; completing the settling pond; commissioning four reverse osmosis units; finishing the safety berm and installing 19 groundwater interception wells.
Other milestones are prepping a stability and run-out assessment and remediation strategy and completing a failure model; building sumps and seeps as part of a comprehensive surface water and groundwater management plan; preparing for fieldwork investigations on the heap leach pad; discharging about 87,000 cubic metres of treated water and supporting the independent board review process.
“I disagree with the Yukon Party that we should have left Victoria Gold to their own devices and just see how they get along with all of this work,” Streicker said.
“I disagree with them that the receiver is not accountable. I disagree that this is an inappropriate spending of funds. I think that this is protecting the environment and protecting people. So yes, I recognize the expense that's there, but I think it's the right thing to do.”
While Kent’s motion made it to the projected order of business for Opposition Wednesday, when the opposition parties can set the agenda, on April 2, the motion didn't come up for debate because MLAs ran out the clock debating bill 310, a private member's bill proposed by Yukon NDP Leader Kate White.
Contact Dana Hatherly at dana.hatherly@yukon-news.com
