To the Yukon Liberal government,
I recently came across a Government of Yukon news release regarding a suspected tailings leak at the abandoned Wolverine mine site. In it, the government declared, with admirable conviction, that "as the territory’s mining regulator, the Government of Yukon’s top priority is protecting the environment."
How refreshing, I thought. A government so resolute in its environmental stewardship that it would proclaim this as its top priority. However, my enthusiasm was short-lived. Just days later, a news release from the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in First Nation painted a rather different picture.
According to the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in, the Government of Yukon is embroiled in yet another lawsuit—this time against YESAB—aimed at overturning a recommendation to protect the Peel Watershed. For context, YESAB's decision was based on significant, unmitigable impacts to wildlife, First Nation wellness, and treaty rights. YESAB even cited the government’s own Peel Watershed Regional Land Use Plan as a key reason for its recommendation. A plan, I might add, that the government itself co-negotiated and signed.
And yet, here we are, with the government attempting to quash the recommendation and relitigate the validity of a plan it once proudly championed. This raises the obvious question: is "protecting the environment" only your government’s top priority when it doesn’t conflict with mining interests?
The dissonance between these two narratives is almost poetic. On the one hand, we have a government taking the moral high ground on environmental responsibility, ostensibly to reassure Yukoners of its commitment to sustainable practices. On the other, we see that same government fighting tooth and nail to weaken protections for one of the most pristine and culturally significant regions in the territory.
This isn't just a case of mixed messages; it's a case of fundamental hypocrisy. If protecting the environment truly were the government’s top priority, it would respect the Peel Plan, uphold treaty rights, and let YESAB’s decision stand. Instead, taxpayers are footing the bill for yet another legal battle—one that seems designed not to protect the environment, but to protect the interests of a mining proponent.
Perhaps it’s time for the Government of Yukon to take a long, hard look at its priorities. Because from where I’m sitting, actions speak far louder than carefully crafted sentences in a news release.
Best,
Clayton Loudermilk
Whitehorse
