RE: Yukoners Concerned’s support of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun’s Request for Performance Audit of Yukon Mineral Governance and Devolution Implementation*
* Submitted to the Auditor General on December 9, 2024
Ever since Yukoners Concerned came into existence in 2012 our focus has been the preservation of the quality and integrity of Yukon’s water and its water systems.
Initially,our group responded to the government of the day’s proposal to develop oil and gas potential in the Whitehorse Trough, making plain our opposition to any development that would place our most precious resource at risk. Given Yukon’s geology, hydraulic fracturing (fracking) is the only method that can be used to exploit deposits. Fracking requires vast quantities of water to access the oil and gas within the shale, putting at risk surface and ground water.
Our opposition to fracking led to the introduction in the Yukon Legislative Assembly of the largest ever petition presented to that body and was a decided influence in the eventual decision not to proceed with fracking; in fact, leading to a moratorium against this practice.
In the years since, we have turned our attention to the manifest problems and challenges in Yukon’s mining sector which, time and again, has seen colossal failures on the part of mine operators and ineffective enforcement by government, resulting in taxpayers becoming responsible for maintenance and/or reclamation.
We offer this background so that you might appreciate that our concern and actions for the past thirteen years have been to protect Yukon’s water and understand why our group of concerned citizens would so willingly support the request for a performance audit of Yukon’s mineral governance and devolution implementation.
Na-Cho Nyäk Dun’s document was prompted by the catastrophic failure of Victoria Gold’s heap leach pad which led to “four million tons of cyanide laden ore” sliding down a mountainside in their traditional territory, imperilling the water systems downstream, killing fish and leaving mercury, methyl mercury and other heavy metals in its wake.
The document details not only the multiple failures of Victoria Gold but also the repeated failures of YG to demand and enforce compliance with regulations. That these failures have been historic in nature is also well documented.
We support the call for an audit that - in the words of the document - determines “(1) whether YG adequately assessed and regulated the Eagle Gold Mine during its development and operation, and (2) whether Canada and YG have effectively delivered on their commitments to devolve authority over lands and natural resources” following devolution.
An audit, as outlined in Na Cho Nyäk’s request, is not only in the interests of FNNCND, but
also all Yukoners. We all stand to benefit if the failures evident in the catastrophe of the Victoria Gold’s heap leach pad are examined, brought out into the light of day and redressed insofar as is possible. Only by learning from this experience will we in Yukon be able to ensure that future disasters become less likely and that the water and land we all value is protected and preserved for us and future generations.
Thank you for your attention.
Don Roberts
Chair
Yukoners Concerned
