City council fielding concerns about in-city mineral staking

Authority over staking mineral claims is in the hands of the territorial government,

Authority over staking mineral claims is in the hands of the territorial government, but that doesn’t mean the city isn’t hearing concerns over the matter as it reviews its Official Community Plan (OCP).

At a noon meeting of council and senior management last Wednesday, local geologist Kevin Brewer presented a draft information page about mineral claims in the city.

Once a final version is done, officials are planning to hand out the information sheets to residents at OCP meetings.

Part of a recent OCP survey asked residents what they thought of mineral staking in the city, though it was also noted it falls under the jurisdiction of the territory.

Throughout the review of the plan, a number of users of ski trails have brought forward concerns about drilling and claims staked on the area of the Whitehorse Cross Country Ski Club trails.

“It’s mostly the ski trails, which is not just the club (but) maybe users or just people who care about it as well. Most of the input’s been with regard to that,” city planning manager Mike Gau said in an interview following the meeting.

It’s an issue that continues to come up with conflicting views on land use.

The territory’s Quartz Mining Act and the Municipal Act are at the same level, Gau noted. That gives the territory the authority on staking under the Quartz Mining Act, while the city has jurisdiction over planning and development under the Municipal Act.

It means that while a claim can be staked with the Yukon government, development of the property would have to go through the city.

“We’ve tested that with the Yukon government and yes, planning and zoning will apply on those lands, but Crown grants may be different,” Gau said.

“That’s the point where we don’t now, and it may only be determined through court.”

As Coun. Florence Roberts pointed out, the Crown grants (land granted by the Crown) that could become an issue for a proposal to create a territorial park spanning the length of McIntyre Creek.

“Is there any point in us even moving on with this? Because we can’t create a park over a Crown grant,” she said, after noting among the 460 claims in good standing cited by Brewer,  there’s not certainty how many are over Crown grants. “We can’t do anything really with the land that are Crown grants.”

While the city can zone the land, a Crown grant will take precedence over that zoning, the councillor continued.

Stating it is his personal view, Brewer suggested each interest in the land can be respected without requiring a park.

Earlier in the meeting, he noted there have already been drillers using the area, with one or two drill holes going in each year.

It’s unlikely there would be an overlap between the ski and drilling seasons, he said.

Brewer’s information focused on the claims history back to the Whitehorse Copper Mine to the current situation and the legislation around it.

He noted he tried to put himself in the shoes of a typical Whitehorse resident.

The information will be made available to city residents at OCP meetings.

The next set of meetings will be community cafés at the Gold Rush Inn on Wednesday and Thursday from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. and on April 18 from noon to 3 p.m.