A Mayo-area first nation chief has informed federal and territorial government agencies the first nation's consent is required for any activity that takes place in its traditional territory.

In an Aug. 15 letter obtained by the Star, Simon Mervyn, chief of the First Nation of Na-cho Nyak Dun (NND), said the consent of his first nation is required for activity on both first nation-owned settlement and Crown-owned non-settlement lands in the Mayo area.

The letter was sent to the Mayo Mining Lands Office, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Environment Canada, the territorial Department of Environment, the Yukon Territory Water Board, the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board's chair and Mayo office, and the territorial Department of Energy, Mines and Resources.

'As chief, I have an obligation to ensure that the constitutionally-protected aboriginal rights and title of our first nation are honoured by the Crown,' Mervyn wrote.

'This includes my responsibility to ensure that all proposed activities on our lands, including our traditional territory, be sustainable and, take place with our full knowledge, involvement and consent.'

Meryvn also said the recent Little Salmon/Carmacks First Nation decision in Yukon Supreme Court confirmed that Yukon first nations have the right to government-to-government consultations on land issues.

A federal court decision Dene Tha First Nation vs. Canada was also evidence that first nations must be involved in designing processes for regulatory and environmental review for projects that take place in their neighbourhood if governments want to avoid court injunctions which would halt projects.

Those principles highlighted in those court cases, Mervyn said, apply in the case of the United Keno Hill mine.

'For generations, our citizens have been hunting, trapping and fishing within our traditional territory and at the Keno Hill site.

'Our people have an historic and contemporary connection to these lands for our traditional pursuits for generations,' Mervyn wrote.

'These are our lands.'

Mervyn said his first nation was not meaningfully consulted in the original decision to permit the development of United Keno Hill, the decision to transfer the mine site to a subsidiary company of Alexco Resources Corp., and regulatory discussions on the mine's maintenance, exploration, closure and reclamation plans.

'We are not just third party stakeholders who are required to take part in processes designed by other governments with respect to the transfer, reclamation, exploration and proposed redevelopment of Keno Hill,' he said.

'The Keno Hill clean-up and redevelopment involves our lands and our rights and should only take place once concerns about impacts to our rights and title have been jointly identified and subsequently appropriately assessed, addressed and accommodated.'

Last month, Alexco Resources value dropped by $30 million to $50 million on the stock market after NND announced it was pulling out of regulatory talks.

Mervyn said his government requires additional resources to engage in consultation in a meaningful and effective way in projects as large as the United Keno Hill mine.

'To date we have only received selective information derived from some meetings which have taken place between government and Elsa (Alexco's subsidiary) with respect to the reclamation and closure matters,' Mervyn wrote.

'Additionally, we have been treated as peripheral participants and have not been equipped with the technical resources or capacity to engage in a consultation process which ensures that plans for reclamation and closure adequately incorporates our concerns.'

'In order for this to take place, we must have the time and capacity to independently assess, evaluate and participate in the scoping and development of the reclamation and closure plans.'

Mervyn also said he would like a commitment that no regulatory decisions will be made or water licence issued to Alexco at the United Keno Hill site until meaningful government-to-government consultations occurred.

Mervyn's letter was sent about two weeks before Premier Dennis Fentie was criticized by opposition political parties for saying his government would not allow first nation governments to have consent requirements or veto power on land use decisions in their traditional territory.

'When we get into situations where first nations, such as NND in this case, have referenced a recent Yukon court decision and demanded consent for activity in their traditional territory, that's where public government must stand up and say, No, that's not what was agreed to in the final agreement or any other agreement,'' Fentie said.

'This government will not agree to consent requirements.'

Earlier this month, Liberal Leader Arthur Mitchell said he felt Fentie was misleading the public with rhetoric as first nations had never asked for consent or veto power.

This week, Mitchell said he was sticking by his assessment of the situation.

Mitchell said while Mervyn used the term 'consent' in his letter, that's not likely what he is looking for.

Mitchell said he spoke with Mervyn directly. He said the chief assured him the NND is not seeking veto power in the territory.

Neither Fentie who's out of the territory nor Mervyn could be reached for comment this morning.