The Yukon government has been slapped with another lawsuit by a First Nation.

The Kaska Dena Council of Lower Post, B.C. filed the suit Tuesday in the Yukon Supreme Court.

It's claiming the government has a duty to consult the First Nation before recording any mineral claims or permitting any exploration activity in its traditional territory across southeast Yukon.

Whitehorse lawyer Stephen Walsh is representing the Kaska. He said Wednesday the same circumstances that led the Ross River Dena Council in its legal victory over the Yukon government regarding the duty to consult applies to the Kaska Dena Council.

There is no question it's the same situation, said Walsh, who also represents Ross River.

"I can't think of a single argument why that is not the case, and yet we have the government ignoring that reality at its own peril,” he told the Star.

The Yukon Court of Appeal ruled in December 2012 the territorial government must consult Ross River before recording mineral claims and before it permits exploration activity inside its traditional territory.

Staking claims and allowing exploration work could impact on the rights of First Nations, and therefore there was a duty to consult the First Nation, the court ruled.

As a result, the government was forced to amend both the Quartz Mining Act and the Placer Mining Act.

A moratorium on mineral staking over what is known as the Ross River Area was also put in place while the government attempts to negotiate a suitable arrangement with the Ross River Dena Council. The moratorium will expire at the end of April.

The Yukon government has up to 21 days to file its statement of defence in the lawsuit filed Tuesday by the Kaska Dena Council.

Cabinet spokeswoman Elaine Schiman said today Premier Darrell Pasloski will not be commenting, as the matter is now before the courts.

The suit claims the government has already acknowledged in several government-to-government agreements that the Lower Post First Nation has aboriginal rights and interests in the Kaskas' traditional territory in the Yukon.

It also requests the government concede that it has already recognized those rights.

Walsh said the Kaska Dena Council repeatedly made it clear to the Yukon government that they felt the government had a duty to consult them, but to no avail.

Included in the court documents are several correspondence from last August and September between council chair George Miller and the premier.

Miller states the council's position regarding the duty to consult. He also requests the premier to include his First Nation in the consultations the government was undertaking with Yukon First Nations regarding amendments to mining legislation as a result of the Yukon Court of Appeal decision – to no avail, according to the lawsuit.

The Ross River Dena Council, the Liard First Nation of Watson Lake and the Kaska Dena Council are all members of the Kaska Nation.

The Ross River Dena Council, the Liard First Nation and the White River First Nation are the only Yukon First Nations which have not signed aboriginal land claim and self-government agreements.

Earlier this year, the White River First Nation threatened publicly to file a lawsuit if the government doesn't agree to consult before recording mineral claims or permitting exploration in its traditional territory across the Yukon's southwest corner.

The Tr'ondek Hwech'in of Dawson City and the First Nation of Nacho Nyak Dun filed a lawsuit against the government in January regarding the government's handling of the Peel watershed land use planning exercise.

Joining the two First Nations in the action is the Yukon Conservation Society and the Yukon chapter of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Association.

Also stating its intent to file a lawsuit with regard to the Peel planning process is the Gwich'in Tribal Council of Northwest Territories, whose traditional territory stretches across the territorial border into the Peel watershed.

Most recently, the Taku River Tlingit First Nation of Atlin filed legal action against the Yukon government.

It claims the government failed to properly consult the First Nation about the proposal to build a new territorial campground inside the Tlingits' traditional territory along Atlin Lake.

Over the last several years, the Supreme Court of Canada has handed down a number of decisions regarding the duty to consult.

Generally speaking, the highest court has ruled the territorial, provincial and federal governments have an inherent responsibility to deal honourably with First Nations. In matters that affect First Nations, the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled First Nations must be consulted in a "meaningful” way.

In the case of the Ross River Dena Council, the Yukon Supreme Court initially ruled there was a duty to consult when mineral claims were staked. The court, however, said notifying the First Nation after the claims were recorded would fulfill the duty to consult.

Ross River appealed the decision. It argued the duty existed before the claims are recorded.

The Yukon government appealed the finding that the duty to consult even existed when it came to staking claims.

The Yukon Court of Appeal found the duty existed before the claims are recorded, as the mere staking of claims could impact on the First Nation's aboriginal rights and title.

The court also noted that when a claim is staked, the claim holder automatically has the right to do a bunch work on the claim – digging holes, cutting trees, using explosives – without telling anybody or obtaining any permits.

It went on to find there's also a duty to consult before any exploration activity is allowed, because that activity may impact on the First Nation's rights and title.

The Yukon government appealed the decision to the Supreme Court of Canada, but the highest court refused to hear the case.

The Yukon Court of Appeal decision, therefore, currently stands as the law of the land.