Premier Ranj Pillai says he has secured a strong commitment from several federal ministers to work with the Yukon government on the proposed Atlin hydro project.

Pillai had a number of meetings with ministers, MPs and senators – including Yukon Senator Pat Duncan – in Ottawa from May 3-7.

Ministers Pillai engaged with included Marc Miller (Crown-Indigenous Relations), Jonathan Wilkinson (Natural Resources Canada), Randy Boissonnault (Tourism), Dominic LeBlanc (Intergovernmental Affairs), Dan Vandal (Northern Affairs), Anita Anand (National Defence), Sean Fraser (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship) and François-Philippe Champagne (Innovation, Science, and Industry).

Topics discussed included land use planning, critical minerals, streamlining environmental assessment processes, Arctic security, and increasing opportunities for immigration to the Yukon.

Also discussed were housing and tourism infrastructure development, the Yukon’s efforts toward Indigenous reconciliation and the upcoming 125th anniversary of the Yukon joining Confederation.

Yukon MP Brendan Hanley and John Streicker, Energy, Mines and Resources and Tourism and Culture Minister took part in the meetings.

Pillai also met with Ottawa business leaders to promote economic development opportunities in the Yukon.

The encounters served as an opportunity to enlighten federal ministers as to the issues the Yukon is dealing with.

During a press conference with local reporters Tuesday, Pillai said he secured a strong commitment from a number of federal ministers to work with him on the Atlin hydro project. The funding shortfall for the proposal to bring power to the Yukon has been estimated as high as $100 million.

Opposition Leader Currie Dixon has expressed skepticism that the project will go ahead, asserting it’s a key part of the energy consumption woes facing the Yukon government.

“The failure of Atlin to materialize is certainly contributing to the problem,” Dixon stated outside the legislature in April.

“They had banked on the Atlin project substantially to provide some new generation capacity to our grid. Unfortunately, that project is stalled.”

Wilkins is one of the ministers Pillai mentioned as associated with that project.

“Atlin was one of the bigger ones that we were focused on,” said the premier.

“I think there’s a real commitment on Atlin to work together between multiple departments. I think that that’s a concrete action; everybody wants to see that project get built.”

Pillai added, “In the (March) federal budget, there was one item that talked about a 15-per-cent refundable tax credit, and we got a bit more information on that, and they’re gonna work with us to identify how that can be used.”

Pillai said he met with Champagne to discuss the potential B.C. energy grid connection.

He also advised that round-table discussions led by Natural Resources Canada are taking place regarding critical minerals.

“We believe discussions can lead to financial commitment towards early-stage investment in the grid connection.”

Pillai said he spoke with LeBlanc regarding having more flexibility within ICIP (Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program) funding.

He also spoke to Fraser about “programs that we haven’t used before when it comes to building workforce supports specifically around tourism and hospitality.

“They’re going to be working with our officials on identifying another stream that we can use for, really, access to more seasonal workers,” related Pillai.

He spoke with Miller on the topic of supporting the Yukon on potentially hosting an intergovernmental forum in Ottawa – which would be a first for the Yukon.

They also spoke about the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women’s file.

“Some stuff we have to follow up on, but some concrete support on a number of initiatives that I was tabling as a priority for the Yukon,” added Pillai.

He was asked if the substance use emergency was discussed.

“I echoed it to a number of ministers. I believe that leaders across the country understand how much it’s impacting us,” he said.

“I also did an interview with CPAC on the weekend, and it was one of the main topics.

“This crisis that we’re going through is not unique to Yukon. We’re seeing really significant impacts across Canada in many, many different communities,” the premier added.

“My sense is that federal ministers do understand the impact but a lot of that work as well is being done through our minister of Health, Tracy-Anne McPhee, and directly with minister (of Health Jean-Yves) Duclos.”

Pillai also spoke highly of Hanley’s efforts on behalf of the Yukon.

“We have a great champion in our MP, Dr. Hanley. I invited him to attend, and he is extremely respected by his colleagues on the Hill in Parliament, and they look to him for advice and when we were coming out of the pandemic, he was a very key voice in Ottawa after he was elected.

“On issues such as the opioid crisis, people are really looking to him for advice and direction, not just in the Yukon, but for the country.”

Pillai also spoke about mining opportunities in the Yukon, including cobalt and copper in the Dawson City region.

“To the eastern Yukon, you think about the Kudz Ze Kayah project, which is a significant zinc project. Deposits on the North Channel, north of Ross River, that focus on zinc but also on tungsten, and then many, many other projects that are in the pipeline.”

In addition, Pillai mentioned many of the critical minerals in the Yukon, including antimony, germanium, indium and manganese.

“About 25 of the 31 critical minerals are found throughout the Yukon.

“What we’re sharing with folks out there is that we have a lot of opportunity. It’s important to come and look at what’s going on in Yukon’s mining industry, and it’s important to come and meet with First Nation governments and understand what their interest, values and priorities are as well.

“We think that there’s some really significant economic opportunity here in the Yukon in the coming years.”

The government announced Monday it’s investing $1.4 million to support 44 mineral exploration projects in 2023-24 through the Yukon Mineral Exploration Program. The projects are anticipated to spend more than $4.6 million on exploration this season.

Pillai was also asked about Arctic sovereignty.

“I met with the minister of Defence (Anand) last week on Thursday and we had a good discussion,” he replied.

“My concern was really around the fact that there is a very significant amount of spending that’s going to happen in the Arctic, and it’s really around supporting NORAD and their new infrastructure.

“And I felt that there needed to be more information shared with us in the Yukon.”

Pillai is also concerned about First Nations’ involvement.

“I wanted to make sure that their interests are also magnified at the table with the Department of Defence, that First Nations’ governments also want to be well-informed on decisions being made by the federal government.”

Pillai said there’s also a “very significant economic opportunity. I touched on this (Tuesday) morning at the start of the Arctic Investment Conference (in Whitehorse).

“We’re talking about billions and billions of dollars that is going to be spent across Canada, specifically in the North, and there is great opportunities for First Nations corporations to be part of that Indigenous procurement strategy the federal government will use, as they build out that infrastructure.”

(See Friday’s Star for reporting on this week’s keynote address to the conference by former federal Justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould.)

Pillai pointed out the support for the Canadian Rangers as well.

“That’s something the Department of Defence sees great value in, supporting the Rangers. The Rangers are our friends, neighbours, family members. We have a high respect for the work that they do across the territories.”

The cadet camp near Mary Lake was also part of the discussion.

“Senator Duncan has been very strong on the fact that we should be using the cadet camp that’s outside of Whitehorse more regularly for training,” he said.

“It’s a very significant piece of infrastructure. I’m in complete agreement with her, and we also voiced that.”

Pillai added, “We think there’s more opportunity for training in Yukon and more opportunity to expand the infrastructure.”