A meeting of the Yukon's three northern chiefs and the premier is scheduled for this evening to discuss the contentious removal of caribou hunting restrictions along the Dempster Highway.

Chief Joe Linklater of the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation said Monday afternoon he's not sure what will come of the meeting.

It will involve Chief Darren Taylor of Dawson City's Tr'ondek Hwech'in First Nation, Chief Mervyn Simon of Mayo's First Nation of Na-cho Nyak Dun and Premier Dennis Fentie.

Linklater expressed grave concern last week over the government's removal of the 500-metre, no-hunting corridor and the one-week hunting closure to let the leaders of the herd pass once they reach the highway.

Removing the restrictions could jeopardize conservation efforts for the Porcupine Caribou Management Board and public safety, Linklater said.

The chief, however, also accepted the decision by the Tr'ondek Hwech'in First Nation to challenge the restriction as an infringement of aboriginal hunting rights.

The Tr'ondek Hwech'in were prepared to defend charges against an elder for hunting within the corridor, during the closure. The first nation argued the restrictions interfered with the elder's aboriginal rights to hunt where and when he chooses.

The government set aside the charges in advance of the trial when the territory's Department of Justice indicated a conviction was unlikely.

The decision to remove the corridor and one-week closure has also drawn harsh criticism from the opposition parties who are suggesting the premier is living a double standard.

The Yukon government is willing to go the distance in its court battle with the Little-Salmon Carmacks First Nation over the requirement of the territorial government to properly consult on matters that affect first nations, NDP Leader Todd Hardy pointed out.

Yet, he said, when it comes to a case that is as much about public safety as it is about aboriginal rights, Fentie won't even send the case before a judge.

'Letting it go before the court would have clarified the issue,' Hardy said. 'Mr. Fentie is quite willing to go to court on just about every other issue.'

Hardy said he is particularly bothered by the fact the decision to withdraw the restrictions was made without any consultation with affected first nations or the herd management board.

Liberal Environment critic Darius Elias accused Fentie of playing ugly political games with his Old Crow constituents, and with the herd's health.

Fentie and his cabinet colleagues were in the northern community 10 days ago for the first nation's annual general assembly.

The premier, Elias emphasized, did not mention a single word about the decision to remove the corridor and the one-week closure, a decision that was announced publicly just a couple of days later.

Fentie could not even look his constituents in the eyes to discuss a matter which affects their lives directly, said the Liberal MLA.

'He just doesn't see it, the value of developing relationships with first nations.'

Elias said he recognizes the issue of indigenous rights in this case, but emphasizes with indigenous rights also comes the responsibility to conserve for future generations and to protect the caribou.

Having now expressed his concern with the premier's handling of the situation and the removal of the hunting restrictions, Elias said it's time to direct his energy to fixing the problem.

Chief Linklater said finding a resolution will be a tricky situation at best.

Even if something comes from tonight's meeting among the leaders, there is still the matter of the aboriginal hunters from the Northwest Territories who exercise their rights and harvest caribou along the Dempster each year.

It's commonly accepted that the aboriginal harvest along the Dempster far outstrips the harvest by non-aboriginal, licensed Yukon hunters.

Licensed Yukon and non-resident hunters averaged an annual harvest of 295 Porcupine caribou along the Dempster over the last five years.

There are also indications that more and more hunters from the N.W.T. are coming down to the Dempster Highway, with declining populations of caribou herds further north in the Mackenzie River Delta, Linklater noted.

In his comments last week, Linklater thought it would have been wise for the Yukon government to have taken the matter to court to separate out the aboriginal rights argument over the 500-metre corridor from the case for public safety.

Meanwhile, the chair of the herd management board said today the board is not in a position to comment on the Yukon government's decision to remove the restrictions.

Joe Tetlichi said everybody will just have to wait and see what effect removing the restrictions will have on this year's hunt.

One thing is for sure, said Tetlichi: the issue has put the public spotlight on the Dempster caribou hunt at a pivotal time for the management board's ongoing effort to develop a comprehensive management strategy for the herd.

Parties to the management board representatives of first nations, both territories and Canada will be meeting in Dawson City tomorrow to kick-start phase two of the strategy.

Tetlichi said there will be another meeting Oct. 18 in Inuvik, to appoint a working group made up of representatives from each party who will have the power to make decisions. The working group, he explained, will lead the way toward the formation of a new management strategy.

The initiative to begin the process for a new management strategy began with the signing of a protocol agreement last February, the chair pointed out.

Tetlichi said he's not able to say what a new strategy will look like, nor when it will be done.

Whether it will include a reinstated no-hunting corridor along the Dempster, or other restrictions, isn't known at this time, he said.

Some people are happy with the Yukon government's announcement of last week, and some are angry, Tetlichi said.

'But you know, that is part of management,' he said. 'It is exciting, so exciting to work on this project.'

He said he expects some 50 to 70 people in attendance for the meeting in Inuvik.

'We are going to walk together, the same as the caribou do.'

John Russell, the Yukon government director of conservation services, said the decision to remove the corridor and the one-week closure was essentially two-fold.

To keep the restrictions in place with no prospect of a conviction for infractions by aboriginal hunters would bring the justice system into disrepute, he said.

Russell noted there are first nations both for and against the restrictions, and it was felt the best course of action was to remove them while the new management strategy was being formulated.

Conditions have prevented an accurate count of the Porcupine herd since the last census in 2001, when 123,000 members were estimated. The most recent peak in the herd's population occurred in 1989, with 178,000 caribou counted. It's expected the herd is in decline.

The premier has not been made available to the Star for comment on the issue.