The federal carbon tax mechanism will hit two fewer industries in the territory, Premier Sandy Silver announced Wednesday afternoon.

Those using aviation fuel for local and international flights travelling within, to and from the territory will be exempt from the carbon tax, which is to take effect in January 2019.

“These exemptions will help keep travel costs within the territory as they are,” Silver told reporters.

The placer mining industry will also see reduced impacts of the pricing.

A release on the announcement noted that these miners will receive rebates from the government of all levies paid through the mechanism.

“Placer miners will be rebated because they are energy-intensive, trade-exposed,” said Silver.

It’s at least in part because the industry is bound by global market factors, he added.

“As a miner, you don’t have the option to increase the price of the goods you produce,” he said.

Joe Sparling, the president of Air North, told the Star this morning he is pleased with the announcement.

He noted that compared to last year, May saw a jump in aviation fuel of about 20 cents a litre. If that were to continue, on top of a carbon tax the industry would be required to pay, it could eventually be felt by those booking flights, he added.

“That’s a huge impact on the flights of Yukoners,” he said, noting “it would just be adding fuel to the fire.”

Sparling commended Silver for his negotiations with federal officials over recent months.

“The dynamics are not good for implementing a carbon tax right now,” Sparling said.

The territory’s strategy as a whole should be to exempt as much fuel and as many industries as possible to ensure some aren’t hit especially hard by the levies, the veteran airline executive believes.

Mike Langtry, the president of Vancouver-based M2 Gold Mines Ltd., is also happy with the announcement.

“In an industry such as placer mining, which is completely dependent on market prices, we can’t adjust prices to meet changing costs,” Langtry said in a news release.

He went on to call the announcement “a real relief to our industry.”

Wendy Tayler, the president Alkan Air, said the carbon exemption on aviation fuel “is vital to our industry.

“Aviation is key to outfitting, wilderness tourism and exploration and mining industries within our territory, so this exemption is positive for multiple industries,” Tayler said.

Silver said he isn’t done yet – there could be similar announcements in the coming months.

“We are also working with the federal government currently to determine a solution for quartz mining,” he added.

With two big industries now off the table – at least to an extent – and potentially more to come, the premier was asked about how effective the tax could be in collecting money.

“If anything, it focuses more on what the carbon pricing mechanism is supposed to do,” he said.

He added he hopes it gets Yukoners thinking of their behaviour that contributes to the carbon footprint.

If the “mechanism is to work, it can’t affect those areas that can’t have an alternative, or have those fixed prices,” he continued.

Plus, he added, the federal tax is not intended to be a revenue generator for the Yukon.

“We don’t want to grow government on this one,” he said, adding “so we have to do it very efficiently.”

Silver credited his counterparts in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut for presenting a “united voice” from the North for one of the exemptions.

“We really fought for the aviation exemption hard,” he said.

Sparling applauded this, adding that “the more people that are exempted in the North, the better. We rely on fuel for everything we do.”

He continued that the government had “several informal conversations” with him and was clear on where the airline stood.

While he admitted in the release that the tax could impact certain industries more dramatically than others, Silver said that ultimately, it was worth it.

“We believe that the price of doing nothing is a lot bigger than to actually put our thoughts toward a carbon pricing mechanism,” he said.

Pointing to the popularity of fires in the territory as one example of a manmade sign of climate change, he called the price of doing nothing “traumatic.”

“We exceed our budget because of the intensity of our fires,” he continued.

Silver’s government had already committed to returning rebates to Yukon households and businesses.

Logistics like when and how many times a year those cheques would be cut are still being determined.

The release also noted the government is working with business organizations to iron out these details, with updates expected to be announced for the fall.

The government committed to rebating carbon revenue to municipal and First Nations governments in May.

Silver has frequently reminded the Yukon Party in the legislature that it was former premier Darrell Pasloski who signed the initial agreement with the federal government paving the way for a carbon tax to be introduced in the territory.