The territory’s Liberal government has released a formal response to the state of emergency declared by the First Nation of Nacho Nyak Dun (FNNND) following the murders of two men in Mayo.

Ben Symington, 35, and Michael Bennett, 22, both of Whitehorse, were gunned down March 11 on the road leading to Mayo’s C-6 subdivision. 

The RCMP have made no arrests.

“There’s been challenges over the last number of years, and I think what occurred last week was a tipping point in the community,” Premier Ranj Pillai told reporters Thursday afternoon.

The emergency state was declared March 14 by the FNNND under section 10 of the Government Act, where the council had determined the opioids crisis to be an “emergency”.

In the legislature Thursday, Pillai announced the government’s reply to the state of emergency in Mayo, which includes proposed short, medium, and long-term plans to address the problems in the community. 

In the short term, the government proposes discussing a First Nation community safety planning project specific to Mayo.

This includes identifying community strengths, safety, wellness goals, and initiatives geared toward safe and healthy communities.

In his ministerial statement, the premier also proposed adding additional counsellors to the community if and when the First Nation requests them. 

In the medium term, the government said it will continue to work with the First Nation, Village of Mayo and the RCMP to create a wellness plan. That would outline prevention, treatment, harm reduction, and community safety initiatives to address the crisis. 

The government is also drafting procedures for potential lockdown scenarios, increasing policing efforts, developing a neighbourhood unit that can investigate complaints about illegal activities, and continuing discussions on an integrated community support team. 

And, in the long term, the government proposes to implement and sustain prevention, treatment, harm reduction and community safety actions as identified in the community wellness plan. 

It’s also committed to collaborate on new programs or resources if a need arises.

The government also vows to evaluate the effectiveness of the program from time to time to monitor the need for an adaption as the community progresses. 

As for the policing efforts mentioned in the medium term, the government proposes a collaborative effort with the RCMP and Public Safety Canada to explore the options under a Community Tripartite Agreement to enhance the communities policing efforts.

Lastly, they propose to continue exploring restorative justice processes that empower victims and communities to voice their concerns and participate in the outcome of reparation.

The declaration was designed with the needs of the First Nation in mind in a collaborative manner, and is planned to directly combat the ongoing crisis. 

“In Mayo, what we see is as a community that’s facing a crisis, we’ve seen some very sad events over the past number of years,” Yukon Party Leader Currie Dixon told reporters.

“We’re going to give the government the benefit of the doubt and we’re going to, obviously hold them to account for the commitments that they make today and stay in touch with the community and understand what their needs are and do our job to make sure that the services and the programs and the supports that are put in place by the government are sufficient and meeting the needs of the community,” said Dixon. 

Despite Pillai’s proposed plans for strengthened policing in the community, NDP Leader Kate White’s stance on policing still stands strong. 

“We really think if we treat the root causes of addiction and substance use, if we go back and we treat intergenerational trauma and we treat poverty and we treat social isolation and we put all those things in place, we would remove the need for additional RCMP,” she said.

Pillai said there are multiple levels to the ongoing issues within the community including mental health needs, trauma, and criminal activity. 

“You have to take a step back and think about individuals that are going through challenges with trauma, and the impacts of trauma and what drives those addictions. So you’re dealing with that at a mental health level,” the premier said.

“We have been dealing with challenges where we’ve seen illegal drugs and really toxic illegal drugs being dealt. 

“It’s just a different level of threat than we’ve ever seen before. So we have to focus on that. And that’s really about policing.”

Pillai also believes there needs to be healthy activities, proper educational opportunities, and employment opportunities so “people can bring themselves up and improve their quality of life.”

“This is the first time, and I will say this: that I have seen the community leaders all coming together,” said Pillai.

“We have known there’s been challenges. That’s why we have called the state of emergency in 
the Yukon.”

Tracy-Anne McPhee, the Justice minister and minister of Health and Social Services, made that declaration in January 2022.