As the Yukon’s government, First Nations and transboundary First Nations work to redevelop 125-year-old mining legislation that the territory’s grand chief calls “archaic,” the public now have the chance to have their say.

Consultation on new legislation that will replace the Quartz and Placer Mining Acts is now open to all Yukoners for 90 days, it was announced Wednesday.

The collaborative effort to update legislation will apply new laws to every stage of future mining activity, from prospecting to mine operations to closure and remediation.

Updating existing mining legislation – or “mineral” legislation, as it’s now being called – is intended to improve resource management, environmental protections, while respecting First Nations’ and Yukoners’ relationships with the land and supporting a responsible mining industry.

The co-development of new mining legislation – or “mineral” legislation, as it’s now being called – was one of a number of recommendations prepared by the independent panel that produced the Yukon’s new Mineral Development Strategy in 2021. 

At a news conference in held Wednesday, Energy, Mines and Resources (EMR) Minister John Streicker noted that current mining legislation is behind the times.

“It hasn’t been modernized, for example, since self-government agreements, and it doesn’t really reflect those,” he said. 

The first of 11 self-government agreements between YG and First Nations governments were signed in 1993 at the time of the Umbrella Final Agreement.

The latest was signed in 2005 by the Carcross/Tagish First Nation. Three Yukon First Nations haven’t signed final agreements.

“Governments need to catch up to those obligations, those responsibilities in those agreements,” Grand Chief Peter Johnston of the Council of Yukon First Nations (CYFN) told Wednesday’s news conference.

“But at the same time, we are moving ahead, right? We’re moving ahead in a positive way. And the most important component of all of this is the community consultation.”

The public can now weigh in on the proposed approaches to mining outlined in a YG paper available online.

There is an online survey at EngageYukon.ca and community meetings will be held around the territory over the next three months, though no schedule has been finalized.

YG will release a report documenting what it heard from consultations after public engagement concludes.

Industry and environmental groups have also been included in the development process so far, and will continue to be engaged.

Johnston said the CYFN isn’t opposed to mining. First Nations communities are even interested in investing, he said, but he wants to ensure lands are properly protected and communities are compensated.

Johnston noted that current legislation goes back to “the pick and shovel days,” with individual prospectors collecting minerals with buckets.

He said outdated mining laws have impacted the environment and First Nations communities negatively over the years as technology and mining operations have evolved.

“Today, they’re moving massive excavation,” he said. “The tools have changed. So we need to change the legislation.”

Drafting of the new legislation is still in the early stages.

YG has published a “discussion paper” for new minerals legislation that includes potential approaches for each stage of the mining process.

Some of these approaches don’t have consensus from the different parties involved in the steering committee.

Representatives from the Yukon government (YG), the CYFN, Yukon First Nations and transboundary First Nations governments formed a steering committee in 2021 that has overseen work on the new mining legislation. 

Streicker gave no specific timeline Wednesday, but did say it could take years to finalize and implement new mineral laws.

He said the territory will need to plan a transition to new mineral laws, and existing mining operations likely won’t be subject to new legislation.

The government committed to jointly develop any new resource legislation with Yukon First Nations as part of the 2003 Devolution Transfer Agreement. 

Premier Ranj Pillai, then acting as the EMR minister, signed a memorandum of understanding with 11 of the territory’s First Nations, agreeing to a “one government approach” to the Yukon’s mining sector.

The co-development of new mining legislation is also part of the new Confidence and Supply Agreement signed between the Liberal government and NDP on Jan. 31. It will expire when an election is called in 2025.

The Yukon Territory has 25 of the 31 critical minerals outlined in the federal government’s critical mineral strategy. These minerals are essential to the country’s transition to green power and technology.

Though co-governance and consultation were the themes of Wednesday’s news conference, in the background was a recent decision from the Supreme Court of Yukon saying YG hadn’t properly consulted the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyak Dun before approving a 10-year gold exploration plan by Metallic Minerals Corp. in the Beaver River Watershed.

The Jan. 31 decision returns the corporation’s proposal to the evaluation stage.