Whitehorse Daily Star

All Yukoners will suffer from YESAB’s inadequacies ( Comment )

Ed. note: this commentary was submitted by the Yukon Chamber of Mines.

By Freelancer on February 24, 2016

Ed. note: this commentary was submitted by the Yukon Chamber of Mines.

In the course of one short week that will impact opportunities for Yukoners throughout the territory for decades to come, the Yukon Environmental and Socio- economic Assessment Board (YESAB) demonstrated its systemic flaws and its lack of capacity to review applications with procedural consistency and clear timelines.

We are referring to two significant projects that would provide Yukon individuals and communities with multi-generational social and economic benefits:

• the proposed Casino mine near Carmacks; and

• Northern Cross’ oil and gas project in the Dempster-Eagle Plains area.

Both companies were referred to an increased level of scrutiny after respectively spending two years of their company’s, and Yukon taxpayers’ resources, in the YESAB process (which Canadian taxpayers fund).

Two years for YESAB to determine what level of assessment was needed.

Two years in which a company could have been contributing the resources it spent on time for the YESAB process and its administrative costs to important community initiatives and environmental baseline research.

Are Yukoners aware that a referral to a panel review does not bring in “Outside” expertise, as it would have done in the previous CEAA (Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency) process?

For YESAB, a panel review is made up of the same individuals on YESAB (three, determined by YESAB itself) who review a project on the YESAB executive committee level.

Yukoners’ hard-earned resources that go into YESAB’s payroll versus making our Yukon more socially and environmentally strong.

And these are only two examples from this past week – other similar examples, unfortunately, abound throughout the territory.

The Yukon Chamber of Mines and its membership support a robust environmental and socio-economic assessment process that legislates responsible resource development practices.

We too live here; we raise our families here; we treasure our un-matched environmental and cultural values.

As such, we are committed to playing our part in the process by ensuring adequacy of information is provided to YESAB and other regulators in a comprehensive and timely manner.

However, YESAB desperately needs improvements in the areas of efficiency, consistency and procedural fairness when reviewing applications if there is to be any certainty for proponents, for individuals, for investors and for governments and if there is to be any public trust in the YESAB process.

All Yukoners will suffer from last week’s announcements which demonstrated the YESAB board’s lack of capacity and inability to determine a project’s scope and therefore, the assessment level it requires (before spending two years in the process).

If Yukoners only associate YESAB with mining, may we remind you of a YESAB decision that gravely impacted our territory’s tourism industry, which is a foundational pillar of our territory’s economy?

According to CBC North (April 13, 2012), cruise ship “giant” Holland America announced it would be pulling the Yukon Queen II out of the Yukon River for good” on the Yukon River in Dawson City.

The executive vice-president of Holland America (now Holland America-Princess) at the time stated that with the departure of the boat, the company had to be less invested in Dawson City, and “the assessment process [YESAB] was one of the reasons for the (company’s) decision to remove the boat.”

YESAB had been reviewing the Yukon Queen II application for two years.

Four years later, the Westmark Klondike Inn (now The Days Inn) and most recently, the Westmark Whitehorse Hotel, have been sold.

Investment in the Yukon – across all sectors – continues to decrease.

The Westmark Beaver Creek is shuttered, which had significant impact on that community, as well as Burwash Landing, Destruction Bay and Haines Junction.

What the Yukon Chamber of Mines and its membership hope can resonate with Yukoners who are not directly employed by the mineral exploration and development industry and the service and suppliers, which support its efforts, is that all individuals, industries and investment require certainty surrounding the parameters required when entering the YESAA process.

YESAB needs skilled, competent administration in order to review applications effectively and efficiently to the benefit of all Yukoners and our environment.

As a matter of history, YESAB was born out of the Umbrella Final Agreement (UFA).

YESAB worked well upon its enactment in 2003 following Yukon’s devolution from Canada.

It was considered across the country at that time as “ground-breaking legislation” and a hallmark of certainty, responsibility and fair process.

However, the past five years have been one of deteriorating process, a lack of certainty and “moving goal posts.” It’s a situation that is not good for Yukoners.

We, as Yukon residents, employers and employees, are suffering from the interpretation of legislation by a few individuals that was created to reflect the spirit, intent and vision of the UFA for a review process that reflects our shared values and hope for a Yukon development assessment process that can provide opportunities for our children and for our grandchildren.

What we are asking for is a fair, transparent, and efficient process where the ground rules, expectations, and timelines are clear for proponents across all sectors upon entering a review through to evaluation and issuance of a decision document.

In the coming weeks, the chamber will be raising its concerns with all orders of government and seeking solutions to ensure that review timelines and procedural fairness are upheld.

If our territory is to rely on anything further than transfer payments from the federal government, we must all work together for a YESAB that is procedurally fair, administratively sound and clear for any proponent – from mining to energy to tourism – before they enter the review process.

A YESAB that protects all Yukoners and the values we share and work together to uphold.

Comments (4)

Up 9 Down 7

Werner Rhein on Feb 26, 2016 at 5:39 pm

Sammy boy, thank you for the hint. This paper should be mandatory reading for every politician, Chief and Council, Chamber of Mines officials, Oil & Gas Branch officials and for every employee at an Social and Economics Assessment Board.

One sentence out of this paper sticks in my head; "Using up a one-time opportunity without providing lasting benefits is a form of theft from the future".

One can call it rape of Mother Earth too.

Up 8 Down 6

Werner Rhein on Feb 25, 2016 at 5:17 pm

This article is totally distorted.
Since when is 22 years multigenerational, the proposed lifetime of the Casino Mine?
It is a known fact that Frack Wells have a lifetime of 5 to 7 years.
After that the taxpayers would be left stuck with the clean-up cost and the long-term environmental destruction.
The Holland America Boat on the Yukon River between Dawson and Eagle was American owned, most of the crew was American so almost nothing on tax money would have stayed in the Yukon, except the damage to the shorelines and destroyed salmon habitat.
Than the Mining Emperor admits that tourism is the mainstay of the Yukon economy, which is a real multi generational opportunity for an economy.
So why is there not more investment and educational programs on the college for this multi generational industry.
The moving goal post is the chamber of mines and the proponents of new projects which never come forward with the real full build out and impacts there projects will have.
The reclamation deposits are laughable and never sufficient to bring the environment back to a stage where the damage done doesn’t present a danger to large areas.
If that 286 m proposed earth dam ever would let go in 100 years, it could wipe out the whole fish habitat in the White River and maybe the Yukon River from where it enters into it down. The released tailing would change the landscape in a large area for a long, long time.
All this just for profits for a few years, for a very few people, which are already rich.
I think we could do better by that, what if the lifetime of this mine would be extended to 220 years and work just that in a smaller scale. We still would extract the minerals we need. That I could call multi generational.

Up 4 Down 0

Sammy boy on Feb 24, 2016 at 8:38 pm

An article for you to read. Gain some perspective.

uwaterloo.ca/next-generation-environmental-assessment/sites/ca.next-generation-environmental-assessment/files/uploads/files/gibson_jam_mines_as_bridges.pdf

Up 15 Down 15

Joella on Feb 24, 2016 at 6:46 pm

You do not speak for me. I, a Yukon resident, am quite satisfied with YESAB's process regarding Northern Cross and Casino. Your reaction reminds me of kids having temper tantrums when they don't get what they want.

What a bunch of m(wh)iners.

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