I'll just take over at this point.
My name is Scott Kent. I am a long-time Yukoner and a former cabinet minister with the Yukon government. As well, I currently am the executive director of the Yukon Chamber of Mines and the Klondike Placer Miners' Association.
As Claire mentioned, land use planning is an extremely important issue for our organizations right now, as two of the eight regions in the Yukon either have a land use plan recommended to the Yukon government or one that's at the draft stage at the planning commission. What we've witnessed is land use planning becoming a protected area strategy, leading to recommendations for large-scale withdrawal of land from responsible development.
With the North Yukon plan now before the Yukon cabinet, over 50% of the North Yukon region has been recommended for withdrawal from development. The plan for the Peel Watershed, an area the size of Scotland, currently recommends 63% of that land base being withdrawn from new mining exploration, which is of extreme concern to us.
We'd like to make sure that mining is respected in current and future plans and that it adheres to chapter 11 of the umbrella final agreement with first nations and the Yukon.
The YESAA process, or the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Act, is now undergoing a five-year review. It's important that class one exploration activities in the Yukon remain exempt from YESAA assessments, because this would continue to maintain a level playing field for Yukon mining companies. Canada is one of the three parties, along with the Yukon government and the Council of Yukon First Nations. We would like to ensure that any recommended changes are given full and fair consideration in terms of their ramifications for first nations, the environment, and the economy.
Now I'd like to speak a little bit about some of the infrastructure that is being planned or under way in the Yukon territory, starting with the electrical infrastructure, the electrification of Highway 37 in northern British Columbia, commonly known as the Stewart-Cassiar Highway. If we were able to connect the Yukon grid to British Columbia, that would certainly be ideal for us. It would allow the Yukon to develop power generation for a much larger market. It would also allow for the potential import of power to meet the needs of our expanding mining industry.
This current initiative to expand the B.C. grid to Dease Lake, if completed, would mean that connecting to the Yukon would become feasible; that is, a project that could be accomplished. The British Columbia government has committed $10 million to complete the environmental assessment process for the power line, and has committed a further $250 million to construct the line if additional partners can be secured.
I would expect the Government of Canada to hear from the project lead on that, the Mining Association of British Columbia. Canada could certainly play a significant role in helping the Yukon to partner with British Columbia in developing this key power infrastructure for the north.
I'd also like to speak briefly about the Alaska Highway pipeline project. About 760 kilometres, or 30% of the routes, would be in Yukon territory. There's a proposed 42-inch to 52-inch-diameter pipe, with a capacity to deliver 4.5 billion to 5.5 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas to southern markets, and also to gather Yukon gas along the route. Of course, we would be happy to see the Mackenzie Valley project proceed as well, as some of our natural gas basins are close to the Mackenzie Valley pipeline.
The construction and operation of the Alaska Highway project are expected to generate up to 375,000 person-years of employment within the Yukon and Canada over a 24-year period, and pump billions of dollars into the Canadian and Yukon economies. This project could benefit the Yukon mining industry by providing a lower-cost, clean source of energy to mines along the route.
One of the issues identified by the Yukon government, and certainly one that's shared with the Mackenzie Valley project, is regulatory certainty in Canada. It needs to be addressed to ensure that this project, as well as the Mackenzie Valley project, can move forward.