I think the resource development royalties are identified in our agreements. The Council of Yukon First Nations has the umbrella agreement. It has established the legislative processes and boards and committees to work with both governments. We really are making great strides to educate the general public so they can also contribute their share to our issues as well.
I see lots of benefits from our agreements. Our agreements in our region are 20 years old. We have new government structures. They've enabled us to employ a lot of our own citizens. There are better programs and services directly at the community levels. We don't have to ask, hat in hand. We also co-manage and share programming with the Yukon government.
It's not always a straight line. Every once in a while we have our difficulties in working with another government, with sharing. First nations have always shared. We've always cared. We've always helped. It's not always that way coming toward us. A lot of it is a learning experience. A lot of it is public. Perception has been positive.
We don't say our agreements in the Yukon are first nations agreements. They're agreements for our region, and that includes every person there. There isn't one resident in our Yukon territory who has not benefited from our agreements. They're employed. It's increased the GDP in our region. It's brought up the population.
I don't know whether some of the new committee members know that under self-government we pay taxes, just like every other Canadian. I know there was a Canadian perception many years ago that you were giving the first nations all this money. We borrowed that money from Canada and we paid back every penny, plus 6%. The Canadian government charged us 6% interest on our land claim loans over a 15-year period. It's almost as if we bought our own land back again.
Now we're working with industries that want access to our resources. We want to be interested in development as well, but we want responsible development, and that's what these agreements are all about. There are rules and regulations on how you play in our backyard, and industry gets that. They're a little more positive than Canada or the Yukon government has been, and they're respectful. That's all we ask: be respectful in our yard, because when you leave, these are our homelands, and we're still here. We don't want any more messes to clean up.