Finance committee  Thank you. I want to begin by just saying good morning and welcome to the traditional territory of the Kwanlin Dun and Ta'an Kwach'an First Nations. On behalf of all CYFN first nations, I want to thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today. Within the context of the

Finance committee  Thank you, Mr. Bagnell. Yes. With respect to your first question or comment about our core funding for the Council of Yukon First Nations, our core funding is at a very nominal level. It's hard for us to do anything effective. We represent eleven of fourteen first nations govern

Finance committee  Thank you for your question and concerns. I think for the Council of Yukon First Nations, it's had a very heavy impact upon our people. We have trappers who have trapped for generations and their livelihood is slowly being taken away from them, if it's not already been taken awa

Finance committee  The only measures that I am aware of are the educational tools. They're for educating the people, educating the youth about the harms of smoking. There are many measures out there. We can get the message across to students.

Finance committee  It works well in schools. As you know, we have a lot of youth--and I have seen them personally as I was growing up--who smoke on school grounds. Certain schools have smoking pits and whatnot. So it's important to reach them, and not only in school. The health departments in the c

Finance committee  Thank you. I think it's all of them. But to really help us with respect to self-governance we need to implement our agreements with Ottawa. By that, I mean being recognized as a government and being equipped with the tools that will help us to implement these agreements.

Finance committee  My position on behalf of the Council of Yukon First Nations is that it would be supported. But we would do it in conjunction, I believe, with the Yukon territorial government. We have a close working relationship with the government, and I believe it would definitely be supported

Finance committee  Yes. As I said in my response to Mr. Bagnell's question earlier, eliminating the funding will make it more of a burden, not only on my people, but I believe on the government. As we look at the health system, it's going to be more costly, with people coming in and out of the hosp

Finance committee  I concur with those comments. I think there are a number of first nations that have yet to finalize their agreements in the Yukon. I know there has been some discussion in the past around the Yukon having a province-like status. At this point in time it's not something that's sup

Finance committee  I believe it would help, definitely. And as far as the $450 million to address housing and water safety and other issues is concerned, we don't see a lot of that in the north because we still have to abide by, and are stuck with, the on-reserve/off-reserve policy. So the first

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you. I want to begin by thanking you for the invitation to do a presentation before the committee. For Yukon first nations, most of our past efforts have been focused on building in our traditional lands and our governments to provide our citizens with the core infrastruct

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  On the government building, CYFN currently does not own a government building. CYFN is not a government, but we represent first nations governments that are members of the council, and we do not have a building that we can proudly call our own. We're being forced to lease at this

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you. In large part, we do function along those lines. There are, however, some first nations that are not members of CYFN. We try to represent the members as best we can on various issues. The direction comes from the people in the communities as well as from the chiefs,

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I believe a lot of our members are moving in those areas with respect to change. You asked if they are ready to change from more cultural activities into various sectors, various economic opportunities, that come into our area. They are adaptable to the change while at the same t

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you. I have a brief comment on devolution. Some of the chiefs have spoken about it at great length and the fact that devolution can be wonderful too. But again, as Chief Johnston commented, that is provided we can work together. As governments, we need to be able to work to