Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Good morning. I'd like to thank you, Mr. Chair and members of the Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development, for your invitation to appear before you today. I'd also like to acknowledge that we are gathered today on the traditional territory of the Kwanli

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  [Musical presentation]

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. I thank the drummers as well for their welcome. Mr. Chair, we're here today to convey our support for the passage of Bill S-6 as it pertains to the proposed amendments to the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Act, YESAA. We believe that aft

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  For everything we submitted to the federal government through the five-year review and through the two years subsequent to that during which there was a request based on Canada's action plan to improve northern regulatory regimes, we shared all of our comments with first nations.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Policy direction ensures a common understanding between the government and the board really to help reduce uncertainty and delays. Policy direction would have to be consistent with YESAA, would have to be consistent with the Umbrella Final Agreement, would have to be consistent w

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I don't want to make this all about resource extraction and the mining industry, because as Minister Kent mentioned, YESAA is much more than that. The mining industry is a global industry, and those projects can look anywhere in the world. For us to be attractive, we need to be

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  That investment—

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Leef. The fact that YESAA is a creation out of chapter 12 of the Umbrella Final Agreement really speaks to this as being something that has in fact evolved as a result of the Umbrella Final Agreement and the final agreements and self-government agreements that came

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  That's it exactly. This is federal legislation. What I am encouraging and what I've said is that we support this legislation going forward, but I think there's work we can do in the territory. As leaders in this territory, we've done it in the past. I use the oil and gas accord

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  This guarantees first nation participation in this process forever. There are seven members in YESAB. Three of them are on the executive committee; one is recommended by the first nations, one by Canada, one by Yukon. There are a total of four additional members, two of whom are

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I understand.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  The first part of the answer to that question is that there was a mandated five-year review. That began in 2008 and concluded in 2012. Through that process there were 76 recommendations. There was unanimous support for 73 of the 76 recommendations, which is truly outstanding. The

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  For the record, there were 76 recommendations that came out of the five-year review. You're referring to four recommendations that came after the five-year review, not the same ones that weren't agreed upon in the five-year review.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  As I've said, we support these amendments. We feel the Yukon government has been adequately consulted, and that our recommendations were in fact considered prior to the legislation's tabling. We believe that these amendments are good for all Yukoners.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I've also said I believe there is an opportunity for Yukon first nations and the Yukon government to now sit down and work on the ground on the implementation.