Yukon NDP attacks premier over ‘embarrassing mess’ of Bill S-6

On the same day as a judge quashed the Yukon Government’s land use plan for the Peel watershed, Yukon Premier Darrell Pasloski faced a barrage of questions in the legislature over Bill S-6, the proposed federal legislation that would amend Yukon's Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Act.

Opposition MLAs want the Yukon government to bail on its support of the bill, which many say was created without proper consultation of Yukoners.

In the legislature Tuesday, MLA Jim Tredger, the NDP's critic for Energy, Mines and Resources, said the northern development minister, Bernard Valcourt, “hung Pasloski out to dry” by revealing the premier had requested four contentious amendments be added to the bill.

"The premier is solely responsible for the embarrassing mess we are in over Bill S-6,” Tredger said.

“Why did the premier request that the minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada circumvent the consultation process and push through his unilateral amendments?"

Also yesterday, CBC News made public a letter from the president of Casino Mining, which appealed to governments to work together and solve the issues around Bill S-6.

In the letter, Paul West-Sells asks Valcourt to recognize the company's concerns about "the fragility of intergovernmental relations in the Yukon surrounding Bill S-6 and the negative impact this is having on the territory's mineral industry."

Liberal Sandy Silver told Pasloski that the mining industry is nervous about the divide between the governments and First Nations.

"Will the premier agree to ask the government of Canada to pull Bill S-6 so that Yukoners can avoid another lengthy and costly court battle?"

Pasloski told both Tredger and Silver they were "wrong" and he stuck to his message.

"Consistency will ensure a greater opportunity to attract business and investment that will create jobs for Yukoners."