Gwich'in await final decision
Kassina Ryder
Northern News Services
Published Monday, November 3, 2014
NWT/YUKON
Every day, Tetlit Gwich'in Chief William Koe watches the Peel River from his office window.
"As I speak to you, I look outside and I can see the Peel River," he said. "We're trying to protect it in every way we can."
The Peel Watershed was discussed in court again on Oct. 24. The trial began in July after environmental and First Nations groups launched a lawsuit against the Yukon Government for abandoning the Final Recommended Plan for the Peel Watershed, which had called for the protection of 80 per cent of the area.
Under that agreement, 25 per cent of the watershed would have been reviewed every five years.
The Peel River Watershed Planning Commission had developed the final recommended plan after years of consultations with First Nations, environmental groups and the public.
However, in January, the Yukon Government released its own plan, which protected only 29 per cent and left the remaining 71 per cent open to development. The lawsuit was launched within a few months.
"Why is the government not listening to people out there saying, 'We don't want any development in the Peel Watershed?," Koe asked. "They're still trying to put forth a plan that is not going to be satisfactory to our people."
Originally, Gwich'in in the Northwest Territories had called for 100 per cent protection, but compromised to reach the 80 per cent recommended in the final plan, Koe said.
"Our people in Fort McPherson at that time said we wanted 100 per cent, we don't want no development up there whatsoever," he said.
The area is sacred to the Gwich'in who have hunted, fished and lived in the area for generations.
"Since time immemorial, we've been there," Koe said. "Any development, anything that comes down that Peel River, will affect our people."
Even today, Koe said people are getting their nets ready to begin the fall fishing season.
"People are going to go out there all fall and fishing," he said. "We use that all winter for food."
In Aklavik, Bobbie Jo Greenland-Morgan said enforcing the final recommended plan is vital for both First Nations sovereignty and for residents of both territories.
"I think it's important for many reasons, not only the affirmation and respect for the First Nation's traditional territory, but also for the overall environmental and human health for all people who live in the Northwest Territories and Yukon," she said.
The recently ratified Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (FIPA) between Canada and China also concerns Morgan-Greenland.
The controversial agreement gives legal protection to Chinese-owned corporations operating in Canada, which allows them to challenge Canadian law and potentially sue governments when their corporate agreements are violated.
Greenland-Morgan said she worries about what the agreement will mean for First Nations and other groups disputing development projects or legislation that would open land to development.
"By entering, they're allowing powerful corporations to challenge legislation," she said. "I think it's going to make it so much tougher for the First Nations."
The Peel Watershed case is an example of how important it is for citizens to stand up for their rights, especially when it comes to land claims agreements, she said.
"Now with all that's happening in the world, I think it's very important for human health and the control of our resources."
