YUKON COUNCIL ON THE ECONOMY AND THE ENVIRONMENT

YUKON COUNCIL ON THE ECONOMY AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Minutes of February 8-10, 2001

Destruction Bay, Yukon

Members Present:

Richard Buchan	Chair
Louise Bouvier	Yukon Aboriginal Women's Association
James Grattan	Yukon Chamber of Commerce
Bill Mann	Yukon Chamber of Mines
Ralph Nordling	Member at Large
Andy Williams	Yukon Conservation Society

Regrets:

Roger Alfred	Council of Yukon First Nations
Natalie Edelson	Yukon Status of Women's Council
Daryn Leas	Council of Yukon First Nations
Louise Ranger	Yukon Federation of Labour
Ernie Bourassa	Association of Yukon Communities

Secretariat:

Karen Sparrow	Secretariat, Economic Development
Doug Caldwell	Secretariat, Executive Council Office

Presenters:

Greg Komaromi	A/Director Pipeline Unit, Economic Development
Ron Sumanik	Socio-economic Analyst, Pipeline Unit, Economic Development
Ken East	Superintendent Yukon Field Unit, Parks Canada
Lloyd Freeze	Chief Warden Operations, Parks Canada
Robin Bradasch	Land Claims Director Negotiator, Kluane First Nation

1. ALASKA HIGHWAY PIPELINE PRESENTATION

The Yukon government Pipeline Unit in conjunction with YCEE held a well-attended public presentation on the proposed Alaska Highway Pipeline project in Destruction Bay on the evening of February 8, 2001.

2. MEETING AGENDA

The agenda was approved as written.

3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

J. Grattan moved that the minutes of the December 1 & 2, 2000 meeting be approved as written and R. Nordling seconded.

4. UPDATE FROM THE CHAIR

The Chair provided the Council with a summary of the presentation of the Pembina Report on Yukon Sustainable Progress Indicators to the Deputy Minister's Review Committee. At this meeting the Chair urged the Deputy Ministers to:

have their respective departments examine and measure their programs with reference to the indicators criteria;
recognize that this document is not a final product but a tool that can be tailored to better serve both the public and private sectors; and
move towards the adoption of a sustainable development strategy to replace the Yukon Conservation Strategy and Yukon Economic Strategy.

5. REVIEW OF THE STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT (SOER)

Council reviewed the draft State of the Environment Report (SOER) with L. DuGuay of Larry DuGuay and Associates Consulting who joined the discussion via speakerphone.

Council agreed that the SOER would be a more useful instrument overall if it were drafted in a manner that addressed the significance of environmental activities and trends from the perspective of sustainable development. Council advised L. DuGuay to incorporate this message into the review and to include the following comments:

process does not include an adequate 'check and balance' mechanism for meaningful reporting (e.g. economic aspects of the environment);
report fails to establish a historic context for economic and social elements of the environment (e.g. historic importance of the mining industry to the social and economic health of the territory);
report does not discuss the ongoing challenge of addressing residual liability associated with past environmental and regulatory processes; and
report fails to adequately profile the continuing importance of infrastructure to the social and economic health of Yukon communities.

ACTION: The consultant will incorporate the above suggestions into the review and present a final document to the Chair by February 12, 2001. Secretariat will arrange for the tabling of the SOER during the spring legislative session.
6. WORKPLAN (2001-2002)

Yukon Protected Areas Strategy

Council discussed the Yukon Protected Areas Strategy (YPAS) and the walkout at the February 8^th YPAS public advisory meeting by seven of the committee members. Although the Council agreed that the YPAS issues were at too high a level for their direct involvement, they agreed to offer their services where appropriate to the Yukon government.

ACTION: Secretariat will offer to the Yukon government Council's assistance with the Yukon Protected Areas Strategy (i.e., review of legislation).

Historical Compilation of YCEE Documents

Council agreed to hire a consultant (to a maximum of $4,000) to compile a chronological index and summarization of the YCEE reports, minutes and documents from 1989 to the present. This index will be cross-referenced by date, Council members, issue and industry. When completed the index will be provided to Cabinet.

ACTION: Secretariat will arrange to contract a consultant and will work with that individual to coordinate the historical, chronological compilation of YCEE documents.

Annual Review of the Yukon Conservation Strategy (YCS) and Review of the Yukon Economic Strategy

Council agreed to approach the annual review of the government's implementation of the Yukon Conservation Strategy in conjunction with the review of the Yukon Economic Strategy. This overview would summarize the department initiatives and look at the comparisons/relations with the ultimate goal of linking the two together in the form of a sustainable development review. It was decided that a "team consulting" approach to the review would be beneficial and that the review should take into account the sustainable progress indicators framework. The deadline for completion of the project will be September 2001; budget $15,000.

Council agreed that in the future they would prefer to take a step back and review Renewable Resource's work instead of being so heavily involved in it from the start as was the case with the Revisions to the Yukon Conservation Strategy.

ACTION: Secretariat will draft the terms of reference and prepare an invitational request for proposals for two consultants to act as a team to review the government's implementation of the Yukon Conservation Strategy and the Yukon Economic Strategy based on the sustainable progress indicators framework.

Alaska Highway Pipeline project

Council decided that a joint meeting with the Health & Social Services Council would be beneficial to address the social and economic implications of the proposed project (both in the short-term and long-term), and to discuss the preparedness of the communities for coping and capitalizing on the long-term possibilities.

ACTION: Secretariat will consult with the Pipeline Unit regarding the Council's desire to be involved in the development of the proposed Alaska Highway Pipeline project, particularly in reference to social and economic implications. Secretariat will research specialists in this field who could speak to the YCEE and Health and Social Services Council and possibly be part of a public speaker series.
7. ANNUAL REPORT

The Council reviewed the draft Annual Report. Council agreed that once the suggestions from this meeting are incorporated into the proposed workplan and minor technical and formatting changes are made that the report is approved for tabling in the Legislature.

8. LOCAL TALK: KLUANE NATIONAL PARK

Ken East, Superintendent Yukon Field Unit, Parks Canada and Lloyd Freeze, Chief Warden Operations, Parks Canada gave a presentation to the Council on maintaining ecological integrity while having a sustainable economy in the Kluane National Park.

9. LOCAL TALK: KLUANE FIRST NATION

Robin Bradasch, Land Claims Director Negotiator, Kluane First Nation presented a very interesting overview on the challenges they must deal with economically and socially as well as in capacity building and the completion of land claims. The importance of the Kluane National Park to the Kluane First Nations was also discussed.

10. NEXT MEETINGS

The next meeting will be held in Whitehorse on April 6 and 7, 2001.

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Richard Buchan, Chair