Secretariat:

Regrets:

Guest Presenters:

Council agreed to discuss the Community Conference Report at 1:30 P.M. on March 18th. With this amendment, the Agenda was approved.

Ralph Nordling moved that the minutes of the November 26 & 27, 1999, meeting be approved as written. Seconded by Kathy Watson. MOTION PASSED.

DEVOLUTION
Council advised that the topic of Devolution, particularly with respect to costs associated with fire fighting and environmental cleanup of old federal sites, should be included on the next meeting's agenda.

KYOTO PROTOCOL AND CREDIT OPTIONS
Council discussed the merits of the Kyoto Protocol and particularly the credit option possibilities for the Yukon.

REGULATIONS FOR COMPLAINTS UNDER THE ENVIRONMENT ACT
Council discussed its role of mediating complaints under the Environment Act.

In a workshop format, Council reviewed the appropriateness of the goals, objectives and broad indicators outlined in the draft Phase II Report. Recommendations were made to the consultants as outlined in Appendix "A".

Council advised they would like to see the following suggestions implemented:

• Revise/refine the indicators to reflect the suggested modifications to the goals (as per the attached Appendix "A")
• Readdress objectives to reflect suggested changes to the goals
• Include measures of outcome, not just activity - i.e. do not just measure how many reports are turned out but how many people are reading them.
• Include a clear link with the Yukon Economic Strategy.

The Pembina Institute provided Council with an overview of how the task of identifying sustainable progress indicators had been undertaken to date. The consultants advised that due to time and budget constraints, they did not interview any stakeholders outside of Whitehorse. Council discussed the extent to which they met with sectors within Whitehorse and suggested that they meet with the Chamber of Commerce, banks, the Contractor's Association, First Nations and education affiliates.

Council advised Pembina to consult with the consultants working on the revisions to the Yukon Conservation Strategy to share information and ensure that language and reference points are consistent throughout both documents.

Council reviewed the draft paper with the consultants and made comments and recommendations as outlined in Appendix "B".

Council reviewed the draft Community Conference Report and made the following recommendations:

• adopt more neutral language
• list the conference participants in an appendix
• include an executive summary

* Following the election, the Chair will write to the Government Leader regarding the Council vacancies.
* Link the HRDC community profiles to the YCEE web site
* Look into the possibility of changing our web site address to www.ycee.com; update the hotlinks (talk to Natalie about her suggestions).

Council discussed the possibility of holding the next meeting on June 9 & 10 in Whitehorse, and noted that the following two meetings should be held in the communities. Council expressed a desire to return to the earlier schedule of meeting five times a year, and proposed meetings in June, September, November, January and March.

Council also noted the benefits of holding a joint YCEE and Health and Social Services Council meeting in the future. Council requested that the new Ministers, Deputy Ministers and Leaders of the Opposition be extended an invitation to the next meeting.

______________________________________

Richard Buchan, Chair

MARCH 17 & 18, 2000 YCEE MINUTES

The Yukon Conservation Strategy - Revision

Goals and Broad Indicators (Council's suggestions/comments):

• Goal No. 1 - To manage wildlife for sustainable, consumptive and non-consumptive use
  • include fish
  • should be managing wildlife and people
  • "use" is a distraction, misnomer
  • balance should not be based on consumption
  • shift away from consumptive "use" (use consumption as an objective instead of a goal).
  • enhance and sustain wildlife and the environment.
  • keep the word "manage" there.
  • need to bring in the biological experts to determine appropriate indicators
  • concern re the word balance - people don't manage wildlife well. Need to regulate habitat protection. Focus should be preserving and enhancing wildlife habitat.

• Goal No. 2 - To educate and involve Yukoners in resource conversation and management
  • relates to all of the goals
  • education and involvement aspects - should they be separate indicators or together?
  • should be incorporated into the school curriculum early
  • settling of land claims relevant - establishment of Renewable Resource Councils
  • next step will be - are recommendations of the Renewable Resource Councils being implemented
  • discussed the land use planning aspect as a measurable
  • want to make sure control is a local responsibility with local knowledge - want to involve Yukoners to ensure rationale decisions. Put this in our objectives - goal is O.K. as is.

• Goal No. 3 - To conserve Water and Land Resources
  • keep water clean
  • habitat comes in - articulate why
  • fish and wildlife habitat
  • "manage" is a better word than "conserve"
  • suggest that water and land be separate goals
  • manage water resource to ensure the quality of water and the availability of it
  • goals don't just belong to the government
  • quality, habitat and quantity - redefining use
  • habitat protection/enhancement
  • balance in use of land is required/land use planning
  • require a good environmental development process
  • conserve natural habitats/areas
  • agriculture and forestry are the largest impact
  • have to allow room for land use to occur
  • need to define values - what value is "natural land"
  • have to look at from economic conservation
  • target net loss of habitat (fisheries)
  • would be beneficial to separate what is long term change and what is short term
  • to conserve and manage - what do we want to do and why - need to capture this in one sentence
  • managing the allocation of land to give effect to what is happening in the other goals
  • in objects - state factors to be taken into account in land use discussions.

• Goal No. 4 - To conserve the use of energy
  • non-polluting sources
  • energy efficiency
  • two-fold focus - greater use of non-renewable and less use of polluting sources
  • use renewable minimally polluting energy
  • noted that the SOER does not tract use of fuels - may be a direction that should be taken in that report
  • change goal to read: "conserve the use of energy and increase the use of "clean" energy"

• Goal No. 5 - To encourage environmentally sound resource exploration and development
  • do mitigable things
  • change environmental sound to environmental impact
  • goals reads: "to encourage development that minimizes adverse environmental impacts"

• Goal No. 6 - To reduce environmental impacts and control pollution
  • "reduce environmental impacts"
  • appears confrontational
  • to read: "to control adverse environmental impacts and reduce pollution"

• Goal No. 7 - Yukon Government will lead the implementation of YCS objectives
  • objective includes: Yukon Government will encourage first nations, federal government, municipalities and other stakeholders to buy into the YCS, and
  • ensure that the Yukon Government allocates sufficient resources and develops programs to implement YCS legislation, policy and programs.

Yukon Sustainable Progress Indicators: Yukon Economic Strategy

Review matrix of goals, objectives and indicators (Council's suggestions/comments):

• Have a strong, prosperous, and resilient economy
  • can you gage the activity outside of the top three sectors
  • variation of GDP; accounting for resilience of the economy
  • greater variation to avoid the boom/bust economy
  • discussed the tourism strategy process as a protected resource
  • include the highway corridor as infrastructure
  • maintenance of public infrastructure
  • remove the word "encourage" from "recognize and encourage non-wage work, volunteerism and First Nations and other subsistence living".

• Expand Employment Opportunites
  • include the number of individuals involved in apprenticeship programs
  • determine how to track new niche areas
  • use traditional crafts as a measure
  • include seasonal community jobs
  • consider seasonal community jobs/winters in Whitehorse
  • census would be a good source of information

• Enhance Infrastructure Integrity
  • look at the real estate listings/sales
  • ratio of real estate listings to sales/availability of rental property
  • should privately owned infrastructure be included, i.e. hotel rooms/big game industry
  • look at the web site registered in the Yukon/courier services

• Enhance and Maintain Ecosystems Integrity
  • "Maintain adequate levels of wilderness habitat" to be reworded (wildlife habitat)

• Have Ample Resources for Future Generations
  • need to have experts assist with this
  • production in relation to known reserves should be used as an indicator.

• Society/Other
  • immigration of senior population out of the territory
  • age population of the territory
  • implementation of land claims
  • needs to be looked at closer
  • need to zero in on some indicators which can be monitored (boards in jurisdictions, how many are functioning, First Nation representation, etc.)
  • change wording to address divorce/family breakdown rates (not lower)
  • use gender indicator in educational scholastic achievement
  • look at separating public service wages from the rest of Yukon and comparing it to other Canadian jurisdictions.
  • how accessible is education.