Editorial: Silver’s Liberals bring ‘sunny ways’ to the Yukon

Voters in Canada’s Yukon Territory have embraced the “change narrative” that has come to broadly define the politics of the moment. 

Last year’s ousting of Stephen Harper’s long-standing Conservative government federally in Canada by Justin Trudeau’s “sunny ways” campaign was driven by a different narrative than those that underpinned the Brexit referendum and  Donald J. Trump’s surprise victory in the United States’ presidential election.

But the conditions that helped Trudeau and Yukon Liberal leader Sandy Silver cruise to strong majorities are remarkably similar. So much so that Silver often hints at the comparison. 

The Yukon Liberal election platform borrowed generously from the federal “real change” story, with Trudeauisms like “economic diversification” and “positivity, inclusivity and respect” making appropriate appearances in campaign messaging. 

Defeated premier Darrell Pasloski and his Yukon Party provided a fairly apt stand-in for the Harper-era Conservatives, including a pro-development policy tilt, and oft-rocky relations with First Nations that were probably next headed for conflict in regards to a Supreme Court of Canada hearing over the Peel Watershed, scheduled for March 2017.

Premier Silver has already voiced his support for Trudeau’s carbon taxes — a measure the Yukon Party opposed — and the prime minister’s intention to prevent development on 80% of the Peel Watershed in accordance with original land-use planning. 

The Yukon Liberals will also support the impending repeal of federal Bill S-6 — a controversial piece of Harper legislation championed by the Yukon Party that various First Nations feared would cripple territorial environmental regulatory processes.

Silver’s sunnier and more conciliatory tones may well help mining companies in the Yukon move forward under “mutually beneficial” agreements with First Nations and local stakeholders, but he could also run into the same problems Trudeau has wrestled with federally following broad promises of economic diversification, heightened consultation and environmental sustainability.

Mining challenges in the Yukon are in equal parts structural, legislative and economic. Depressed metal prices over the past four years have seen the closure of all hard-rock mining operations in the territory save one: Capstone Mining’s Minto copper mine, 240 km north of Whitehorse, which is still set to be put on care and maintenance in 2017. A recent surge in copper prices may help extend Minto’s life, but it’s as tough as ever to discover, fund and develop large mines in the territory.

In many ways the Yukon is a microcosm of the problems Canada faces as a nation: a relatively small population spread over a large geographic area and clustered in urban centres, that is all too often overdependent on depleting natural resources to create sustainable wealth.

It has proven challenging to support alternate industries without government subsidization. And those subsidies — in the form of trade protectionism or provincial and territorial equalization payments — have historically been made possible by leveraging the capital generated by the country’s raw commodity riches.

Trudeau could be coming to that realization in Ottawa with a more dovish tone on oilsands and pipeline development in recent months, and Silver repeatedly acknowledged the importance of mining to the Yukon’s economy during the campaign. 

But if the Yukon Liberals are interested in promoting mineral development in the territory, they will need to clarify environmental regulatory processes, invest in infrastructure, and find a way to promote exploration and prospecting activities. That all needs to be accomplished while juggling campaign promises for increased stakeholder consultation and environmental responsibility. Not to mention the hope that precious and base metal prices can stage a sustainable recovery.

Silver strongly supported the stakeholder engagement undertaken by Kaminak Gold at its Coffee project south of Dawson City. The junior was acquired by Goldcorp earlier this year for $520 million, and the project is often pitched as Yukon’s next hard-rock mine. 

But Kaminak did not advance Coffee much through the Yukon’s regulatory framework, which is often criticized for its complexity and inefficiencies. It took Victoria Gold five years to receive water permits for a comparable operation at its Dublin Gulch project, northeast of Mayo. The company is still searching for final funding for the US$369-million heap-leach development.

The Yukon Liberals surged to a majority with a message of “sustainable, environmentally responsible” development, but they can learn a lesson from Trudeau’s federal experience: simply exuding a more positive attitude won’t fix your problems. Hopefully Silver can find a better way forward in the Yukon.