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Fast-tracking project permits came up in just about every session last month at Roundup, the Vancouver international mining conference, including in the latest promises from the new Yukon government.<\/p>\n
Addressing a crowd at Yukon Night, a celebration of the territory\u2019s industry, Yukon Mines Minister Ted Laking said change is on the way.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou said the length of time it takes for government to turn decisions around is taking too long,\u201d he said. \u201cIn response […] we will now be developing new regulatory timelines that will respect our obligation to consult with affected First Nations as well as industry\u2019s need for increased regulatory certainty.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a commitment industry leaders are impatient to see carried out.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“While we\u2019re encouraged by the shift in tone \u2013 the proof of that shift is still a ways off,\u201d said BMC Minerals CEO Michael McClelland, who also spoke at Yukon Night in Vancouver. \u201cIt should not take 10 to 15 years to secure permits to develop a project.\u201d<\/p>\n
BMC Minerals\u2019 Kudz Ze Kayah project was sent back<\/a> to the consultation phase in 2024 after a Yukon appeal court found the territorial and federal governments failed to have proper conversations with Kaska Nation about the project’s economic feasibility. Kudz Ze Kayah was recommended to proceed<\/a> \u2013 with conditions \u2013 last June.\u00a0<\/p>\n But some Yukon First Nations feel there\u2019s no point speeding up a broken system.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018They can\u2019t even manage the timelines they have now\u2019<\/p>\n H\u00e4hk\u00e9 Darren Taylor, leader of the Tr’ond\u00ebk Hw\u00ebch’in First Nation in Dawson City, said until mining benefits the public and First Nations, there\u2019s no rush to develop.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe’re selling our resources for the pennies on the dollar with no substantive benefit,\u201d he said. \u201cThe money, the resources, can stay in the ground until we have more favorable benefits. It’s money in the bank.\u201d<\/p>\n Taylor also took issue with Roundup presenters who referred to the Eagle mine failure as an \u201cunfortunate event.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re downplaying the significance of this tragedy. We gotta take responsibility and ownership,\u201d he said. \u201cThe Yukon government has got to take responsibility for their lack of oversight, the permitting process, inspections.\u201d<\/p>\n For the First Nation of Na-Cho Ny\u00e4k Dun, too, the Eagle mine failure has created a break in faith with the current permitting system.\u00a0<\/p>\n “Fast-tracking is a concern to us,\u201d said Na-Cho Ny\u00e4k Dun Chief Dawna Hope. \u201cThey can\u2019t even manage the timelines they have now, and they want to fast-track? We ended up with Eagle Gold.”<\/p>\n The Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board (YESAB) is a key part of the current mine application process. It\u2019s currently being reviewed to improve efficiency, which could see projects sorted into simple, standard, or complex evaluations, among other proposed changes.\u00a0<\/p>\n For Hope, the biggest cause for concern is that the initial Eagle mine proposal that was reviewed by YESAB was significantly different from what was actually built out on the land.\u00a0<\/p>\n CBC News asked YESAB if stronger oversight is needed to ensure the board issues recommendations on proposals that reflect the reality of what gets built.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s important to remember that YESAB was created to be one piece of the puzzle for sustainable development in the territory,\u201d said Kent Bretzlaff, YESAB executive director. \u201cI know there were conversations about YESAB having enforcement capabilities or compliance monitoring capabilities\u2026 that\u2019s not what ended up happening on paper.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Bretzlaff said YESAB is open to working with counterparts at the Yukon Department of Energy, Mines and Resources and other regulators.\u00a0<\/p>\n First Nations say they\u2019re not to blame for delays<\/p>\n Hope said First Nations get blamed for holding up the system and throwing off timelines, but the territory is still operating under \u201ccenturies-old legislation\u201d that \u201cnever considered First Nations rights at all.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The Yukon\u2019s minerals legislation has not been substantially updated since the 1890s and has long led to clashes between industry, First Nations and the public over low royalty rates<\/a> and the free entry staking system<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Laking said the government hopes to have something to announce in the \u201cnext couple months\u201d on new mineral legislation.\u00a0<\/p>\n Both Na-Cho Ny\u00e4k Dun and Tr’ond\u00ebk Hw\u00ebch’in have also been waiting for years for the land use plans promised in their 1993 and 1998 final agreements, which would create guidelines for resource management and help reduce conflict over development.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the absence of land-use planning and successor resource legislation, the only way I could see any project being fast-tracked is through direct engagement and dialogue [with First Nations] by way of [impact benefit agreements],\u201d said Taylor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 5 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":459481,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[49,48,295,66],"class_list":{"0":"post-459480","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-environment","11":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459480","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=459480"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459480\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/459481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=459480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=459480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=459480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1770457635_380_default.jpg\")
H\u00e4hk\u00e9 Darren Taylor, leader of the Tr’ond\u00ebk Hw\u00ebch’in First Nation, speaking at Roundup in Vancouver on January 28, 2026. (Caitrin Pilkington\/CBC)<\/p>\n