Yukon claims 21 years in the works

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Four Yukon land claim settlement are poised to be implemented after 21 years of negotiations on surface rights and compensation.

The Yukon Surface Rights Board Act, or Bill C-55, was introduced to the House of Commons in Ottawa on Oct. 7 by Indian Affairs and Northern development Minister Ron Irwin. On receiving royal assent, a last-step formality to legislation, the Yukon land claim settlements can be implemented.

The agreements will contribute to certainty of land title. Benefits will include cash, land and participation in wildlife and other management boards for the Vuntut Gwitchin, Champagne and Aishihik, Nacho Nyak Dun First Nations and the Teslin Tlingit Council.

The bill is legislation which ensures a process for dealing with disputes regarding access to vast holdings of private land in the territory. When this bill is passed the Yukon First Nation Final Land Claims Settlement Act and the Yukon First Nations Self-Government Act, passed in July, come into effect.

Under the bill, a person may apply to the board for the arbitration of disputes between those holding surface rights and those holding sub-surface rights; the amount of compensation given for expropriation of settlement lands; and the amount of compensation for pockets of government lands retained within settlement lands.

The board is empowered to establish the terms and conditions of rights of access, award compensation for access and for damage resulting from access.

For years there has been uncertainty concerning land title in the Yukon. The bill confirms the legal rights of miners remaining unchanged and purports to offer a foundation upon which a new partnership between First Nations and the mining industry can be built.

Ten more Yukon First Nations are waiting in the sidelines to proceed with their land claim settlement.