Yukon NDP Leader Liz Hanson has written the following letter to congratulate this year’s Council of Yukon First Nations Wall of Recognition inductees:

The Yukon NDP Official Opposition is taking the Yukon Party government to task for its tired and out of touch agenda as the Yukon Legislative Assembly closes its doors for the last time before this year’s territorial election. Inside the legislature, Yukon NDP Leader Liz Hanson called for a fairer, more sustainable Yukon while holding the government to account for its failure to improve access to health care, grow Yukon’s economy and protect the environment.

The Yukon NDP caucus is mourning the passing of former Na-Cho Nyäk Dun Chief Robert Hager this morning.

Yukon NDP Leader Liz Hanson asked the following question about transparency in Government of Yukon reconciliation negotiations with Yukon First Nations on Monday, May 2nd 2016:

The Yukon NDP Official Opposition caucus has raised issues on behalf of Yukoners that show a widespread desire for change in Yukon as the territory heads into an election year.

Yukon First Nations cultural recognition and reconciliation were granted a hopeful step forward today with the passage of Yukon NDP MLA Kevin Barr’s motion to recognize National Aboriginal Day, celebrated on 21 June every year, as a Yukon statutory holiday. With broad support from the Yukon public and the leadership of Yukon’s First Nations governments, the step will set the gears in motion for the Yukon government to add National Aboriginal Day to the territory’s statutory holiday list.

The Yukon Legislative Assembly will debate Yukon NDP MLA Kevin Barr’s motion to make National Aboriginal Day, 21 June, a statutory Yukon holiday following Question Period today. Approximately one in four Yukoners identifies as being First Nations, Métis or Inuit. While Yukon First Nation governments already give their employees the day off, no other Yukon workers are formally given the opportunity to celebrate Aboriginal cultures on National Aboriginal Day.

On Monday, 2 November Yukon NDP MLA Kevin Barr asked the following question about the Yukon Party government's support for his initiative to make National Aboriginal Day a statutory holiday in Yukon.

Yukoners are celebrating the chance to start a new chapter in the Yukon government’s relationship with First Nation governments following today’s precedent-setting Court of Appeal of Yukon rejection of the Yukon Party government’s Peel watershed appeal. The ruling is a sign that it’s time for the government to step back from its failed approach to First Nations relationships, and demonstrate its stated commitment to reconciliation with Yukon First Nations by accepting the final recommended Peel watershed land use plan.

As three Yukon First Nations prepare to defend the negotiated treaty rights undermined by Bill S-6 in yet another court battle, the Yukon NDP says the Yukon Party government should withdraw its support for the bill’s controversial, non-negotiated changes. Bill S-6’s changes to the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Act (YESAA) are a direct assault on Yukon First Nations’ treaty rights that undermine the First Nations Final Agreements’ negotiated socio-economic and environmental assessment process.