It is with great excitement that we report the official appointment of the Dawson Region Planning Commission! The Yukon and Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in governments each nominated three people to the six-person Commission in accordance with the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in Final Agreement.

The Parties to the Peel Watershed planning process consulted on the Final Recommended Plan in late 2018. They recently released a report detailing what was heard during that consultation. These results will help inform their discussions on finding a shared position on the Plan, and ultimately finalize and approve the Plan. The consultation and report were done by a consultant, Stantec.

The Dawson Regional Planning Commission is close to being appointed and we expect that the Yukon Government and Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in  will announce the members by early November. We are looking forward having a Commission again!

We will work with the Parties to train and orient the new members over the next few months. Depending on the Commission's schedules and directions, we can anticipate some public events or engagement early in 2019. We anticipate that the Commission board meetings will most often be in Dawson City.

Tim Van Hinte was recently hired as the Senior Planner for the Commission. He can be reached at his Whitehorse office at 867-667-7397.

This Commission will be given a Terms of Reference that was developed by the Council in collaboration with the Parties, who have now approved it. This document provides the Commission with their mandate, general expectations, and relationships with the Parties and others. It builds on, and is consistent with, the Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in Final Agreement.

The Yukon Land Use Planning Council has hired Tim Van Hinte as the Senior Land Use Planner to assist the Dawson Regional Planning Commission. Tim brings a range of planning experience from across Canada and is looking forward to assisting the Commission in developing the regional plan.

Since late 2014, we have been focussing much of our effort on reviewing the Common Land Use Planning Process (CLUPP) in an effort to make future planning projects more efficient and successful. One question that has come up is about sub-regional planning. The Yukon Land Use Planning Council is mandated under Chapter 11 - Land Use Planning of the Umbrella Final Agreeement. However, this chapter references sub-regional planning minimally and provides even less guidance for the application of a sub-regional planning process. The need to develop greater clarity with respect to sub-regional planning was expressed by the Council in a submission to the10 Year review of the land claim agreements in 2004 and again in a letter to the First Naton of Nacho Nyak and the Yukon Government October 5, 2017. To explore how sub-regional planning could be a part of regional planning under Chapter 11, we recently contracted Ryder Communications Management to provide this analysis.

The Council is please to release its annual report for 2017-2018. It gives highlights on its membership, roles and relationships, the status of Yukon regional planning, and Council and their staff activities. In particular, 3 successes and 2 challenges were highlighted:

Successes:

• Re-establishment of high-level communications with Yukon Government Yukon First Nations
• The Council hosted the successful gathering Peel Decision and Beyond
• Development of a Terms of Reference for the Dawson Regional Planning Commission

Challenges:

•  The lack of establishment of a senior staff-level regional planning committee
•  The establishment of a sub-regional planning exercise outside of Chapter 11 Land Use Planning

The Council recently wrote a letter to the Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources requesting a meeting. Items we would like to discuss include:

• The relationship the Council desires with Yukon Government;
• The implications of the recent Supreme Court of Canada's on the future of regional planning in the territory;
• Ideas the Council has for improving the process of regional planning in the territory.;
• The reviews of Chapter 11 Regional Land Use Planning that are occurring in the next two years;
• The Minister's invitation to speak at an upcoming workshop.

The letter is available here. This meeting is scheduled for January 31^st.

The members of the Yukon Land Use Planning Council held two sessions in late 2017 to discuss the strategic direction for the organization. These sessions were facillitated by Cambio Consulting who also wrote this plan.

The planning experience to date has illustrated a number of challenges and opportunities for attention at all levels of the planning process:

• Foundations around roles, responsibilities and relationships;
• Regional planning commission operations; and
• Post-planning implementation processes

This plan is intended as high-level strategic document that charts a course for YLUPC to work with its partners to address these challenges over the next three years.

Click here to download the plan.

Last year, we hired Ryder Communication Management to do a jurisdictional analysis of planning strategies and to recommend the contents of one for the Yukon. With this report in hand, we are exploring ways to collaboratively create a Yukon Regional Planning Strategy. The report comes in 2 parts: a report, and a table of strategy components used in different jurisdictions.

Since 2014, we, our staff and contractors have been thinking about Yukon land use planning and the process we can all follow to get successful plans. In 2015, Lesley Cabott Consulting & Associates drafted an analysis of potential solutions. One of the most pivotal recommendations was to develop a Yukon Regional Planning Strategy or framework. This recommendation led us to commission this report.

Dennis Zimmermann was appointed as our newest member on December 7^th, 2017, and is the Government of Canada's nominee.

Dennis Zimmermann has over 20 years of professional experience in the North. He has a Master's of Science Degree in Rural Planning with a focus on community-based planning and engagement. He has worked in both the public and the private sectors, and in the last decade his work has revolved around the intersection of community, fish, wildlife and habitat. With this breadth of experience, he will sure to be a great addition to the Council.

More information on Dennis is found here.