Todd Hardy was such a person.

He wasn’t about profiting from the weaknesses of others, he wanted to apply his socialist principles to help the weak get stronger so everyone could navigate the often shark infested waters and  allow everyone a chance for a fair shake in life.

Did Todd get a fair shake in life? All I know is the legacy he has left for us. The most recent example being the public smoking legislation that he introduced in the Legislature which became law. Now, fewer Yukoners will become sick from breathing second hand smoke in public places and vehicles.

Todd was true to his ideals. A vision firmly rooted in the notion that people shouldn’t be punished just because they can’t play the game as well as others in society. That woman’s rights be defended in a sometimes misogynistic world. That labour be empowered in the hardcore environment of “private enterprise”. That we celebrate our differences rather than abhor them.

In the Buddhist sense I have no doubt that  Todd’s energy will be “recycled” as another positive force in the world of the future.

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"Please sir, may I have another bowl of porridge, sir?"

When I consider our town council I see a group of people with their hearts in the right place – apparently. In reality they are emasculated and powerless to provide an adequate level of self determination for our town. Regretfully this was also true to some degree with the previous council, but not as much.

Why isn’t the right to quiet and peaceful enjoyment of one’s property defended as provided by the Yukon Human Rights Act?

Since the issue of placer mining in people’s back yards on the dome came up months ago, Town Council has made promises, held special meetings, passed resolutions, wrote letters to various governing bodies and made a great public display of doing something when in fact nothing has been done to mitigate the problem. The placer miner in question is carrying on happily despite an ongoing contravention of city bylaws. Meanwhile, home owners adjacent to the mine are met with a “Gone Fishing” sign pinned to the door at City Hall.

Why is this? It is because we allow other orders of government to tell us what to do.

Again, this issue isn’t about placer mining – our holy grail – it’s about power and Dawson City’s inability to acquire it and to use it.

Another example; During my watch as Mayor our MLA Steve Nordick arrived on our City Hall doorstep and declared that a new hospital will be built on top of the children’s playground in Minto Park. He said the location was etched in stone and no community consultation will be considered regarding the location.

Why doesn’t our public have the right to decide for themselves where new infrastructure will be located? Most people want an enhanced health care facility but not necessarily at the expense of self determination and thoughtful consideration of the big picture as it relates to the whole town and our overall needs.

The point is that it’s all about power. YTG are simply asserting themselves with the standard paternalistic stance similar to “Father Knows Best”.

It was the same deal regarding the paving of Front Street. It’s not about about whether to pave it or not but rather who decides what goes on in our town.

Is it the people that live here as expressed by their elected council or is it some other governing body? Again, our MLA Steve Nordick, smirkingly stated that no permission from Dawson was required in order to proceed because a special order in council sidestepped the meddlesome requirement for a municipal development permit and the scrutiny such an application would trigger.

Some say that municipalities are simply a statutory creature with little or no real power. So why continue with the charade? Dissolve council and re-install a government appointed Trustee. After all, the way it stands now Town Council act like a proxy for the YTG Trustee anyway.

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Here’s a government action that will hopefully protect consumers at the pumps. Some gas stations already charge hyper-inflated prices for fuel which are completely out of sync with market prices.

The captive market of unwary tourists in our town continues to be shamelessly gouged while filling up, unaware that there is the added potential for inaccuracies in the volume delivered by the pump itself.

The following is a recent article by CBC on the topic.

Industry Minister Tony Clement confirmed Thursday that the federal government intends to get tough with service stations that rip off customers with inaccurate gas pumps.

“This is simply unacceptable,” he said at a news conference in Port Coquitlam, B.C.

News of the government’s plan emerged Wednesday.

Under the proposed legislation, the federal government will increase inspections of gas pumps and substantially hike fines for service station owners whose pump readings are inaccurate.

“When Canadians pull into a station to gas up, they want to know that what’s on the pump is what’s in the tank,” he said, adding that the new legislation will save motorists millions of dollars each year.

Federal government figures indicate six per cent of pumps fail to accurately measure the volume of fuel flowing into a vehicle’s tank. Two-thirds of the time, a faulty pump benefits the retailer, amounting to $1.50 to $2 per fill-up, according to Clement.

At present, retailers face a $1,000 fine if their pumps fail to accurately measure the flow of fuel. Under the new legislation, repeat offenders could be fined up to $50,000 and minor offences could cost $10,000.

Clement is proposing mandatory inspection of gas pumps at least once a year, which he expects will reduce the number of pumps that read wrong.

Retailers would be told to correct faulty pumps and submit to new inspections. The minister did not say how soon the changes would take effect.

The proposed Fairness at the Pumps Act — which would also cover retail food scales — would authorize private inspectors to set up shop and bill retailers for checking their equipment.

“The proposed act means Canadian consumers will be protected against unfair business practices and can be more confident in everyday transactions that involve measurement,” Clement said.

“As far as the implications, we’ll just have to see how it rolls out,” said John Skowronski, director of environmental affairs with the Canadian Petroleum Products Institute, which represents producers and service stations. He said it’s important for service stations to provide accurate pump readings if they want to maintain their customer base.

Retailers already pay for maintenance programs and testing, Skowronski said in an interview with CBC News, and he doesn’t expect the new legislation to have a major impact.

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It was a relief to see that the procedural bylaw was being followed, with a special tip of the hat to councilor Johnson for keeping Mayor Jenkins on track. I had a similar helper when I was in office. Just the same, it’s heartening to know that motions are first moved and seconded followed by a vigorous public debate rather than the other way around as was the custom back in the day.

Besides a need to satisfy my curiosity I was there to support Jenna, the president of the Dawson Music Festival and to lend a voice to the Dome residents affected by the neighbouring mine.

Jenna arose in delegations to ask council whether they agree with Mayor Jenkins’ disparaging comments regarding the music festival that were allegedly made  by him at another public meeting earlier in the week. All councilors wasted little time recognizing the value of the yearly event both as a cultural happening and as the single biggest injection into the local economy of any weekend. The mayor denied having said anything negative about the festival and notably did not take the opportunity to verbalize his support for the event, now in its 31st year.

The Dome residents came to express the opinion that no development permits should be entertained or issued to Slinky Mines until the question of mining within municipal boundaries is resolved once and for all. This case is particularly vexatious because the mine wishes to tear up the main road and rebuild it elsewhere so they can get at the pay-dirt underneath. Regretfully there is very little confidence that they have the resources or skills to rebuild a road that meets highways standards.

It was also brought forward by our delegation that Slinky Mines should be fined the maximum allowable, $500 per day during the time they chose to ignore a stop work order issued by the city. We reminded council that the mine continued their clear cutting activities knowing full well that this was in contravention to the authority of Dawson, not to mention concerns raised by neighbouring residents.

The response from council was that a court action is underway and that the city will look for a remedy with the help of lawyers. We still feel that it’s not necessarily redundant or a weakening of Dawson’s legal position to levy the fine. It’s clear that municipalities, as a rule, seek compliance rather than having to impose penalties, but given the cavalier attitude displayed by this mining company here is an opportunity to set a precedent, at least in our view.

Of course there were many other important issues that came up and I was very happy to see how council conducted the three and a half hour meeting.

Considering that my confidence in Mayor Jenkins is very low I am heartened by a council that appears determined to show transparency and fairness in how the business of the city is conducted.

“A tree is known by its fruit.”

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Last Friday this picture would have shown a thicket of mature trees obscuring the hills in the background. Today, despite a stop work order issued by the city last week, Slinky Mines saw fit to ignore  Dawson’s authority and have proceeded with their plans to cut down the remaining forest anyway.

Consequently, Town Council held a special meeting at noon hour today where a motion was passed allowing the Chief Administrative Officer to pursue an injunction on behalf of the citizens of Dawson to put a stop to this nonsense.

Here’s the message sent out by the owners of Slinky Mines – “We can drive up from Whitehorse where we live, set up our equipment within  Dawson’s boundaries and lay waste to the surroundings within our claim, despite legitimate concerns raised by neighbouring homeowners, despite advice from other placer miners to stop and desist and despite a stop work order issued by the Town.”

For me, this underscores the apparent arrogance and sense of entitlement that some people in the Yukon placer mining industry have. The notion that placer miners can trump anything in their path, even the law, must stop and will stop.

It should be noted that if  this happened ten years ago there would have been no appetite to challenge this particular case. My how times have changed. Most Yukoners support the placer mining industry, including myself but not this bullying and blatant disregard for those that are hurt by it.

Let us hope that common sense will prevail, at long last.

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HAPPY EARTH DAY! Mining will strip away the remaining row of trees to completely expose Glenda's house, effectively transforming her yard into a big open pit mine, it's bad enough as it is right now. All vegetation on the right will also be stripped up to the edge of Mary Mcleod Road.

I am deeply disappointed with the Yukon Party and Minister Rouble’s  three hour filibuster in the legislature last week in reply to  MLA Steve Cardiff’s motion to overhaul Yukon’ s mining regulations. This political gamesmanship belongs in the kindergarten sandbox and nowhere else. It doesn’t belong in the realm of grown-ups charged with the responsibility of governing our Yukon Territory.

Minister Rouble’s fear arises from Mr. Cardiff’s and Yukon NDP’s concern over unbridled mining claims overlapping municipal boundaries with the potential to disrupt municipal jurisdiction and quality of life for residents.

Most notably, Dome residents in Dawson are today threatened with serious disruption of their right to quite enjoyment of their property because of an old mining claim that has been grandfathered and protected due to antiquated mining regulations.

This out-of-date legislation is what I believe most Yukoners  would like to have reviewed to reflect today’s reality and not the status quo of one hundred years ago which apparently Minister Rouble and the government would like to defend, most likely motivated by a loyalty to their personal friends in the industry.

Interestingly enough, many prominent placer miners in the Klondike area are none too happy with the situation in the Dome residential area. They know that because of the actions of this one rogue miner a bad light will be cast on the entire industry. No one wants that.

The Yukon Environmental Assessment process recommended against allowing the Slinky Mines operation to proceed, yet the Territorial Review Committee overruled those recommendations clear-cutting the way for this conflict.

Why is the Territorial government allowing the affected residents to twist in the wind while downloading all responsibility on to a municipality that doesn’t have the tools required to mitigate this problem?

To Dawson Council’s credit they along with the CAO have been very engaged in trying to deal with this. But where is YTG? Minister Lang was in town last week and did visit the site and met with some of the property owners and certainly expressed concern, but what will he do about it?

Nevertheless, thanks to the efforts of the residents the tide seems to be shifting in favour of the rational view and with any luck a resolution will be arrived at before every last tree is bulldozed down.

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This award is called the Hanseatic Award and am proud to say that I was this year’s recipient. It was presented to me at their AGM banquet held at the historic Palace Grand Theatre in Dawson City last Friday night.

It really means a lot to me especially since I hold the members of the AYC in the highest esteem. This is a grass roots organization that advocates on behalf of all communities within the Yukon Territory. It is there to serve as a continual reminder to the Territorial Government that we are the people that government should serve.

While on the executive during the last three years we really made inroads by helping improve the relationship with government and the communities.

With this award I was given the nod for helping get Dawson out of the doldrums after a period of trusteeship that ended in 2006 with myself being acclaimed as mayor along with the election four other councilors.

AYC came to our defense when we needed advocacy the most. Without the collective support by all communities as expressed through AYC who knows where we might be today.

For that  I am eternally grateful.

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Considering the self serving leadership Mayor Jenkins is offering us,  concerned citizens can at least be thankful for a council that will, for the most part, keep an eye on our mayor and ensure that his shenanigans are kept to a minimum. I’m sure that Mr. Kendrick will be leading the charge on that front. At least, that’s my sincere hope.

Since the election last October, over 75% of the municipal office staff have resigned in disgust with more to follow – hardly an endorsement of a workplace environment!

Now those positions are being replaced with out of territory people with no corporate memory or knowledge of our culture. They present themselves as a “blank page” on which the mayor can write instructions on what to believe and how to behave in order to suit his agenda.

Thankfully, we have a diligent and conscientious council, even the lone Jenkins sympathizer among them is reasonable and will  engage in meaningful debate.

Nevertheless, it takes much energy to continually monitor political activities within a municipality such as ours.  Our volunteer council doesn’t have that kind of time or resources but I’m sure Mr. Kendrick and the others will do their best.

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They’re at it again!

It’s been awhile since I’ve checked but having rolled past their pumps at the Shell station in town today, I see their fuel price is set at 1.39 per litre for regular unleaded!

That’s approximately $6.32 per gallon for those travelers reading this with plans for a summer trip to Dawson.

Do these business owners have no shame? And I use the term “business owners” advisedly since another, less flattering term comes to mind instead.

Fortunately for those of us in this captive market and for our visitors there is a reasonable option that has been operating quietly in the background.

Alberta Fuel Distributors have a depot just outside of town in Callison on Washboard Way. It’s self-serve with either a credit card or prearranged card-lock.

It’s super convenient and get this; 1.129 per litre for both unleaded and diesel (a full 26¢ less per litre) for regular unleaded at the time of this writing. If you get a card-lock account it’s cheaper yet. Or you can just use your credit card. It’s super easy.

So, there you have it, enjoy the Chamber of Commerce sanctioned culture of fleecing the tourist.

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I’m referring to the Territorial Government’s decision to ignore the Yukon Socioeconomic Assessment Board’s recommendation that placer mining not proceed in people’s backyards on the Dome Road.

Apparently the decision body wasn’t able to grasp the full scope of the proponent’s intentions or the recommendations made by YESAB.

I quote excerpts of their rationale here;

“The Decision Body does not accept that this project will reduce property values in the surrounding area given that the project has been in operation for a number of years and property values throughout the Town of the City of Dawson have been on the rise.”

What an outlandish statement! Would you purchase a residential property next to a mine that you know will operate in your back yard for the next ten years? I think not. To say that property values in Dawson have generally increased is small comfort to those who have invested their life savings in a dwelling that will be within 100 meters of an industrial mining operation.

Furthermore, it’s misleading to suggest that the mine has already been in operation for a number of years. That is simply untrue. The claims have been kept in good standing according to the placer mining rules, however the scope of work that is being proposed compared to what has gone on before is a whole new kettle of fish and certainly not status quo. We’re talking about digging up roads and eroding previously untouched land directly beside  people’s homes.

“It is the view of the Decision Body that an effect is defined as the difference between a future state with the project versus that without the project, and includes a consideration of the existing baseline. It is important to note that the current baseline in the area includes the operation of this placer mine, which the assessment did not seem to fully account for when considering the manner in which this operation affects those residents in the surrounding area.”

This convoluted statement seems to suggest that because these particular placer claims and potential for a subsequent mining operation constitutes a pre-existing condition it should therefore trump any objections raised by people who happen to live nearby.

This decision also conveniently overlooks the provision within the Yukon Human Rights Act that allows for the quite enjoyment of one’s property and disposition thereof.

Mention is made regarding the rights of the absentee miner but none regarding the rights of the citizens who live here.

It is clear to me that the conflict between the right to the enjoyment of  one’s residence and the right to mine a grandfathered claim cannot be mitigated.  The decision body has predictably sided with the miner and the Yukon mining culture. Frankly, I think the citizens who have invested their lives in the community should have precedence and should be defended until any potential for mining in residential neighbourhoods is quashed, once and for all.

Perhaps the Dome residents should consider soliciting legal advice on what options are available to them, there are likely unexplored avenues that need to be looked at. I would certainly contribute to a legal fund if it was required.

Links to the decisions:

Slinky-Placer-Mine_FinalDD_Mar2310_v2.pdf

Dome-Subdivision_FinalDD_Mar2310_v2.pdf

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