Yukon NDP Announces Commitment to Reconciliation, Jobs and Better Mining
October 22, 2025
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 21, 2025
Territories of the Kwanlin Dün First Nation and Ta’an Kwäch’än Council, Whitehorse, Yukon – Yukon NDP Leader Kate White announced a bold new commitment today: a revenue-sharing program that will direct a share mining royalties to First Nations governments to fund Land Guardian jobs and other community-led programs that benefit citizens. As a powerful reminder of our collective commitment to reconciliation, White also unveiled a piece of art titled When We Honour Our Words, by Blake Shaá’koon Lepine – a Tlingit Artist.
To fund the program, the Yukon NDP will increase placer mining royalty rates – which are currently among the lowest in Canada. In the 2024-2025 fiscal year, the Yukon government received only $36,000 in royalties when the industry’s revenue hit $284M.
“Yukoners can count on our team to put you first,” said White. “With this commitment, we’ll work together with Yukon First Nations to create local jobs and new opportunities for citizens. This is the way it should work – when non renewable resources are extracted from the land, all Yukoners should benefit.”
Yukon First Nations have always led the way in land stewardship. With this commitment, the Yukon NDP will create new jobs for citizens who are employed to monitor, protect, and restore lands and waters through local Land Guardian programs. The Yukon NDP’s commitment will ensure these programs have sustainable, long-term funding and that First Nations governments ultimately decide how the money is used.
The commitment builds on the important work led by fellows of the Reconnection Vision youth climate plan. Dustin Mckenzie-Hubbard, one of the fellows and the Yukon NDP candidate for Whistle Bend South, emphasized the need for these plans.
“Young people across the North have been clear: we want a future where the economy and the environment work together,” said Dustin McKenzie Hubbard, Yukon NDP candidate for Whistle Bend South. “Land Guardian programs are a perfect example of that balance. They create good, local jobs while protecting the lands and waters that sustain us. Sharing resource revenues with First Nations is good for reconciliation, it’s good for youth and it’s good for the land.”
The Yukon NDP’s revenue-sharing plan reflects a vision of listening to Yukoners and collaborating on solutions – and ensuring that as the territory grows, the benefits of development are shared fairly and invested back into the people and the land.
“Let’s make sure the wealth from Yukon lands stays in Yukon hands,” said White. “You can count on our team to make sure that happens.”
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