Yukon's premier and top First Nation leader agreed Monday to more talks with Indian and Northern Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl to address a lack of federal funding to implement land claims and self-government agreements in the territory.
Talking to reporters Monday afternoon, Premier Dennis Fentie and Grand Chief Andy Carvill of the Council of Yukon First Nations said they were pleased with the progress made during their morning meeting with Strahl in Whitehorse.
All sides discussed a recent review of the Yukon's land claim agreements that calls for a new federal mandate — and more money — to support First Nations governments.
The Yukon land claim review is being conducted by the territorial and federal governments, but its contents have not been made public.
Fentie said its findings parallel those of federal Auditor General Sheila Fraser's office, who has been generally critical of how Ottawa has handled aborignal land claims in the North.
In a report released last week, Fraser slammed Strahl's department for failing to meet its obligations in implementing the Inuvialuit land claim in the Northwest Territories.
Before Monday's meeting, Fentie said the Yukon land claim review spells out how Ottawa has failed to meet its financial obligations to Yukon First Nations. He wouldn't say, however, how much money is required to meet those obligations.
"I can't give you how much off the top of my head," he said Friday.
"I think the way the auditor general expressed it is, the federal government has entered into agreements but has not provided the necessary resources to implement the agreements. That's how she put it. She didn't put a number on it."
Most of the Yukon's First Nations are self-governing entities, having signed land-claim and self-government agreements with Ottawa in the 1990s.
Fentie said the territory has, until now, been the best example of how aboriginal land-claim agreements can work in Canada.
"We're a place in the country we can hold up, and show Canadians how we can get it right," he said.
Strahl also used his Whitehorse stop to announce a total of about $3.9 million in five separate funding announcements: