A Whitehorse developer says he was caught off guard by the Yukon government's recent move to put waterfront land up for sale in the city, a day after local First Nations asked the court to stall the sale.
Piers McDonald, president of Northern Vision Development Corp. in Whitehorse, said developers in the city were given little notice about the sale of the land near Shipyards Park.
"I don't know that we understood that they would even be up for tender beyond three weeks ago. So clearly that was a bit of a surprise," McDonald told
"Being able to mobilize the millions of dollars to purchase those lands is no small task for anybody. And typically, you'd want to ensure that there is plenty of advance notice to make sure that you do get, not only the best price, but the best proposals."
McDonald said that the short notice has made it impossible for his company to even consider making a bid on the waterfront land. If Premier Dennis Fentie had wanted the best deal for the public, he should have advertised it earlier, McDonald added.
McDonald's comments came a day after the Ta'an Kwach'an Council and the Kwanlin Dun First Nation sought an injunction to halt the government's sale of the waterfront land.
Ta'an Kwach'an leaders argue that Fentie had promised to negotiate the potential sale of that land to them. But then he told the First Nation four weeks ago that he was instead putting the land up for sale to the highest bidder.
Ta'an deputy chief Gail Anderson said they have since been trying to persuade Fentie to call off the land sale.
"We still haven't received a response, so we thought [we had] no other alternative but then to seek a court injunction," Anderson said.
Fentie maintains that he is looking out for the interests of Yukoners by putting up the land for sale.
"We, as a government, will continue to ensure that we're meeting the public interest and making decisions on behalf of the public when it comes to Crown assets," Fentie said Thursday from Quebec, where is attending the Council of the Federation meeting of premiers.
Fentie would not comment on the Ta'an Kwach'an Council's claim to the parcel of land. The First Nations asked the Yukon Supreme Court on Wednesday for an injunction to halt the government land sale.
Justice Ron Veale ordered a temporary halt to the bidding process until the court hears the First Nations' injunction application.
The bidding process was supposed to open on Thursday. But now, government officials would not say if they had received any bids.
Lawyers for the First Nations and the government are expected to make their cases before Veale on July 23.