Concern for the Yukon peoples

Page 5

My main concern is what is happening with our people up in the Yukon territories. I don't know if you know, but there has been a number of people who have signed off their land claims agreement, eight of them in total.

My concern is that these people are now becoming enfranchised. I think it's the biggest enfranchisement in Canadian history and nobody seems to be taking note of it, and I'm kind of wondering why.

They are no longer First Nations bands. They have an entity unto themselves. They say they have self-government, but it is even lower than municipal-type government. So I am wondering why there haven't been any stories coming out of all these things that are happening to us.

We're one of the First Nations sitting at the table, but we haven't ratified any agreements yet, and I think other people need to start talking about these kind of things, and it becomes very important when we start dealing with the obligations of the Crown, as it relates to the Indigenous population of Canada . . . and the Americas, for that matter.

-Stanley G.