Dawson City mining dispute reaches legislature

Yukon MLAs have waded into a growing dispute between the town of Dawson City and a miner that wants to work on gold claims he has within town boundaries.

The dispute involves Whitehorse placer miner Darrell Carey, who wants to mine his claims near Dawson City's Dome Road in the same area where the town wantsto build a residential subdivision.

Both sides are now poised to go to court, after town council voted on Monday to seek an injunction to enforce a stop-work order it had issued to Carey's Slinky Mine operation.

Liberal MLA Gary McRobb accused the territorial government of starting the problem by approving both Carey's operation and the municipal subdivision last month, despite a recommendation from the Yukon Environmental and Socio-Economic Assessment Board (YESAB) that it reject both proposals.

"This government has refused to deal with the inherent conflict of allowing mining within municipal boundaries. It's refused to do the hard work of developing a policy to deal with this situation," McRobb said in the legislature on Tuesday.

Working on a solution: minister

But Energy, Mines and Resources Minister Patrick Rouble said the government approved both projects in order to buy some time to work out a solution with all parties.

"They both can't happen at the same time, but they can happen in a sequential manner," he said.

"Through proper licensing, with appropriate mitigative steps, we can reduce the impacts on the neighbourhood and, at the same time, prepare the land for a future subdivision."

Rouble said his department has been in discussions with Carey and with the municipality, as well as affected residents and theTr'ondek Hwech'inFirst Nation.

Dawson City issued the stop-work order after Carey had started clearing trees from his claim last week without a municipal development permit. He continued to cut down trees despite the order, which led the town to seek the court injunction.

Dispute about rules, mayor says

While the town is interested in developing a subdivision in the same area as the Slinky operation, Mayor Peter Jenkins said that is not why the town wants to stop Carey's work.

"Right of free entry and placer claims and mining is what the whole Yukon was created on, but there is an issue of addressing the responsibility as a mine owner of being a good corporate citizen and obeying the rules and regulations that are in place," Jenkins told CBC News earlier this week.

For Dome Road residents like Shirley Pennell, what's at stake is the bigger issue of mining within municipal boundaries, particularly in residential areas.

"I'm very saddened to feel that he [Carey] could have worked more collaboratively with the city and come up with a solution that did not need a mitigation of that injunction," Pennell said.

Pennell said while the various levels of government have to meet with the mining industry to discuss the issue, the town's latest move should send a message to Carey.

"You've got to work with the community, not run over top of the community," she said.

No documents have been filed with the court on the Dawson City dispute to date.