GSD Strategies

An important milestone for Bill C-10: the legislation has now passed the House of Commons and is heading to the Senate.

This legislation would establish a Commissioner for Modern Treaty Implementation, an initiative that is particularly significant for the Yukon. The proposed commissioner would help strengthen federal accountability in fulfilling modern treaty obligations.

I was honoured to speak to the bill in the House and to study it at the Indigenous and Northern Affairs Committee, where we also heard directly from Yukon First Nations leaders about their experiences with modern treaty implementation.

I'm pleased to see Bill C-10 advance to the next stage and will continue following its progress in the Senate.

CYFN is accepting applications for the following positions:

➡️Manager of Perinatal and Early Childhood Programs
➡️Mental Wellness Project Lead
➡️Family Preservation Wellness Centre Support Worker

The closing date for this competition is Tuesday, October 6 at 4:30 p.m.

View more here: https://tinyurl.com/yz97mz4t

Yukon First Nations, the Council of Yukon First Nations and the Government of Yukon endorsed a Yukon Forum Declaration providing a framework for collaborating on shared priorities.

Read more: https://yukon.ca/en/news/yukon-first-nations-and-government-yukon-sign-declaration-strengthening-yukon-forum-partnership

FREE EVENT NEXT MONDAY 14SEP26

As Canada looks northward—to Arctic sovereignty, critical minerals, infrastructure and economic development—we have an opportunity to ask an important question: What will we leave behind?

In Leave It Better: Reconciliation and the Future of the North, CYFN Grand Chief Math’ieya Alatini explores what reconciliation means for the choices we are making today about the North.

What if progress was measured not only by what we build or extract, but by whether the land is cared for, communities are stronger, relationships have improved, and the next generation has greater opportunity?

Reconciliation is not only about how we respond to the past. It is about the future we choose to build together.

On Labour Day, we honour the workers whose skill, determination and sacrifice have built this country. For First Nations, that story begins long before Canada.

Our people have always worked. We built economies through trade, harvesting, stewardship and entrepreneurship, and our knowledge and labour helped build the communities and industries that followed. Yet for generations, First Nations people contributed to Canada’s prosperity while being denied many of the rights and benefits that prosperity was meant to provide.

Until 1960, Status First Nations people could not vote federally on the same terms as other Canadians without risking their legal Indian status. First Nations women waited decades longer than most Canadian women for that same unconditional right to vote. Even the 1929 Persons Case, celebrated for recognizing women as “persons” in Canadian law, did not extend that promise of equality to all women, including Indigenous women.

The inequity extended into the workplace. When the Canada Pension Plan was created in 1966, Status First Nations people working on reserve in tax-exempt employment were excluded from participating. That exclusion continued until changes beginning in 1988 opened a path to CPP participation.

And still, our people worked.

First Nations people helped build roads, communities and industries. They worked in mines, construction camps and businesses, and as guides, harvesters, tradespeople, professionals and entrepreneurs. First Nations women carried both paid work and generations of essential work that was too often unpaid and unrecognized—raising families, caring for communities, maintaining our languages and carrying our cultures forward.

Today, First Nations are not simply participants in Canada’s economy. We are governments, employers, business owners, investors, rights holders and economic partners.

Here in the Yukon, our Final and Self-Government Agreements provide a foundation for a different economic relationship—one where First Nations exercise jurisdiction, make decisions about our lands and participate meaningfully in the prosperity created from our territories.

As Canada once again talks about building big—new mines, energy projects, housing, infrastructure and transportation corridors—we must also commit to building right.

First Nations cannot be viewed simply as a workforce to build projects on our lands. We must be at the decision-making table from the beginning, with opportunities for ownership, procurement, investment, training and careers, and a fair share of the wealth generated from our territories.

First Nations have always contributed to the prosperity of this country. Our opportunity now is to build an economy that recognizes that contribution and ensures the next generation never has to choose between opportunity and identity.

Today, we honour our workers, our Elders who opened doors that were once closed to us, and the generations who will walk through them.

Shäw níthän.

Grand Chief Math’ieya Alatini
Council of Yukon First Nations

Statement by Prime Minister Carney on Canada-U.S. trade negotiations We have recognised from the beginning that America has changed, and that we will not return to our old relationship. Our government understood, before many, that America is altering all its trade relationships. Putting tariffs on its closest allies and charging for access to its vast market.