44th Annual AYC Conference Wraps Up in Haines Junction

Wednesday, 15 May 2019 12:42

The 44th annual Association of Yukon Communities wrapped-up last weekend with fire prevention, procurement strategies, and communication between municipal and territorial governments being some of the highlights.

President of the Association of Yukon Communities Tara Wheeler says their 44th annual general meeting that took place from May 9th to 12th in Haines Junction was a productive one.

Wheeler says multiple topics were covered during their meeting, which ranged from fire prevention initiatives, procurement strategies for rural Yukon communities and better communication between governments.

"We covered a great variety of different topics. We heard from the Official Community Plan amendments, wildfire management and how we can help our residents be prepared if we do have fires in our vicinity, and how to be fire smart around personal properties."

Also in the agenda were seven resolutions passed on from different Yukon communities to be discussed at the meeting, including issues around infrastructure spending and waste management.

Wheeler said one particular change coming to the Community Development fund was limiting for-profit corporations to apply for contracts under the development fund.

"It just brings more people in to apply for a very small pot of money that is already overly-subscribed. No one was really aware that that change was happening. So, there was suggestion as to either raising the overall amount of funding, or changing the criteria to how it used to be where First Nation governments could apply, just not as for-profit entities."

Wheeler says one of the biggest issues brought up at the meeting was how the Yukon Government often communicates differently with various communities.

"The biggest hurdle is just how were consulted on things.Each department does things a little differently and if If it affects a municipality, were all consulted differently and told about things differently. We're not all aware of everything that may affect our municipalities. Sometimes it feels like we're being overly- consulted, such as getting an email to do a survey... sometimes we don't need a survey and just need the information."

Members of the Association of Yukon Communities include Dawson, Watson Lake, Mayo, Carmacks, Faro, Haines Junction, Teslin and Whitehorse.

Next years meeting is set to take place in Watson Lake.