5.2.4 Community Resilience

It’s about getting away from ‘us and them’ and using the strengths of Traditional Knowledge and the western system to benefit everyone.

Jody Beaumont

Trʼondëk Hwëchʼin Education Director

The Region’s community is resilient when it can retain its identity and health while adapting to change. Change (which isn’t necessarily good or bad) can come in many forms. It may be sudden (for example, a landslide), mid-term (for example, increased development opportunities from a rise in the price of gold) or long-term (for example, changes in caribou migratory pathways following land disturbance). Resilience is a feature of physical infrastructure, like roads, and applies to the people in the community and the landscapes.

A resilient community is intergenerational and includes people with a variety of skillsets and backgrounds to respond to challenges as they arise. It can also remain healthy as the population changes in composition and size. The Plan encourages land use, land relationships, and development that supports Community Resilience.

Responding to change can include physical actions, such as maintaining, improving, and diversifying physical infrastructure (for example, energy production and transmission, affordable housing), and social actions, such as supporting people in skills training or transfer. Land use decisions made across the Region affect the community’s ability to adapt by affecting infrastructure and people’s well-being, and by limiting future choices.

The Plan, therefore, encourages a long view that considers many potential futures and the needs of future generations. In addition to the discussion in this section, see other relevant values and economic activities. Some anticipated challenges the community does or may need to respond to are:

  • Housing availability (including land for residential development).
  • Water, food, and energy
  • Impacts of climate
  • Impacts of major development

While the Plan does not apply to LMU 22: Ch’ë̀nyä̀ng–Ddhäl Ch’èl Cha Nän (City of Dawson–Tombstone Territorial Park), the community is intricately connected to and dependent on the broader landscape (Section 5.3.3). The issue of affordable housing is more appropriately dealt with at the level of the municipality or sub-regional planning of areas with high residential use. However, it is worth highlighting as it is critical to ongoing Community Resilience.

Land for new development activities of all kinds is not readily available, and spot land development and residential use of mineral claims are persistent phenomena. The Central Tr’ondëk Land Management Area has been established by Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in for future commercial and residential land use and new government facilities. Even when following the Plan’s high-level guidance, individual land use decisions (for example, dispositions) that result in permanent or long-term removal of an area from other uses should be made cautiously to maintain future choice.

Continued availability of clean drinking water is a priority for all community areas, including Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in heritage sites of Tr’ochëk, Moosehide, and Forty Mile, as well as traditional hunting and fishing camps, and in the catchment areas of the Klondike River, Swede Creek, Fortymile River, and Wolf Creek.

Food security is a key component of Community Resilience. The Region’s residents rely on wild harvested and locally grown food from gardens and a small agricultural sector, in addition to that transported up the highway. In recent years, multiple highway closures have focused residents’ attention on the reliance on imported food and other goods. The community’s need to continue to improve local food production, while maintaining or recovering fish and wildlife populations and access to them, is an important consideration for land use decisions.

Impacts from ongoing and future climate change in the Region include permafrost thaw and ground displacement, increased flooding risk, and heightened wildfire activity. These can affect residential areas directly, as well as road and water access, and industrial and commercial activities across the Region. Land use decisions should consider potential hazards as well as potential opportunities, such as the possibility of new crops.

The potential impacts from a major development or extraction project to Community Resilience are high. Development projects, especially large ones with camps, have caused gendered violence both in the workplace and in nearby communities, with Indigenous women, girls, and Two-Spirit+ people especially at risk. Large projects also increase loads on local infrastructure and services, including medical facilities, that can affect access by residents.

YESAB recently completed a review of these impacts in the Yukon, which should be consulted when considering major development projects in the Region. The Plan supports projects that maintain high standards of employee safety (including cultural, emotional, and physical), prioritize local employment, and anticipate and mitigate potential negative social impacts to the community, alongside their commitment to environmental protection.

Key Planning Issues
  • The remote location of and limited access routes into the community creates multiple vulnerabilities – for example, road closures can severely impact movement of people, fuel, and food; there are limited energy options; and so on (see also Section 4).
  • Land use decisions affect Community Resilience by restricting future choice, affecting physical infrastructure and resources, and affecting community well-being.
  • Change that requires resilience may come in many forms and on many timeframes, from sudden to long term.
  • Community Resilience is tied to community well-being, which depends on healthy land–people relationships.
  • The demand for land for residential, commercial, and industrial development and services is growing in the areas surrounding Dawson City, and there is limited suitable land Affordable and accessible housing is necessary for Community Resilience.
  • Additional fine-scale planning is necessary to manage growth and guide development outside of municipal boundaries – for example, LMU 12.
  • Increasing local food security will require a greater land base for local food production, as well as maintaining healthy fish and wildlife populations.
  • Impacts from climate change are likely to increase physical hazards, which need to be considered in land disposition and infrastructure development.
  • Drinking water quality for all community use areas, including Dawson City, can be negatively impacted by land Uncontrolled outhouses along the Klondike River (and other watercourses) are a particular concern.
  • Development projects, including resource extraction, and in particular those that rely on camps, have a high risk of negative impacts to the personal safety of women, girls, and LGBTQ2S+ persons on worksites and in nearby communities.
  • Development projects may contribute to local infrastructure and resilience, or add strain to existing infrastructure, services, and resources.
Goals
  1. The community is resilient and has strong relationships to one another and to the land.
  2. When the community changes (in composition and size), it does so in a sustainable way that upholds ecological, social, and cultural values and limits land use conflict.
  3. All residents have access to clean drinking water.
  4. Food security comes from healthy fish and wildlife populations, and local food production.
  5. Land-based projects and development contribute to healthy, safe, and violence-free workplaces and communities, where Indigenous women, girls, and Two-Spirit+ people are respected, inherently valued, and treated equitably with dignity and justice.
  6. Development projects contribute to Community Resilience by improving or adding to local infrastructure, resources, and services.
Stewardship Directions
  1. When working in proximity to known sources of potable water, follow the mitigations defined during the assessment process to prevent contamination.
  2. Only consider and propose new spot land applications for permanent dispositions within, or near, existing development nodes. This helps minimize ecological disturbance.
  3. When conducting or considering climate change assessments, consider the disproportionate impacts of climate change in the North and identify ways to reduce the resulting inequality.
  4. Follow the Dawson City Community Wildfire Protection Plan.
  5. When engaging in projects in the region, buy locally where possible.
  6. When proposing, considering, and operating projects that include a camp(s) for accommodation, implement best practices to increase personal safety at the worksite and in affected communities, including anti-violence policies, appropriate housing, access to mental wellness support, mentorship programs, and access to adequate cell phone and Internet on site.
  7. When proposing and operating projects in the Region, partner with the signatories of the Yukon Strategy on MMIWG2S+ to implement the important actions that have been identified in the Implementation Plan.

  8. During project assessment, consider and identify mitigations for projected increased demands on social infrastructure directly and indirectly related to the project – for example, increased demands on health and social services and policing. Ensure service capacity is adequate to meet expanded needs before projects begin (adapted from Call for Justice 13.5, MMIWG Final Report).

Implementation Actions
  1. Build in resilience to transportation and other infrastructure that may be affected by floods, permafrost thaw, increases in precipitation and temperature, and other risks.
  2. Build capacity for disaster risk reduction, with particular attention to reducing the risk and impacts of natural disasters resulting from floods, landslides, and wildfires.
  3. Encourage climate preparedness education to ensure residents are prepared to respond to climate change-related events.
  4. Promote climate change awareness and strategies to decrease climate anxiety.
  5. Support recommendations relating to priority action 6: Resource Extraction and Major Infrastructure in the Yukon Advisory Committee on MMIWG2S+ Implementation Plan, including:
    • Eliminate violence related to development projects in both workplaces and communities. Increase the workforce capacity, mitigate negative impacts, and improve the positive benefits for Indigenous women and Yukon communities (3.4).
    • Support the implementation of culturally relevant, gender-balanced analysis in YESAA processes (4.4).
    • Support a Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in-led community safety assessment (2.1a).
Governance Recommendations
  • Promote projects that increase food security.
  • Incentivize sourcing local materials in new development.
  • Encourage fire breaks around areas of high value to the community.
  • Consider long-term viability of access when assessing projects and making land use decisions.
  • When considering new residential growth outside of Dawson City, consider at minimum:
    • Resource and infrastructure access and
    • Needs for other land uses which may have limited available suitable growth areas.
    • Long-term community needs.
  • Integrate climate change assessment into planning processes for development nodes by:
    • Identifying areas subject to risk of increased hazards due to a changing climate – for example, flooding, geohazards, permafrost thaw, and wildfire.
    • Limiting new development in these
    • Following best practices to mitigate risk of hazardous impacts to areas of existing or future development, or areas with high agricultural value.
  • Consult Evaluation of the Effects of Industrial Activities on the Personal Safety of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Women and Girls and LGBTQ2S+ Persons in Yukon (YESAB, 2022) when considering major development projects in the Region.
Knowledge Gaps

  • Identify all water sources used by the community, including for traditional pursuits, to enable land users to plan accordingly. This includes water sources used at important Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in heritage sites, including Tr’ochëk, Moosehide, and Forty Mile, as well as traditional hunting and fishing camps.

  • Investigate the potential agricultural opportunities resulting from climate change.

  • Assessors and decision-makers lack clear guidance on how to assess personal and community safety concerns of Indigenous and non-Indigenous women, girls, and LGBTQ2S+ persons in relation to resource extraction, development projects, and work camps (see YESAB report). Research ways for assessors and decision-makers to better assess potential impacts and evaluate mitigation plans for proposed and ongoing projects.

  • Few extraction or development projects have shown positive impacts for Indigenous and non-Indigenous women, girls, and LGBTQ2S+ persons, both at the worksite and in the community. Seek out examples and analyze what makes them successful.

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