Additional day in the courtroom for the Peel, Oct 24

You may have been wondering, what’s happening with the Peel? Has the trial happened yet? Is there a decision yet?

The trial for the Peel was held from July 7 – 10 this past summer inside the Yukon Supreme Court here in Whitehorse. 

For videos, photos, podcasts, and daily blogs about each day of the trial, including updates on Oct 24th, please use this link: https://peelwatershedtrial.wordpress.com/

Where are things now?

Well, in late August, the judge requested one more day in the courtroom with Tom Berger and the Yukon Government (YG) lawyer, John Hunter.

That day is scheduled for Friday October 24th in the Yukon Supreme Court. 

Court will be in session starting at 10:00am, and two court rooms will again be open for those who wish to sit in on the public proceedings.

The judge would like to hear more details on the remedies for the case, which were presented by Mr. Berger back in July. Mr. Berger sent in his extra details on October 3rd, and the YG lawyer will send his in on October 17th. On October 24th they will both present to the judge in person.

The solution that Mr. Berger proposed to the judge in July was to go back to the Final Consultations, but ONLY with the Commission’s Final Plan, not with YG’s new plans for the Peel. This is what should have happened back in 2011/ 12, and is where Mr.Berger and his plantiffs say that YG went “off the rails” and therefore veered away from the process outlined in the Umbrella Final Agreement. 

The Peel River Watershed court case is the biggest in the history of Yukon, never before has the Yukon Supreme Court had that many people attend a case, from across the territory and NWT. Therefore it’s no surprise that the judge would want more information in this case.

After Judge Veale gets the details on October 24th he will go back to making his decision, and we will wait. Maybe we’ll find out before the year is out, or maybe it will take until next year. 

Either way the annoucement will be a big one, for the Peel Watershed, for the Umbrella Final Agreement,  for the people of Yukon and NWT Delta, and many others.

If you have any questions or thoughts, feel free to contact Jody at CPAWS – joverduin@cpawsyukon.org