Northern Reality and Reconciliation Part 1 with Tony Penikett

Today, author and former Premier of the Yukon Tony Penikett talks about reconciliation within and between governments. He discusses his new book, Hunting the Northern Character. He also touches on where Canada’s been, where it’s going, and how northern governments have approached these issues.

Next: Listen to Northern Reality and Reconciliation Part 2 with Tony Penikett here.

About Our Guest

Tony Penikett

Tony spent 25 years in public life, including two years at the Canadian House of Commons as Chief of Staff to federal New Democratic Party Leader Ed Broadbent; five terms in the Yukon Legislative Assembly; and two terms as Premier of Canada’s Yukon Territory. His government negotiated settlements of Yukon First Nation land claims; passed pioneering legislation in the areas of education, health, language; and organised Yukon 2000, a unique bottom-up economic planning process. After serving as Premier of the Yukon, Penikett acted as Senior Aboriginal Policy Advisor for the Premier of Saskatchewan (1995-97) and Deputy Minister for Negotiations, and later Labour, for the Government of British Columbia (1997-2001).

Read the rest of Tony’s bio on The Polar Connection

Tony Says:

>> 00:01: “In Whitehorse, at that time, it was fairly clear that most of the poor people were Indigenous. And most Indigenous people were poor.”  – Tony Penikett

>>12:59: “We were able to do that because for the first and only time in Yukon history where we’ve had a party system… Since right from the beginning in 1898, was that… Half of my caucus colleagues in the governing party in the New Democratic party congress were Indigenous people.”  – Tony Penikett

>>17:43: “And one of the things that one of the Chiefs said, which struck all of us was, “Look, we were promised social license on major projects that impacted our communities. We were promised free prior and informed consent before any major projects come through. What we got was drive-by consultation.” – Tony Penikett

In This Episode

Other Ways to Enjoy Northern Reality and Reconciliation Part 1:

Northern Reality and Reconciliation Part 1 Transcript