First Nation gets bylaw passed for new Whitehorse hotel, but not without angering chief

Two Yukon First Nations are getting their 20-metre tall hotel, following heated debate in Whitehorse city council chambers. 

City councillors voted Monday night to allow the Kwanlin Dun and Vuntut Gwich'in First Nations to build a hotel that exceeds the height restriction on downtown buildings. 

City councillors voted three to two to pass a bylaw allowing the River's Edge project to be 20 metres in height on all sides, up from a maximum of 15 metres on Front Street and 12.5 metres on the waterfront.  

Chief 'extremely upset' by councillors' comments 

While Kwanlin Dun Chief Doris Bill is pleased the project is going ahead, she said she was "extremely upset" about statements made by councillors Samson Hartland and Betty Irwin, who voted against the bylaw. 

Hartland said he had concerns about a domino effect on height relaxation throughout downtown Whitehorse.

Irwin said the city shouldn't encourage privatization of the waterfront and let it "become a playground for well-heeled private enterprise."

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Bill said Irwin's comments left her speechless. 

"Nobody cares for the waterfront more than the Kwanlin Dun people," she said. "We have watched while our people have been pushed out of the waterfront for years — and to call us 'well-heeled,' after all of that," Bill said.

Bill said the comments made by Hartland and Irwin "shows their ignorance" of First Nation people and their history. 

"They should know better," she said.

Mayor supports project

Bill said she appreciated the comments made by Mayor Dan Curtis, who spoke in favour of the project.

Curtis said allowing the height relaxation was an easy decision for him, given the role and history of the First Nation along the waterfront, and the demand for hotel rooms in Whitehorse. 

"To suggest that we're blocking it [the waterfront] off, or building up some kind of wall or obstacle is just not accurate, it's not fair," Curtis said.

"Quite frankly, it really pisses me off when I hear how we're blocking it off with one building that we need so desperately."

The River's Edge mixed-use project is to be located next to the Kwanlin Dun Cultural Centre on Front and Ogilvie streets.

At a city council meeting earlier this month, a project manager for the Kwanlin Dun's Chu Níikwän Development Corporation said the hotel's initial design ideas include rooms with angled windows so every guest has a view of the water. 

With files from Mike Rudyk