First Nation asks auditor general to look at Yukon's 'failures in oversight' at Eagle mine

The First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun in the Yukon is asking Canada's auditor general to look into how "failures in governmental oversight" may have contributed to the major failure last summer at Victoria Gold's Eagle gold mine.

In a news release on Wednesday, Na-Cho Nyäk Dun Chief Dawna Hope calls for a performance audit by the auditor general, looking at how the heap leach failure at Eagle mine happened and also at "broader issues around mineral management in the Yukon."  

Hope calls the mine failure in June — which saw an estimated four million tonnes of ore being treated with cyanide solution slide off a heap at the mine site, with about half the material leaving containment — a preventable catastrophe. She says it's essential to understand the root causes of the "crisis."

"That must include the technical causes as well as the role of the Yukon government in enabling disasters like this to happen," her statement reads.

She also says her First Nation had flagged "grave concerns" about Victoria Gold's management in recent years but those concerns were ignored by the territory. 

The First Nation declined an interview with CBC News on Wednesday.

The news release says Na-Cho Nyäk Dun has asked the auditor general to look into how the territorial government "assessed, regulated and oversaw" the Eagle mine. It says the territorial government's decision to appoint an independent review board to study the mine failure isn't good enough, as it's not focused on the government's role.

The three-person review board was appointed by the territorial government in August, to analyze the design, construction, operation, maintenance and monitoring of the heap leach facility at Eagle mine, and figure out why the slide happened. The board members are all experienced engineers or geotechnical experts and their report, which will be made public, is expected sometime later this winter or in the spring.

Meanwhile, work is ongoing at the Eagle mine site to deal with the fallout of the heap leach failure, including efforts to store and treat massive volumes of contaminated water.

According to a recent application from the mine's court-appointed receiver for an emergency water licence amendment, there were approximately 508 million litres of cyanide-contaminated water — enough to fill 203 Olympic-sized swimming pools — being held in storage ponds on-site as of Nov. 4, with a risk that storage capacity at the site will be exceeded by February. 

New mining legislation long overdue, First Nation says

Na-Cho Nyäk Dun says it's also asking for the auditor general to look at larger questions of how the Yukon and federal governments have failed to "uphold the processes and promises of federal devolution." It says that more than two decades after the territory's devolution agreement was signed, the Yukon government has not yet delivered on a promise to overhaul century-old mining laws to make them more "consistent with Indigenous rights and modern mineral management."

"Our Nation—and all Yukoners—need and deserve new mining legislation that respects Indigenous rights and the environment. Yet [the] Yukon government has not been willing to make the meaningful changes required to truly modernize Yukon's mining regime," Hope's statement reads.

The First Nation's letter to the auditor general on Monday, asking for the audit, said federal devolution and what happened at the Eagle mine are "inextricably intertwined."

"The Eagle gold mine was the first major gold mine to fall under Yukon's jurisdiction post-devolution — and the mine and Yukon's regulation of it failed spectacularly," the letter reads.

It says the auditor general's "careful analysis" through an audit will help "rebuild trust with the public and Indigenous peoples, and to implement treaty promises and federal commitments to advance sustainable development."

The Office of the Auditor General (OAG) says it receives "many" requests each year from individuals, groups, MPs, senators, and others to do performance audits of specific areas or issues. The office can then decide whether to go ahead with an audit, based on the significance of the issue, the resources available, and whether it fits with the OAG's mandate.  

The OAG website describes a performance audit — of which it typically does 25 to 30 per year — as "an independent, objective and systematic assessment of how well government is managing its activities, responsibilities and resources."

"Performance audits do not question the merits of government policies. Rather, they examine the government's management practices, controls, and reporting systems based on its own public administration policies and on best practices," the website reads.