Chief and Council Spotlight — Governance, Rights and Long-term planning

To round out this series of Spotlight posts highlighting the work of Chief and Council to move priorities ahead on behalf of Citizens, we are sharing a set of posts around strategic areas of focus.

Strong Governance and Asserting CAFN Rights: Throughout 2026, Chief and Council have been focused on strengthening governance and asserting CAFN’s rights and title as a self governing Yukon First Nation. This work includes both big picture nation to nation issues and very specific, on the ground questions about land, jurisdiction, and the future of CAFN communities.

One important area has been the BC Treaty file. In response to General Assembly resolutions, CAFN re engaged in the BC Claims process and formally reconnected with the BC Treaty Commission in July 2025. Canada has committed to developing a tripartite work plan that will also support CAFN’s funding application for this work. At the same time, British Columbia has indicated it is not supportive of CAFN returning to the table.

Despite this, CAFN is moving forward based on the clear mandate from Citizens. Council is developing a strategy to determine how best to deal with British Columbia and move forward, which will include negotiation, legal, and lobbying plans. Once this strategy is further developed, it will be brought back to General Assembly along with a draft resolution, and a CAFN community committee will be created to help guide this important work so that Citizens remain at the centre of decision making.

Council has also been working on the Klukshu and Champagne reserves, which were created through the CAFN Final and Self Government Agreements but have never been fully implemented. Canada has now developed an implementation agreement for both reserves, and CAFN is carefully reviewing it to make sure it truly reflects our interests. Key considerations for CAFN include ensuring there are no new encumbrances or legal interests affecting the proposed reserve lands, confirming that the new land description for the Klukshu reserve properly replaces the one in the Final Agreement, and addressing Yukon’s two rights of access on the road into Klukshu and to the old boating access point, which CAFN wants removed.

CAFN is also working to ensure that Canada remains liable for any outstanding obligations related to contaminants at Klukshu from the pipeline, and that the Section 87 tax exemption is preserved so CAFN can develop its own tax authority in the future. These details may seem technical, but they are essential to protecting CAFN’s long term interests and ensuring that our agreements are implemented in a way that honours both the spirit and letter of our Final and Self Government Agreements.

Alongside this rights and title work, Council’s broader governance agenda includes development of a new Council Code of Conduct, revisions to the Governance Administration Act (including Remuneration Regulations), and the creation of a strategic plan to support the incoming Council in this election year (2026). Work is also underway on an Emergency Management Plan for CAFN, recognizing the realities of climate change, extreme weather events, extended power outages, and other threats that affect our communities.

Together, these efforts reflect a strong focus on accountable, forward looking governance that is grounded in Citizens’ direction and in CAFN’s rights and responsibilities as a self governing First Nation.