Federal Court - Christian Aboriginal Infrastructure Developments ...

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[213] This response refers to the initiative of the Government in conducting an inventory of the
timber resources in Y01, Y02 and Y03. The response demonstrates that DIAND publicly
represented, including to the Parliament of Canada, that the inventory conducted by the Sterling
Wood Group was comprehensive and that a conservative AAC limit was imposed.
[214] It is noteworthy, as well, that at this time, that is in the early 1990s, the timber resources of
2010 FC 495 (CanLII)
the Yukon Territory were exempt from the tariffs and countervailing duties imposed pursuant to the
Softwood Lumber Agreement with the United States. Any lumber produced in Yukon would have a
significant advantage over similar products produced in most other Canadian jurisdictions.
[215] The Territorial Lands Act provided two methods by which authority to harvest timber in
Yukon could be granted. Timber could be harvested by a permit, referred to as a CTP, or by “other
disposition of territorial lands”, usually in the form of an agreement between a proponent and the
Crown, known as a THA.
[216] The operative sections of the Territorial Lands Act for the CTP are sections 17 and 18
(1)(a). These sections provide:
17. No person shall cut timber on territorial lands unless that person
is the holder of a permit.
18. (1) The Governor in Council may make regulations
(a) respecting the issue of permits to cut timber and
prescribing the terms and conditions thereof,
including the payment of ground rent, and exempting