The Yukon government and opposition parties are voicing sharply divided views on hydraulic fracturing, revealing the controversial gas extraction method as a persistent political fault line in the territory.

Energy, Mines and Resources Minister Scott Kent is unequivocal on the potential benefits of fracking and the key role First Nations would play in the lead-up to possible exploration or development.

“The Yukon Party stands for responsible resource development and a robust oil and gas industry, and the opposition parties clearly do not,” he said in an interview this morning.

Kent referred to the government’s announcement last Thursday that it will open the door to fracking proposals – for now, only in the Liard basin in the southeast corner of the territory.

“I think it’s important to be a net contributor to the country. We shouldn’t rely on the hard work of residents of British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan,” Kent said.

“We need to step up and not let them do all the heavy lifting.”

Yukon NDP Leader Liz Hanson stated Friday afternoon she was “not surprised” by the decision to pave the way for fracking, but said it “exemplified how this government has misused the whole public consultation process.

“It’s been a clear agenda of theirs to open the territory to oil and gas and to fracking,” she told the Star.

Last January, a legislative committee issued 21 recommendations, which the government has accepted, in a report on fracking in the territory.

The select committee members suggested broader study of its potential impact, but were unable to agree on key issues like whether fracking should be permitted in the Yukon or can even be safely regulated.

Internal government documents released accidentally over the past month-and-a-half suggest the government was “moving forward” on “multi-stage horizontal fracking” and a “pilot fracing/science project (sic)” in the Liard basin.

Hanson said a lack of transparency is “reinforcing what is becoming a really deep-seated skepticism, which is becoming close to cynicism.”

Kent responded that it’s ironic for the NDP to accuse the government of taking a pre-emptive stand when “even during the select committee process, we saw a couple members of the Opposition attending and speaking out at some of the anti-fracking rallies.”

Kent emphasized First Nations’ participation in the resource development process, particularly if it would impact their traditional territory.

“The important aspect is that this practice in the Liard basin will only occur with the support of affected First Nations.

“We’re not just talking about consent,” he said. “The discussion has to be more broad than that to have real meaning.”

Liard First Nation Chief Daniel Morris did not respond to a call from the Star by press time this afternoon.

The pivot toward “government-to-government” consultation represents a shift from 2012, when the territory passed legislation that stripped the Liard First Nation — opposed to fracking at the time — of its veto over oil and gas development in the area.

Kent has reached out to the Ross River Dena Council, Northwest Territories’ Acho Dene Koe First Nation and B.C.-based Kaska nations, which all have traditional territory in the Liard basin.

Kent stressed the potential for jobs, royalties and the economic ripple effect of exploration and production down the line.

Roughly $45 million in royalties have accrued to the government since the 1970s from the Kotaneelee gas field in southeast Yukon, now back on the table as a conventional extraction site following a regulatory board decision permitting EFLO Energy Inc. to rework two wells and access untapped methane.

Kotaneelee — part of the Liard basin — has been the territory’s only producing gas field, beginning in 1979 and shutting down production in 2012.

EFLO asserted to the select committee last year its “dedicat(ion) to develop Kotaneelee because it has significant conventional and shale gas assets” over the next decade.

“We’re excited that we have the opportunity to bring some Yukoners that are working in this industry outside of the Yukon back home to their family and friends,” Kent said today.

Liberal Leader Sandy Silver sees things differently.

He underscored a lack of “social licence” from Yukoners and the years of data collection and scientific appraisal required before fracking could responsibly occur.

“A Liberal government could and would not issue permits for fracking given what I heard from academic experts, Yukoners, and First Nation governments,” Silver said Friday.

The Klondike MLA was one of six territorial politicians on the select committee investigating fracking.

Silver called the government’s turn toward a more First Nations-friendly approach “a significant flip-flop,” given that “the Yukon Party argued First Nation consent was not required to proceed” during committee discussions, he said.

Sebastian Jones, an energy analyst with the Yukon Conservation Society, called fracking in Canada “massively destructive and dirty.

“The government has taken a position so clearly antagonistic both to the recommendations of the select committee and the voices of Yukoners,” he said today.

He also noted the virtually unanimous opposition voiced by residents who attended the 13 public hearings in 11 communities and Whitehorse last year.

The government now plans to undertake the “first systemic attempt to characterize unconventional hydrocarbon resources in Yukon,” according to Don Murphy, head of regional mapping at the Yukon Geological Survey.

The plan entails installing more than 50 seismometers on top of the dozen or so already in place.

“We’ll be able to say whether or not the earthquake activity is due to the hydrocarbon activity,” Murphy said at a media briefing Friday, addressing one of the concerns around the environmental impact of fracking.

The strategy also involves following up on water quality data derived from two new hydrometric stations in place on Beaver and La Biche rivers, as well as accumulating baseline data figures on air, water, fish, wildlife and human health around the Yukon.

Plans for an economic study on hydraulic fracturing are also in the pipeline.

Hydraulic fracturing involves pumping pressurized water, sand and chemicals underground — usually about 2,000 to 3,000 metres — to release natural gas trapped within the shale rock.

Over the last 60 years, roughly 215,000 fracking wells have been drilled in Alberta, B.C. and Saskatchewan.

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