“The journey towards reconciliation includes us all, it’s not just First Nations that must reach out.”

NDP Leader Liz Hanson said this at the Kwanlin Dun Cultural Centre this morning.

At a press conference near the kitchen, Hanson presented her vision for the future of Yukon government relations with Yukon First Nations.

“It’s time for a Yukon where the spirit of reconciliation unites us in common cause with First Nations to unlock economic and community development opportunities and benefits for all Yukoners.”

Rather than make specific funding commitments, the party presented a list of nine priorities, from revising mining legislation to protecting indigenous languages.

These goals, Hanson said, reflect the NDP’s greater mission to approach every issue before cabinet through the “lens of reconciliation.”

Topping the NDP list is a promise to create mining legislation with an avenue for royalty sharing with First Nations that “meets commitments set out in final agreements.”

The New Democrats also vowed to work on growing the economies of Yukon’s communities.

Some Yukon First Nations have provisions written into their self-governing agreements that ensure large construction projects on First Nations lands provide employment and training to First Nations citizens. The Kwanlin Dun First Nation, for example, has a “Yukon Asset Construction Agreement.”

An NDP government would offer agreements like this to other First Nations, including those that haven’t signed final agreements.

“If we’re really serious about building a local, durable economy, than we should look at who are the people who are living here and working here and First Nations are a part of that,” said Hanson.

She noted that some First Nations have construction companies that could benefit from a formalized construction agreement on their territory.

“It’s another ... part of rebuilding our economy that’s focusing on the local economy and not fly-in and fly-out workers,” said Hanson.

The NDP promised a “participatory approach” to budget-making, which would ensure First Nations priorities are considered before the territorial budget is hammered out each year.

Hanson said over the last 14 years, the Yukon government has operated separately from First Nations governments and that this has resulted in “a number of opportunities that we’ve seen missed.”

Liberal Leader Sandy Silver has said he would meet with all Yukon First Nations chiefs in his first 30 days in office.

Hanson didn’t make the same commitment this morning but said meeting with councils would be part of pre-budget consultations.

It would be at Yukon Forums (the meetings of the premier and First Nations leaders that are legislated to take place up to four times a year) where governments would “establish the broad principles that would guide what we’re going to focus on,” she said.

On a suggestion from the Yukon First Nations Chamber of Commerce, the NDP would also look into creating a private equity fund with First Nations development corporations that would be used to invest in local infrastructure projects.

The party reiterated its commitment to act on the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).

The TRC’s Calls to Action were published in 2015 and are meant to improve outcomes for First Nations communities in the areas of child welfare, justice, education and others. They are also intended to promote understanding among all Canadians of the destructive impacts of colonialism, residential schools and government assimilation policies.

The Yukon Party said it would put $3.5 million toward implementing the TRC’s Calls to Action, if re-elected. (Yukon Party Leader Darrell Pasloski directed no funds to this end in the 16 months he was premier after the TRC’s recommendations were released.)

The NDP also promised to follow up on the Auditor General’s report on child welfare in the Yukon and work on bringing down the number of First Nations children in care.

In its 2014 report, the Auditor General highlighted many areas for improvement in child welfare services in the Yukon.

First Nations children are disproportionally affected by inadequate social services as they represent the vast majority of children in the system.

The Yukon’s Child and Family Services Act states that First Nations must be included in planning for First Nations children in care, and in the delivery of programs and services to their citizens.

The Auditory General noted that due to a lack of funds, “First Nations have been unable to participate in providing these services to the extent they feel necessary.”

In the Yukon, and across Canada, First Nations children are over-represented in the child welfare system. Recommendations on how to bring down the number of children and families involved in the child welfare system comprise the first five of the TRC’s 94 Calls to Action.

Back in July, Pasloski and his counterparts in the other provinces and territories vowed to make First Nations child welfare their top priority.

Other promises made by the NDP include giving life to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in the Yukon, “while respecting final agreements”; addressing “complex issues of trauma, addictions, suicide, healing, and youth mental health”; and working to revitalize the Yukon’s indigenous languages.

The party also said that in its first term as government, it would make National Aboriginal Day on June 21 a statutory holiday. The government is studying that idea.

“It’s time to listen to the elders and the countless reports that make it clear that the healing of First Nations communities and individuals is rooted in culture, tradition and self-determination,” said Hanson.