A protest was held Tuesday afternoon outside the Andrew Philipsen Law Centre by concerned residents opposing Gladiator Metals Corp.’s mining activities.

The Australia-based company faces six charges related to an exploration project near Cowley Creek.

According to Gladiator lawyer Grant MacDonald, the company had planned to enter a plea and accept fines.

However, territorial court Judge Karen Ruddy adjourned the hearing and took a community impact statement from the many protestors in the courtroom.

Court is set to resume Thursday morning to pick dates for Gladiator to enter a plea and for sentencing.

The Quartz Mining Act charges relate to alleged violations that occurred between April 24 and May 12.

The charges allege that the company operated beyond the boundaries of its exploration permit and committed such offences as:

creating clearings larger than 400m2;

upgrading access roads;

removing the vegetative mat without storing it for use to restablish it;

failing to contain drill fluids in a sump; and

rutting and gouging roads and trails.

After the charges were laid, Gladiator paused work on the project.

The more than 30 protestors who attended could be heard chanting “Gladiator, go home!”, “No mine in our city!” and “Reserve our water!” in front of the courthouse.

They had many signs at the event, with some reading, “No mine in our city! We care for our City!” “Clean up your mess, Leave” and “Let’s help our southern lakes Caribou to recover… Gladiator, get out.”

NDP MLA Lane Tredger stood in solidarity with the protestors.

“It’s so disappointing and frustrating to see yet another mining company behaving in a way that’s not responsible and not ethical,” they said.

“It doesn’t seem to matter whether it’s the Liberals or the Yukon Party in charge. It’s the same old story of mines, behaving irresponsibly and getting away with it. And that’s what we’re seeing again now.”

They said Gladiator hasn’t even started mining yet, and is not following the rules.

Tredger also said accountability is needed.

“We have to have some account-ability. We need some political leadership on this.”

They said they don’t have “any faith” in the company continuing work in the Yukon.

“There has to be consequences when you break the rules,” Tredger said.

“I don’t have any faith after watching six (alleged) violations at the exploratory phase that they’re going to behave responsibly going forward.”

They added that mining legislation in the Yukon is “archaic,” and most of it is from the early 1900s.

Tredger also spoke to the crowd through a megaphone, saying, “Mining shouldn’t come before people,” “Mining shouldn’t come before water,” and “Mining should come before wildlife,” among other things.

Glenys Baltimore, a member of the Cowley Creek Neighborhood Association and a main speaker at the protest, said the charges add up to the company leaving a “hell of a mess” in the area that’s “pretty much irreparable.

“And going forward, that’s certainly not something that we want to see,” she said.

“But the thought of a large mine in the city also is something that, to me, is clearly incompatible. First of all, that’s our backyard. That’s where a lot of people get outdoors.

“So skiers, bikers, hikers, bird watchers, snowmobilers, you name it,” she added.

Baltimore said the corridor is accessible to Fish Lake and Mt. Sima, and raises lots of environmental concerns. Those include water quality, noise pollution, increased traffic and electrical grid use.

Maybe in the 1980s, the mining site was remote to the city, she said, but it isn’t now.

“The city is built up into that area, and these claims actually touch on several neighbuorhoods.”

Baltimore said she would like to see Gladiator disallowed from proceeding on the claims within the city, adding she applauds the Yukon government for charging them.

“You know, that the mining inspection report that we saw, I run a commercial kitchen and honestly, if I had a report that damning, I’d have been shut down. It was pretty bad,” she said.

Yukon Party MLA Scott Kent has sent a query to Mines Minister John Streicker inquiring about process concerns in respect to posting inspection reports for class one mining sites online, asking if the government has the ability to cancel a class 1 (mining) permit, which Gladiator has.

According to Kent, one of the inspection reports, which Baltimore mentioned, made its way to social media, causing concerns to be raised.

Kent also said he doesn’t believe that it’s government policy to make the incident reports public, but it’s one thing he’s asked about in his query to the minister.

Kent told the Star earlier this week there have been a number of concerns raised about the current mining activity and the future planned activity.

“I think the inspections branch that’s in Energy, Mines and Resources has certainly done their due diligence and done their job, and then have brought the charges on through the government forward. So, we’ll have to see how it plays out in court,” he said.

Kent also suggested that some of the conflict could have been avoided through use of the Mining in Communities Framework.

Last year, he noted, the govern-ment ran an engagement from August to October in relation to mining and communities.

Kent said the government said it would analyze the input they’ve received and post a summary online. He said it has been roughly 10 months since then – and he still cannot find a summary.

“I recognize that these claims are outside of the municipal boundaries of Whitehorse, but they’re still very, very close to a number of residential properties. So it’s unfortunate that this hasn’t been completed,” he said.

In an emailed response, John Thompson, a communications analyst with Energy, Mines and Resources, said the government is limited in what it can say while the matters are before the courts but is able to answer a few questions.

In response to the public’s concerns for the environment, he said, “Our natural resource officers regularly visit both exploration sites, like this one, and mine sites to ensure the rules are being followed.

“This prosecution demonstrates our commitment to protecting the environment and ensuring that mining and exploration activities are conducted in a responsible manner.”

Thompson added that no suspension has happened in regard to Gladiators exploration permit.

“Although the company is still able to work on the site, our regular inspection visits have found no evidence that the company has returned to the site since the charges were laid,” said Thompson’s email.

Disallowing a permit or preventing Gladiator from continuing its efforts was a popular opinion among protestors.

Liz Reichenbach said she attended the protest to support the community in keeping the area clean, habitable and safe for future generations, wildlife, and the land.

“The mining people, they come, they take what they want and then they leave and leave us with the mess.”

Reichenbach told the Star she would not support Gladiator continuing its work.

“They’ve demonstrated their credibility, their accountability, their everything,” she said.

Protestor Heidi Marion said she is concerned for the Southern Lakes Caribou Herd that inhabits the area in which Gladiator is operating.

She said the community has been working for 30 years to rebuild the herd, and this is a “setback”. Residents don’t want Gladiator to be mining or prospecting in the sensitive caribou area.

“I’m here because a mining company, Gladiator, has come into our habitat for the caribou that’s right behind our houses and also into the area where Whitehorse people used to recreate a lot, and they’ve just made a few messes in there,” Marion said.

Dan Verhalle, a protestor, said he was there “because I’m very concerned about what’s happening in my city and in my territory.

“And when I became really aware of what was going on, I was appalled at the fact that this kind of activity could even be conceived happening in the city,” Verhalle said.

“I’m getting older and I’m not going to be around here that long. But I’m extremely concerned about my children and their children and whatever they’re going to inherit,” said Verhalle.

“We all know mining and their practices, it’s all about the money. They’re here for three or four or five years. They leave a big mess. They take the profits and virtually no money is even returned back to the territorial government.

“When you look at all the remedial work that has to be done to reclaim these sites, we’re talking about billions of dollars. So what’s the point here?”

Verhalle said it’s a “no-brainer” that Gladiator should not be allowed to continue work in Yukon.

“If they’re only doing preliminary testing, wait until they get really into gear,” he said.

He also added that most people in Whitehorse are not aware of the situation – and it’s alarming.

“If you’re concerned, write your MLA, send them an email, if you’re concerned, go on your Facebook page and tell people about this because it’s gonna affect your property values, your investments, your kids’ futures.

“So get active; it only takes a click to send them an email saying ‘What’s going on? What’s happening? I’m concerned’; that’s all it is,” he said.