Yukon Employees’ Union affirms our solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en Nation and the position taken by the Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs. They have not ceded their jurisdiction to the lands they have lived on and been stewards of for millenia, and we respect Indigenous sovereignty.

YEU supports full implementation of the calls to action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the recommendations of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. 

The actions taken by the RCMP and the governing bodies actively suppressing the rights of indigenous people do irreparable harm to the cause of reconciliation and contravene the UN Declaration. Using police action to suppress the human rights of land protectors, peaceful protestors and the media of this country brings shame on our country.  

The Wet’suwet’en people are the rightful title holders to their land; that inalienable title must be respected and recognized. Yukon Employees’ Union calls on elected leaders and all responsible to act in accordance with the responsibilities established by the Supreme Court’s Delgamuukw-Gisday’wa decision of 1997.

Yukon Employees’ Union represents more than 4000 Yukon workers. Our members, this country and indeed the world, are watching this drama unfold. We bear witness, demand that our governments do what is right, and put an end to the shameful legacy of colonization.