Contested Colonialism: Responsible Government and Political Development in Yukon

Abstract

This article argues that the granting of responsible government to Yukon in 1979 was not the inevitable outcome of territorial political development but the result of a protracted and organized settler political movement that emerged first in opposition to the federal government and, later, to Yukon's Indigenous peoples. I analyze settler actor political behaviour and outcomes using the framework of “contested colonialism.” Non-Indigenous Yukoners are understood as actors who simultaneously bring colonialism to the North while also contesting elements of that same colonial order. Using extensive archival research, I identify several critical junctures leading to the implementation of responsible government during the 1960s and 1970s.

Is Indigeneity like Ethnicity? Theorizing and Assessing Models of Indigenous Political Representation

“…Most notably, an autonomous theory of Indigenous representation also has to grapple with notions of accountability between governed and governors (Alcantara et al, 2012). The role federal political systems can play as either enablers or constrainers of different pathways to Indigenous representation also begs for additional reflection (Henderson, 1994; 2002; Papillon, 2012; Sabin, 2014; Davidson, 2018). However, here we have sought to focus on three core principles that can act as the foundation for an autonomous theory of Indigenous representation.…”

“…Our argument builds upon a particularly strong tradition of work on Indigenous and minority national political representation in Canada. This scholarship has identified Indigenous groups as distinct from other national minority groups, pointing both to the particular challenges Indigenous groups face in colonial state infrastructure (Papillon, 2012; Sabin, 2014) and to the multitude of avenues by which Indigenous peoples might exercise their autonomy within the state (Abele and Prince, 2006; Ladner, 2005). Historically, however, the focus of this literature has been on self-government (Henderson, 1994; 2002; Canada, Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, 1996) rather than considering institutions of shared rule, as we do in this article.…”

Mitigating Mistrust? Participation and Expertise in Hydraulic Fracturing Governance

“…The territory has had a multi‐party political system since the late 1970s (see Sabin, , for an account of changing political institutions in the 1960s and 1970s), and now has three major parties: the Yukon Party (formerly Yukon Territorial Progressive Conservative Party), the Yukon Liberal Party, and the Yukon New Democratic Party (NDP). As documented and elaborated by Slowey (, especially pp.…”

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“…The communal identities of Arctic residents provide a valuable example because they have undergone substantial change over a relatively short period of time in recent decades, and continue to experience significant and increasing pressures from the combined effects of economic disruption and modernisation, colonisation, and human-caused environmental change. Arctic peoples, particularly indigenous peoples, are distinct from even their fellow citizens who do not inhabit the Arctic, and have strongly developed senses of their unique collective identities (for examples see Saugestad 2012; Sabin 2014). Their identities are what make them specific peoples; to undermine the basis of those collective identities is thus to undermine the foundation of Arctic peoples’ shared experiences.…”