Yukon voters opt for change

Yukon’s Liberal Party swept to power in the territorial election Nov. 7, ending 14 years of rule by the Yukon Party, whose leader Darrell Pasloski suffered personal defeat and immediately announced his resignation.

The incoming premier, Sandy Silver, declared he was ready to “hit the ground running” after capturing 11 of the legislative assembly’s 19 seats, with six captured by the Yukon Party and two by the New Democratic Party.

A core plank in the Liberal election platform was a promise to improve relations with First Nations, ending a prolonged period of bitterness that often resulted in court action. Silver said self-governing agreements with First Nations are “the pathway to the Yukon’s economic future. If we sit down together, we can grow the economy, protect the environment and create good jobs that benefit all Yukoners.”

During the campaign he accused Pasloski of ignoring negotiations with First Nations communities in favor of mining interests.

Faced with the temporary closure next year of the Yukon’s one operating mine - the Minto copper operation - Pasloski argued that the territorial government needed to support mining if it had any hope of an economic turnaround.

He had also promised to fight the Canadian government’s federally mandated carbon tax, while Silver said he would work with the federal administration to ensure the levy did not extract a heavy toll on Yukon residents.

Like the Northwest Territories, the Yukon has also seen its oil and natural gas prospects get sidelined by low commodity prices.

- GARY PARK