Yukon Liberals, NDP strike agreement to govern after election tie

Yukon Premier Sandy Silver speaks to reporters following a bilateral meeting with Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada Catherine McKenna on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Monday, Oct. 29, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

WHITEHORSE — Yukon Premier Sandy Silver and New Democrat Leader Kate White have announced the two parties have reached an agreement to work together to govern.

Silver told a news conference that both leaders appreciate the need for stable government and the parties had found common threads.

He says the three NDP members of the legislature will be included in conversations on legislation in the confidence and supply agreement through January 2023 that commits the NDP to pass Liberal government budgets.

White says Yukoners asked the parties to work together and that's what they've done, striking a deal that she is proud of.

The election earlier this month finished with the incumbent Liberals and the Yukon Party tied at eight seats, leaving each party short of the 10 seats needed for a majority.

The Liberals' former health minister filed a petition in Yukon Supreme Court last week to declare invalid the results in the riding of Vuntut Gwitchin.

Pauline Frost finished in a tie with her NDP opponent, Annie Blake, in the riding before Blake was chosen as the winner after the drawing of lots.

The petition alleges two voters in the riding were ineligible to cast ballots.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 28, 2021.