Yukon Liberals roll out platform as common election promises emerge between parties

View of downtown Whitehorse, Yukon, on Monday, June 24, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Mike Thomas

The Yukon Liberals have unveiled their campaign platform, hoping to be re-elected on promises of a $300-million hospital expansion and a dramatic reduction in the wait-list for government housing.

Liberal Leader Mike Pemberton is the first to roll out a full campaign platform as the territory nears the halfway point of campaigning for the election, set for Nov. 3.

“These are practical solutions that make a real difference for Yukoners in housing, health care, affordability, arts, recreation, safety, the economy and true partnership,” Pemberton told a news conference in Whitehorse on Thursday.

Several key Liberal planks in its platform are similar to promises already made by the New Democrats and Yukon Party during the territorial campaign.

Both the Liberals and the Yukon Party are promising an expansion of Whitehorse General Hospital for added surgical services, at a price tag Pemberton put at $300 million.

Both parties also say they will review the medical travel program, which provides a stipend for people who need to go outside the territory for health care.

Yukon Party Leader Currie Dixon has said he would be willing to take out a loan to pay for the hospital expansion if required.

“A Yukon Party government will make a generational investment in our health-care infrastructure so that Yukoners can get the right care at the right time, the right place,” Dixon said at an announcement earlier this month unveiling his health-care promises.

Pemberton said Thursday he would also be open to taking out a loan to pay for the hospital expansion.

“I think where we differ a little bit from the Yukon Party is our relationship with the federal government is very strong. So, I will rely and advocate to our federal partners to support these new integrations into the hospital,” he said.

“But bottom line, if we need to borrow the money to move forward, to supply the health services that are required for the people of the Yukon, we will make that happen.”

The NDP has promised to build 100 new units managed by Yukon Housing, focused on communities outside of Whitehorse to shrink the housing waiting list. Pemberton said his party will reduce the wait-list by 90 per cent next year.

The Liberal platform said the current housing wait list is for 207 units in Whitehorse, but the government has already started work on 187 units in various buildings that are expected to be completed next year.

The NDP is also promising to build another 100 homes for first-time buyers in partnership with the Yukon First Nations development corporations.

“Borrowing from the successful B.C. model, we will help people buy a home by financing 40 per cent of the purchase price and using low- or no-cost land,” the New Democrats said in a statement earlier this week.

When asked about the similarities of party promises on Thursday Pemberton said that he’s not surprised to see overlap but added that his party has a track record of results.

“Obviously, when you get the platform and you read through it, you’ll see the work that has been done over the last nine years, and a lot of that same work will continue,” he said.

“It’s no surprise to me that that the other parties are talking about housing, because it is a key issue in the territory as it is in the nation.”

Jon Weller, the Liberal candidate for Mountainview, told the news conference that all parties are bringing good ideas to the table.

“I think one of the real strengths of the Liberals is being able to look across the aisles and talk to other parties and talk across the spectrum in the Yukon and hear those good ideas and bring them forward and actually deliver on them,” he said.

Pemberton said his party has not calculated the cost to implement its entire platform, which also includes a $30-million electricity rebate program and a promise to “take a closer look” at a Northwest Territories plan that forgives student loans if they come back work in the territory after graduation.

He said a Liberal Yukon government would keep the territory in a positive fiscal situation over the next four years, although giving specific numbers is “probably not the most reasonable thing to do” amid Canada’s tariff fights with the United States and concerns over supply chain issues.

The Yukon Party spent Thursday promoting its plans for “economic resilience,” which includes a promise for better planning so the territory has adequate sport infrastructure, including ice, gym spaces and fields, changes to the procurement process, and to work with the federal government to expand the hours of operation of the Yukon’s border crossing with Alaska.

The NDP said on Thursday it would ban corporate and union donations to political parties and reform election financing rules, requiring parties to name donors to individual candidates.

“As leader, I’ve never accepted a dime from corporations or unions, because I work for Yukoners. You can count on our team to ban corporate and union donations,” Leader Kate White said in a statement.

Yukoners will vote for 21 members in this election. Both the Yukon Party and the NDP have a full slate of candidates, while the Liberals are running in 18 ridings.

The Liberals have been in power since 2016, most recently as a minority government with the support of a deal with the NDP.

Voters will also be asked to answer a non-binding plebiscite on electoral reform.

Ashley Joannou, The Canadian Press