Yukon political parties say they're bringing a positive attitude to fall sitting

Can the COVID-19 pandemic foster a new spirit of democratic collaboration that transcends partisan politics?

Elsewhere on Planet Earth the answer appears to be a resounding no, but Yukon's political parties say they're game to try.

With the territory's Legislative Assembly set to resume Thursday, party leaders say they hope tackling a backlog of issues left over from a spring sitting shortened by the pandemic takes precedence of party politics. But they still couldn't resist some partisan sniping during pre-sitting interviews.

"The approach that Yukon Party MLAs are going to be taking in this sitting is going to be very constructive and positive where we're going to offer solutions and we're going to bring forward our ideas to contrast with the Liberals," said new leader Currie Dixon, who doesn't have a seat in the legislature.

He added: "We're going to leave the partisan theatrics to the Liberals."

Tracy-Anne McPhee, the government house leader, said she's expecting a large helping of opposition questions, but is "pleased" to hear the Yukon Party pledging a more productive approach.

"We've always taken the position that that constructive work together is far more productive on behalf of Yukoners than sniping or insults or name calling for the purposes of trying to make a point," she said. 

NDP Leader Kate White said her party already tries to offer suggestions.

"The NDP have constantly been putting forward alternative ideas, good ideas about problems that exist," she said. "And if the other two parties are interested in behaving in a similar fashion, then we look forward to it." 

Pandemic fallout will likely dominate agenda

Both opposition leaders say they're particularly concerned about how the Liberals plan to rebuild the economy after the pandemic. The Yukon Party also plans to press the government on how the education system is handling life under COVID-19, while the NDP wants to see more help for a tourism industry that has been decimated by a steep drop in visitors.

The fall sitting comes after a longer-than-usual summer break. All three parties agreed to shut down the spring sitting early over fears surrounding COVID-19, although the opposition parties did so reluctantly and in exchange for some policy concessions.

During the summer, the Liberal government rebuffed opposition calls to reconvene the Legislative Assembly early to discuss COVID-19 issues, as well as concerns over back-to-school planning. The Liberals say the opposition refused to take part in informal briefings.

Meanwhile, in response to both the pandemic and its economic fallout, the Liberals rolled out numerous public health orders and economic relief programs without any debate in the legislature.

'It is going to be a busy session'

Expect the fall sitting to include plenty of opposition questions about those measures, plus debate on two supplementary budgets, for both the last and current fiscal years. 

Debate on last year's supplementary budget wasn't finished before the house adjourned, and pandemic-related spending has blown a hole in government fiscal projections for this year, said McPhee.

"All [departments] have been drastically affected by COVID and that's what you'll see for the most part in that budget," she told reporters Tuesday. "And then there can be questions about funding that's been provided by the federal government or other choices that this government has made." 

McPhee said the government plans to introduce legislation to ban single-use plastics and set fixed election dates. It will also continue with bills to ban conversion therapy and offer employment leave for victims of intimate partner violence that are left over from the spring.

"It is going to be a busy session," McPhee said.

The government has five sitting days to bring forward all of its bills for the fall session. It's also not yet clear how long the sitting will last. It can range from 20 to 40 sitting days (the house sits Monday to Thursday), with the most common length being 30.

It can run even longer if all three parties agree: the Yukon Party says it plans to push for a 51-day sitting to get to the annual limit of 60 days. It's more likely the sitting will run 40 days, though for that to happen, two parties representing a majority of MLAs have to agree by Oct. 14. That question figures to be a major test for each party's best intentions.