More questions arise over Yukon plan for Skagway dock

Opposition MLAs are raising more questions about the Yukon government's plans for the ore dock in Skagway.

The Liberals want to spend $44 million over two years to build a "marine services platform" at the site, which is in the midst of a redevelopment after a 55-year lease between the Borough of Skagway and the White Pass and Yukon Route railway expired earlier this year.

Premier Ranj Pillai said the project is vital to ensure Yukon base metal miners can get their product to market. But it remains unclear what, exactly, the government is getting for its money.

Yukon Party Leader Currie Dixon said Tuesday mining industry representatives have told him they're particularly concerned about a new Skagway ordinance that would require any ore moving through the port to be shipped in containers.

"Containerization requires a whole new set of infrastructure that isn't being contemplated yet in this marine services platform the Yukon government is negotiating," Dixon said.

"So if they're going to be required to install on top of the Marine Services platform a whole new set of infrastructure, then I'm not so sure that the $44 million is a worthwhile expenditure to give us access to tidewater. I'm not sure that it actually gives us access."    

Pillai said the requirement to use containers means a need for specialized equipment at the dock. But it's not clear whether the Yukon government would be on the hook to build that equipment. He said the Yukon would pay for the marine services platform, but the Borough of Skagway would own and likely operate the dock.

"That's not necessarily the role of the Yukon to be in that business ... We think that there's a private sector opportunity there," Pillai said.

NDP Leader Kate White has already criticized the cost of the project and suggested the government is cutting spending in other departments to pay for it. 

On Tuesday, she also questioned why the government is bringing forward the project in a supplementary budget and not the main spring budget.

Pillai accused both opposition leaders of being soft in their support of the mining industry.

"I have a meeting with the Chamber of Mines sometime over the next two weeks," he said. "I would be shocked if I walked into that meeting and the Chamber of Mines said, 'Stop this project.'"