Territorial party leaders are calling on the premier to apologize for four contentious amendments made under his watch to the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Act (YESSA) under Bill S-6.

Last Friday, Indigenous and Northern Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett was in Whitehorse to formally announce the federal government would revoke the S-6 amendments.

First Nations governments say the changes violated their land claim agreements and undermined the Umbrella Final Agreement.

NDP Leader Liz Hanson asked if Premier Darrell Pasloski will apologize for the “damage that his unilateral attempts to undermine (YESSA)” caused to Yukon First Nations, businesses and citizens, during question period in the legislature Monday.

“The premier refused to accept any responsibility for his government’s role in pushing amendments that violated the spirit and intent of the First Nations final agreements,” said Hanson.

“He continued to say it was Ottawa’s fault, but the responsibility is his and his alone.”

Pasloski once again shirked responsibility for the controversial amendments.

“(YESSA) is federal legislation for which the Yukon government has provided their comments and recommendations,” he said.

“The federal government now chooses to make further amendments to that legislation ... we will not be a barrier to those amendments.”

Hanson said that it was the Yukon Party government that suggested two of the amendments in the first place.

Indeed, when then prime minister Stephen Harper visited Whitehorse in 2015, he made it clear in front of a room full of listeners that the Pasloski government had asked for the changes outlined in S-6.

Liberal Leader Sandy Silver pressed the premier further to respond to the “mess” created by the four controversial amendments to the YESSA.

The S-6 amendments prompted three Yukon First Nations to take legal action against the federal and the territorial governments in 2015.

That lawsuit has been put on hold until the amendments are removed by the House of Commons no later than June 23.

At that point, it will be dropped, Chief Eric Fairclough of the Little Salmon/Carmacks First Nation – and a former NDP and Liberal MLA – told media last Friday.

“Ongoing court battles with First Nations and regulatory uncertainty have tarnished our reputation as a good place to do business,” Silver told Monday’s question period.

“A perfect example of this is the Yukon Party’s botched attempt to amend Bill S-6 or YESSA.”

“What role, if any will this government play in fixing this mess, one which this government created?”

Pasloski evaded the question.

Unlike Silver’s Liberals, he said, the Yukon Party is not hitched to any federal party, and “we will continue to stand up for the interests and priorities of Yukoners every day.”

The YESSA enshrines the process by which Yukon land is assessed for development.

The act is part of the Umbrella Final Agreement between Yukon First Nations and the territorial and federal governments.