Liberal Leader Sandy Silver has called for the resignation of Brad Cathers, the minister responsible for the Yukon Housing Corp.

Silver aimed his first round in question period Thursday squarely at Cathers: “When is the premier going to remove this minister?”

On the initial day of the legislature’s fall sitting, Silver highlighted ongoing affordable housing issues in the territory and noted the government is still sitting on $11.5 million of the $17.5 million in Northern Housing Trust monies it received from Ottawa in 2006.

“The minister responsible for this funding has had plenty of time to find a way to spend this money and address an obvious need in our territory,” Silver said in his opening salvo. “He has failed to do so.”

The Klondike MLA also pointed to June’s last-minute cancellation of a 75-unit affordable housing plan.

“The minister assured all Yukoners that it would be the board of the housing corporation, free from political interference, making the call. Unfortunately, that is not what happened,” he said.

Silver characterized Cathers’ move as a “political decision” that overruled the input of the arm’s-length housing corporation board, which was working with proponents for the three rental housing projects.

“How long does the premier intend to allow the minister responsible for the housing corporation to fumble around on this file before replacing him?”

In his three years in the legislature, Silver has never called for the resignation of a fellow MLA.

Prior to the housing cancellation, Cathers had stated the ultimate decision rested with the housing corporation board.

Shortly after, the Yukon Party’s management board, with the help of “caucus input,” cancelled the project, thus overriding the independent body.

Yesterday, Cathers acknowledged his earlier statement was mistaken and caused by an “incorrect briefing note.”

“Mr. Speaker, a briefing note? Seriously?” Silver responded.

Kate White, the NDP critic for the housing corporation, expressed retroactive surprise at one aspect of the housing affair: “The minister did ... accomplish something extraordinary this summer: he was able to rally the chamber of commerce, the Yukon Anti-Poverty Coalition, private sector contractors and the City of Whitehorse to unanimously denounce his action.

“That is quite a feat, Mr. Speaker,” she said.

Cathers pointed to the more than $100 million the government has invested in social housing since 2008, including $53 million from the federal economic action plan.

White countered by distinguishing social housing from rental housing.

“We’re talking about rental housing for Yukoners who make $15 an hour and have to spend 50 or 60 percent of their paycheques on rent,” she said.

Premier Darrell Pasloski pointed out the government’s work with Kaushee’s Place to create Betty’s Haven, a 10-unit, second-stage housing complex for women and children exposed to violence that opened last fall.

“We can talk all day long of the accomplishments that we have achieved through housing, through investment in social housing, through the availability of lots, through the support of down payment assistance programs, through the creation of seniors’ housing — the list goes on and on and on,” Pasloski said.

“We are focused on ensuring that we get great value for every dollar that we do invest, not only in housing, but throughout whatever we do.

“The reality is, with the member opposite (Silver), is that he will find any excuse to essentially vote against all these projects.”

The government announced in June that nearly $1.5 million will go to the development of eight affordable units in Carmacks and Carcross — the two rental projects that were not canned this year.