If the territory’s federal election candidates are experiencing any form of forum fatigue, they are perfecting their abilities to mask it.

The Yukon Conservation Society and the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society’s Yukon chapter hosted the candidates Tuesday evening at a well-attended forum on the environment.

Many of the questions have been exhausted at several other debates and forums in the city over the past couple of weeks.

The candidates, however, have not skipped a beat in sharing their views on topics such as Bill S-6 and hydraulic fracturing.

As Conservative candidate Ryan Leef was in Watson Lake on Tuesday, he submitted answers to questions posed by the organizations in advance.

The event consisted of several pre-formulated questions from the environmental organizations before the floor was opened up to randomly selected audience members to raise individual issues.

An international climate change conference will be held in Paris next month. Candidates were asked what specific actions they will champion to ensure that Canada works on addressing climate change beyond the Paris conference.

NDP candidate Melissa Atkinson called climate change “one of the most significant issues” the nation faces today.

NDP Leader Tom Mulcair, Atkinson said, is the “only clear leader” with the ability and experience to combat climate change.

Liberal candidate Larry Bagnell mentioned that his party leader, Justin Trudeau, intends on taking Canada’s premiers to Paris and having a sit-down within 90 days of the conference to develop a national strategy on climate change.

The proper approach to climate change, according to Green candidate Frank de Jong, is to reverse investments in the oil industry.

Proposing mitigation plans to climate change is one thing, he said.

Stopping carbon dioxide emissions at the source is the right approach – to do so would require shutting down the oil industry and not expanding it further, he added.

De Jong also noted that the New Democratic and Liberal parties are “finally” in support of a carbon tax, after the Greens worked toward it for 20 years.

The candidates were also asked for their stances on government cuts to federal science departments.

In his pre-written responses, Leef emphasized the importance of northern science. He first pointed to Canada’s large contribution to the International Polar Year global research program in 2007.

The formulated question, however, was focused on cuts made after 2008 (Leef took office in 2011).

Included in the question was the cut position of the prime minister’s national science advisor and squeezed department staffing to Parks Canada in 2012, Environment Canada and Fisheries and Oceans in 2013.

Leef later mentioned a new federal research organization, Polar Knowledge Canada, which he stated is responsible for advancing Canada’s knowledge of the Arctic.

“Science and technology form an important foundation for Canada’s Northern Strategy priorities and provide the knowledge necessary for sound policy and decision-making,” Leef wrote.

All three candidates at the forum expressed belief in the necessity of government decisions based on science and facts.

“We used to have evidence-based policy-making,” de Jong said, adding the Conservative government has created “policy-based evidence making.”

Atkinson also lambasted the federal government for “destroying data” and “muzzling scientists.”

Don Roberts, a spokesperson of the local group Yukoners Concerned about Oil and Gas Exploration/Development, addressed the candidates during the open question period – asking simply for their viewpoints on the practice of fracking to obtain natural gas.

Scientific evidence suggests that the practice is not environmentally cautious, endangering water sources.

“Any hydraulic fracturing project would have to go through Canada’s Strategic Environmental Assessment process to determine its potential impacts,” Leef wrote in response to the anticipated question.

Strategic Environmental Assessment, he wrote, is a tool used to make informed decisions for public policy that incorporates environmental considerations.

The candidates at the forum indicated they were simply opposed to the practice.

Though for the most part, the participating candidates had similar answers to the public and organization’s questions, they did jostle a bit when an audience member asked the candidates to unify in the electoral process.

De Jong said the Greens, New Democrats and Liberals all supporting a reformed electoral process is a “breath of fresh air,” but not before stating his concern that Trudeau might not follow through on his reform promises.

“He strikes me as slippery as an eel,” de Jong said, inciting laughter from the audience.

Bagnell took the mic next, reminding the crowd that he has not said anything negative about “any of the candidates or the parties.”

Among the repetitive questions which were met by the same responses regurgitated by the candidates, an audience member asked where, on a scale of one to 10, a nuclear crisis ranked on the candidates’ list of priorities.

In 2011, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant suffered a meltdown that was the worst major nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986, causing radiation to seep from the plant.

Last April, trace amounts were detected on British Columbia shores for the first time – though researchers insist the amount of radiation is not a concern.

The question caused the candidates to do a little dance, with not one of them rating the nuclear disaster on a scale of one to 10.

De Jong called nuclear power a “continuing horror story,” and something the Green Party has fought against for a long time.

Atkinson went back to the issue of scientific cuts, saying the issue is about “not having the availability of science and information to back that up.”

Bagnell noted all clean-ups are a “high priority.”

He then veered off into a different direction – putting forth to the audience that he intends to put forward a private member’s bill calling a national inquiry into causes of cancer.

“I think we can do better,” Bagnell said.

The candidates will tackle issues affecting youth at a forum organized by BYTE Empowering Youth tonight at Baked Café.

CBC North will hosting the candidates the following evening at the Coast High Country Inn.