Whitehorse Daily Star

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Rick Karp, Michael Pealow and Steve Geick

‘We’re very, very pumped for what’s to come’

Yukon workers and the business community are optimistic after the election of a new government,

By Whitehorse Star on November 10, 2016

Yukon workers and the business community are optimistic after the election of a new government, but are hedging their bets until the Yukon Liberals act on party promises.

The president of the Yukon Employees’ Union said he’s “quite pleased” to see the coming change in government, and hopes the Liberal party will follow through with its commitment to a more open and accountable government.

The Liberals vowed to review hiring and promotions practices to make sure they’re transparent, and to build capacity within the public service through professional development.

“They’re pretty general statements, and pretty Mom-and-Pop statements, but they identify some things that have been lacking in previous governments,” Steve Geick told the Star on Wednesday.

In the past, said Geick, the union struggled to get some issues addressed, including those relating to accommodations for people with mental illness and disabilities.

“Nobody likes to file a grievance or go to arbitration, but some of the decisions that were made were either ill-informed or just bad decisions,” he said.

Geick wouldn’t get into specifics because, he said, many of these cases are ongoing.

Too often, said Geick, decision-makers would settle an individual complaint and avoid dealing with the broader problem.

“Nine times out of 10, people were made an offer of settlement prior to getting an arbitrator’s award, so the behaviour just continues,” he said.

“Here’s the money, go away.”

Geick noted that, “without an actual decision informing the government about what they have to do, and that they are in the wrong, there just seems to be no need to make a change.”

And all these arbitration cases come at a significant cost to Yukon’s taxpayers, he said.

The Liberals also promised to amend the Yukon Worker’s Compensation Act so that it is presumed that first responders reporting Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) developed the condition at work.

This is an easy change and one that’s important to union members, which include EMS responders, nurses and corrections officers, said Geick.

“All these people are frontline workers that potentially, and many do, suffer from PTSD.”

Michael Pealow, chair of the Yukon Chamber of Commerce, appreciated the Liberals’ plan to make government, commercial and residential buildings more energy-efficient.

The Liberals promised to spend “up to $30 million per year” on a building retrofit program. The party hopes to secure federal funding for this, but does not say how much.

Pealow said that about $200 million leaves the territory each year through fossil fuel consumption, and that 14 per cent of that is used in space heating.

The Liberals’ commitment to retrofits will not only create jobs and opportunities for local businesses, he said, but it will also bring down the significant amount of money leaking out of the Yukon.

The Yukon Party had committed $100 million to building retrofits in its platform. That party also steadfastly opposed carbon pricing.

Carbon pricing in the territory is “an emerging issue,” said Pealow, and that it’s too early for the Yukon chamber to take a position on it.

“We understand that it’s coming, how best to use it is what we’re trying to figure out,” he said.

Pealow said there has been “an environment of uncertainty” in the Yukon for some time, specifically around the territorial government’s relationships with First Nations governments. This has done little to inspire confidence in Outside investors, he said.

During the campaign, the Liberals said building relationships with First Nations governments would be a top priority, if the party was elected.

The Yukon government must restore its government-to-government relationships and honour the final agreements as a first step to bringing business back to the Yukon, said Pealow.

Next, the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board and the Yukon Water Board must use regulatory systems to strike the right balance between “a business perspective, as well as an environmental and community perspective,” he said.

Rick Karp, president of the Whitehorse Chamber of Commerce, said a change in leadership is exciting. He hopes the new government will be supportive of local businesses.

The future of the Yukon’s tourism sector looks bright he said, adding it’s an industry that could be an important economic driver in the next few years.

“We’ve always felt that tourism should be much larger than it is right now,” he said.

All the political parties committed to making the current, two-year tourism marketing funding package permanent.

The Liberals also promised to increase the annual core funding for tourism marketing from $5 million to $7 million.

Karp said new initiatives in the knowledge sector bode well for the Yukon’s economy in the near future.

He offered the Cold Climate Innovation hub at Yukon College, (Co)Space, the shared workspace in downtown Whitehorse, and the territory’s fledgling startup community as examples.

“We’re very, very pumped for what’s to come in the next few years, contrary to the Conference Board of Canada,” he said.

In September, the Conference Board of Canada predicted the Yukon’s GDP will shrink 7.7 per cent in 2017, and said the territory had the “bleakest near-term outlook” of all jurisdictions in Canada.

The Liberals promised to overhaul the procurement process, and to do it soon.

Karp said it’s “absolutely critical” that the MLAs pass policy that will enable the procurement support centre to improve the procurement process. He also hopes the Liberals will work to increase local purchasing.

The Liberals took 11 seats in Monday’s election, leaving the Yukon Party with six and the New Democrats with two.

See related coverage election night photo spread and editorial.

Comments (8)

Up 2 Down 6

Hugh mungus on Nov 15, 2016 at 8:52 pm

JC. You sound bitter. Here, have a look at this. https://www.trudeaumetre.ca

June; you complain regardless of who is in power at any level of government.

Up 4 Down 0

Mark on Nov 15, 2016 at 6:48 pm

I'm just laughing at the two guys arguing what the polls say. Do you two guys actually believe polls to be accurate about anything? For starters, every poll ever conducted anywhere,vfor anything, is biased from the start. Do you two believe the term "independent" scientists as well? It's no wonder politicians can do whatever they want with so many weak minds to follow them.

Up 5 Down 4

Jc on Nov 14, 2016 at 4:50 pm

a on nov.10
I just gave you my source in my comment. Did you miss it? You gave the Angus Reid Sept. results, I gave you their Nov. results. Things change quite radically in two months. He's already broken most of his promises and the most he has done to date is repeal everything Harper legislated. How bright is that? Some bloggers are calling him the smiley photo op king. If you want my personal opinion, Chretien is still running the Liberals and giving him daily marching orders.

Up 14 Down 17

Josey Wales on Nov 12, 2016 at 6:35 am

Wow the union is happy, no s**t Sherlock!
They fund the left hardcore and are the best example of sycophants and the dangers held in blind faith.
What next an article about how much ISIS likes explosives?
How hard water gets when it freezes..or other brain dead parallels?

Up 19 Down 6

a. on Nov 10, 2016 at 6:52 pm

Hey JC,

I tried to find the poll you were referring to, but the most recent polling I could find from Angus Reid w.r.t. Trudeau was showing him at 66% approval in mid-Sept. Do you mind linking your source that shows this has completely upended in the last 2 months?

http://angusreid.org/federal-issues-sept2016/
"For comparison, Trudeau’s predecessor Stephen Harper never enjoyed the approval of more than two-fifths of Canadians at any point in his majority mandate. His peak approval rating – 42 per cent – came in December 2014:"

Up 19 Down 12

June Jackson on Nov 10, 2016 at 6:25 pm

I am cautionary in my views at the moment. I voted not to put someone in, but to get the YP out. It is much too early to start criticizing the Liberal performance.. they haven't even made it to the stage yet.

I would like to see the Liberals bring back the Yukon resident first policy. I know an Admin Assistant that was hired over the phone from B.C. No one can tell me that there are no Yukon residents qualified to do that job. Also, under the YP, if they hired a ADM, DM etc. from outside.. they negotiated for a 'cushy' job for the spouse. That kind of crap should come to a stop.

I'd like to see them tackle the Chronic Care program. 2 secretaries, one retired doctor, one pharmacist that hasn't practiced in 15 years get to make decisions about what medicines people can, or can't have. I'd like to fire every one of them. I'd like to see these decisions remain with a person's physician. If Doctor writes the script, and the person is eligible.. Chronic pays for it. Period.

I'd like to see them take on Whistle Bend. Turn it into a school or something and bring continuing care back into town in 3 or 4 smaller modules, and something built for every community in the Yukon. I wonder how many seniors die of loneliness because they were forced to come to Whitehorse, when they spent their whole life somewhere else. No family hugs, no friends to play a game of checkers with..nothing but loneliness.

I'd like to see support for the food bank and the animal shelter. The YP had 8 million dollars for a useless soccer track but not 1.39 for a can of beans for the food bank? $100K a year is a drop in the bucket, they should earmark that for permanent support to augment the amount of begging and fundraising the bank does. When one thinks of the sheer millions of dollars in government waste.. I wouldn't object if they wasted a few dollars on food for people and animals.

JC: Canadians should be afraid of Trudeau.. we will be 181 billion dollars in debt, with a PM who says.. "the budget will balance itself". No one thought they were voting for a messiah, the polls say voters were voting Harper out. If Junior keeps spending like a drunken sailor Canada will be the new Greece.

Up 37 Down 3

Highly suspicious on Nov 10, 2016 at 4:29 pm

Possibly Mr Pealow who knows how much money that is leaving the Territory for fossil fuel can tell us why gasoline is 32 cents per liter more here than Costco's at Grande Prairie. That's an incredible $1.45 per gallon for shipping 1000 miles. I don't know how many gallons a transport and pup can haul but that's obscene profiteering. Costco was 84 cents with all our stations charging $1.16.

Up 36 Down 36

jc on Nov 10, 2016 at 3:42 pm

Well, in about a couple of months from now, we will be hearing comments about the broken promises of the Yukon Liberal party government. Just like the federal government, according to the angus reid poll 75% already think he is doing a crappy job. Too many people always think they voted for a messiah, and soon discover, they live in a real world.

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