“Same old budget, same old problems,” according to Yukon Party Leader Currie Dixon.

“The only thing that increased in this budget is the net debt and the word count in the budget address.”

The Yukon government’s proposed 2024-25 budget, at $2.08 billion, is the largest ever.

And the same is true of the net debt, estimated at $488.8 million.

(Department of Finance officials noted earlier that net debt is not just borrowed cash but tangible capital assets, such as pension funds and government-owned buildings.)

“The reckless spending by the Liberal-NDP coalition will have negative long-term consequences for the territory,” said Finance critic Brad Cathers. The historic level of net debt is “bleeding the Yukon dry of money.”

The Yukon Party accused the government of “chronic underfunding” of Yukon hospitals, saying there is a $14.3-million drop in operational funding proposed for 2024-25 than last.

(The numbers are in dispute: the government says there will be an additional $15.3 million for the Yukon Hospital Corp., for a total of $110.4 million in O&M and $5.07 in capital spending.)

Speaking with reporters after the budget speech, Dixon said health care funding can be increased and debt reduced if different choices were made.

Cuts suggested

“There are lots of things that could be cut,” he said.

“For one, the $1-million handout to landlords last year, I disagree with. Flying a piano to the top of a mountain for $100,000 is a questionable use of money,” he said, referring to a project planned this summer in southwest Yukon.

“The list of issues where I think there is misspending is long,” Dixon said.

“The areas where we need to see more investment is in our health care system, and we don’t see it in this budget.”

Dixon slammed the $9.4 million for the new health authority: “I think it’s a terrible misappropriation of resources.

“Not a single one of those FTEs is a frontline worker – doctor, nurse, medical imaging technician. The idea that the health authority is going to solve the problems of our system, it’s a waste of money ….”

There were things Dixon liked in the budget too, noting that he had only just seen the budget a few hours earlier and needed time to go through it thoroughly and review it with stakeholders.

He commended the $3.2 million for improvements to RCMP detachments and the extra $2 million for new staff.

“The Yukon Party called last year on the Yukon government to increase funding to provide additional front line officers to reflect the challenging situation with crime in the territory,” Dixon noted.

“I was pleased to see, on the health human resources front, that they seem to have invested additional funding in the recruitment of physicians, which is something we have been calling for for years now.”

Reconciliation plans praised

Dixon also had kind words for the budget’s plans for reconciliation.

“The government has done well with advancing reconciliation over the past few years; it was a wise decision to get the Yukon Forum happening again,” he said.

“My first glance is that reconciliation is being well-supported.”

(The budget includes almost $8 million for culturally appropriate services, a micro- funding program for Indigenous artists, actions on missing and murdered Indigenous women, and practising effective land management.)

The good does not outweigh the bad, however.

“We remain very concerned about the lack of attention to our electricity grid,” Dixon said.

“There is no new investment in dependable capacity, even after the outage we had just a few weeks ago when the Aishihik plant went down and the reliance we have on rented diesel generators was thrust into the windowsill for all Yukoners to see.”

He criticized the on-again off-again Skagway ore dock project, suggesting the cancellation of the $21-million project was key to avoiding a deficit in last year’s spending.

The $50-million contingency fund should not be used for unexpected health care costs, in addition to fire and flood emergency costs, Dixon said.

“If they know the hospital is underfunded, they should not try to pick it up with the wildfire budget.”

And while Finance Minister Sandy Silver didn’t say the government would raise property taxes on rural Yukoners, in his budget speech he mentioned that the Association of Yukon Communities has asked him to.

“I don’t know why this government is so obsessed with increasing property taxes in rural Yukon; they’ve brought it up a number of times,” Dixon said. “I wouldn’t agree with raising taxes on rural Yukoners.

“We need a government who will responsibly manage the territory’s spending, like Yukoners who make tough choices every day due to the increased cost of living.”