Budget to be tabled on Easter’s eve

The territory's 2008 budget will be tabled when the legislature reconvenes at 1 p.m. March 20, the day before Good Friday.

The territory’s 2008 budget will be tabled when the legislature reconvenes at 1 p.m. March 20, the day before Good Friday.

Premier Dennis Fentie announced the start date for the spring sitting of the legislature in a statement released last Thursday afternoon.

“Members of the Yukon Legislative Assembly will be considering the 2008/2009 Operations and Maintenance and Capital Budgets along with other bills during the spring sitting of the assembly,” Fentie said.

Interviewed Friday, the premier wouldn’t give extensive detail on what to expect from the spring sitting, but said the budget will be another large budget that ensures improved education and deals with the economy, environment and social issues.

“Stay tuned,” he said when questioned for further details on the budget and legislation set to be proposed.

Concerns have been brought up on the level of violence in the Yukon (recent statistics show a higher rate of violence compared to the rest of Canada).

Fentie, however, noted the government has been working to address the issue for several years by work through the women’s directorate, non-governmental organizations and legislation.

NDP Leader Todd Hardy is continuing to put pressure on the government to address social issues with this year’s budget.

As for whether the government follows through on dealing with matters ranging from homelessness to substance abuse among many others, Hardy said he’s not optimistic.

Recent statistics showing the Yukon has three times the number of assaults, sexual assaults and drunk driving offences as the rest of Canada shows the government’s neglect of social issues, Hardy said in a statement last Thursday.

“What these figures say is that the government is failing completely when it comes to addressing the social factors that cause crime,” he noted.

“Far too little is being done to help Yukon communities deal with poverty, the lack of affordable housing and emergency shelter, intolerable levels of substance abuse and the need for mental health services.”

The government, he argued in an interview Friday, can use its resources to deal with the problems facing the territory.

“They do have the money,” Hardy said, arguing the Yukon Party government has wasted “tens of millions of dollars” in the past.

The government needs to look at how it’s spending its money, especially considering the changing economic realities facing the country.

The territory is impacted by the economies of other jurisdictions like Ontario and Quebec, which are dealing with the fallout from the asset-backed commercial paper investments last year.

Hardy noted he’s lived in the territory long enough to see both economic booms and busts. It’s time the government start planning for how it will deal with a bust should it happen, he said.

“The Yukon is not immune to the economic realities facing the rest of Canada. We’ve warned the premier repeatedly that huge surpluses, propped up by federal transfer payments and the expectation of continuing growth in the resource-extraction industries, shouldn’t be taken for granted,” he said in his statement.

Hardy wants to see social issues and the economy addressed in the coming session of the legislature.

While Liberal Leader Arthur Mitchell has resigned from the public accounts committee, he said Friday he’s hoping he will get some answers in the legislature.

It’s clear, he said, the answers won’t come through the committee process.

It’s also clear that the government is losing financial interest in the investments which it has no access to, he added.

Mitchell is anxious to see how the investments could impact the 2008 budget as well.

He wants to see the budget address the problems around crime including the statistics showing the high rate of violence in the territory, affordable housing, social assistance rates and the new Whitehorse Correctional Centre.

In addition to the budget issues, there’s also legislation Mitchell expects to debate, ranging from the Children’s Act review to the Smoke-Free Places Act to the Workers’ Compensation Act.