The nearly $900-million budget the Yukon Party government is proposing to spend in the next fiscal year is lacking direction, say opposition MLAs.

The new budget would see the territory spend $696.9 million on operations and a further $202.7 million on gross capital costs (as opposed to the $120 million in net capital expenditures reported in last Thursday's Star; the remaining capital would come from federal funds and third-party recoveries).

"The best thing I can say about the budget is that you can't judge a book by its cover," Liberal Leader Arthur Mitchell told reporters last Thursday afternoon after the legislature had reconvened for its spring sitting.

The budget features a cover photograph set in the Tombstone mountains which, Mitchell argued, is the best part of the lengthy document.

"If you're reading it, you become increasingly disappointed when you look through it," he said.

There's virtually no additional funding for the public schools branch, with $74.7 million proposed compared to $74.6 million in the current fiscal year despite concerns from school councils over educational outcomes, Mitchell said.

Similarly, there are few changes for Health and Social Services with its operations budget up two per cent from about $205 million to $209 million.

Nothing is in place for promised increases to social assistance rates, Mitchell argued.

Premier and Finance Minister Dennis Fentie later told reporters the Yukon government has to go through consultation with other governments that provide social assistance (such as the federal government and first nations) on the proposed changes which would impact them as well.

"We're through that process and the minister (Brad Cathers) will be rolling these things out," Fentie said.

He would not provide a date on when that would happen.

"If you're on social assistance you're still going to get the same rates, near as we can tell," Mitchell argued.

Pending MLAs' approval, the budget for health services would rise by just two per cent from $82.8 million to $84.5 million.

There's virtually no increase for Whitehorse General Hospital either, the Liberal leader said, adding the hospital is already stretched in finding staff to fill vacant positions.

Meanwhile, many Yukoners continue to be on waiting lists for medical services Outside for everything from hip replacement to cancer treatment.

"They haven't put the money there; that's disappointing," Mitchell said.

More is being spent on office furniture than climate change, he added.

He noted work on the Watson Lake health centre is years behind schedule, and it will be interesting to see if the government can finish the new Whitehorse Correctional Centre by the planned completion date of 2011.

Mitchell was pleased to see the $187,000 set aside in capital for a License Practical Nurse program and an increase of four per cent in operating funds at Yukon College, continued support from the federal government for infrastructure and the $7 million set aside for the extension of Hamilton Boulevard to the Alaska Highway in his own riding of Copperbelt.

Hopefully, Mitchell said, drivers will be able to use the new section of road this fall.

He said he supports the intent of the proposed increases to tobacco tax in the territory if they're meant to discourage smoking, but noted he also wants to wait and see the proposed bill before commenting directly on it.

The changes would see taxes jump from 13.2 cents per cigarette to 21 cents per cigarette and from 4.68 cents per gram of loose tobacco to 21 cents.

"What I'd like to see is the government put some of the money towards assisting people to break the habit," Mitchell said, suggesting the government should subsidize some of the aids available to help people quit.

While NDP Leader Todd Hardy praised the proposed hike to the tobacco tax, he also argued Fentie promised no tax increases.

"Guess what? Another broken promise; however, I support this tax and I called for this tax," Hardy said, referring to a motion he made last year calling for a heftier tobacco tax.

The increase may be an indication that the bill for the proposed smoking ban throughout the territory could be passed this spring, he said.

While Hardy noted that it's good to see the territory going ahead with a licensed practical nursing program at the college, he argued there's very little else in the budget.

"There's a lot of re-announcements," he said.

There's also no mention of additional funding for shelters nor the proposed increases to social assistance rates, he argued.

A lot of the funding initiatives are part of conditions for money the Yukon has been promised from the federal government.

Hardy argued the territory is being treated almost as a colony again with the amount of money it is receiving from Canada.

"They're dictating exactly what they want," he said.

The territory would receive a total of $632 million in transfers from Canada in 2008-09, compared to $622 million in the fiscal 2007-08 fiscal year and $609 million in the previous fiscal year.

"Truthfully, what has happened under this government is the reliance upon the federal government to pump money into this territory has increased; and the ability for us to pay our fair share has decreased," Hardy commented.

The territorial government should be preparing, when the economy is good, for times when there is a downturn, he believes.

The territory is living paycheque to paycheque rather than putting some of its cash into a savings account for when it's needed, Hardy added.

The country is already beginning to feel the impact of the fallout from the problems with the sub-prime mortgage market in the United States and the asset-backed commercial paper market in Canada (of which the territory invested $36.5 million), the NDP leader said.

The Yukon is now more vulnerable to international markets than it's been in the past, Hardy said.

Fentie, who purchased a pair of Harley-Davidson riding boots for budget day, argued the territory is simply getting its "fair share of the national wealth.

"That's what equalization is about for provinces; that's what our territorial funding formula is about for northern residents," the premier said.

There's also been a significant increase in investment by the private sector since the Yukon Party came into office in 2002, he said.

"Our plan is working. The management of our resources, fiscal resources, is critical to building Yukon's economy and future, and that's why we've tabled again a very large budget."

The spending blueprint shows the territory isn't mortgaging its future, he said, as his new footware sat on a nearby table.

It took more than two hours for Fentie to deliver the 36-page budget speech.

"The main areas continue to focus on investing in building a better quality of life, protecting our wildlife and our environment, ensuring that we

continue to grow and diversify our private sector and economy and continuing to practise good governance," he said.