The fall sitting of the Yukon Legislative Assembly began this afternoon and the opposition is already concerned about what work will be done in the house.

'(The NDP) has lost faith in this government to be open and accountable,' NDP Leader Todd Hardy told the Star this morning. 'On a legislative level, (the Yukon Party government) has done almost nothing, and that's a disgrace.'

Liberal MLA Pat Duncan agreed.

'This is a do-nothing government. What have they built?' she asked during an interview this morning.

'They need to do the hard work of government and they are running out of time and the public is running out of patience.'

Duncan said the Yukon Party has been 'less than co-operative' in providing information to the opposition about what's on the agenda of the house.

It's challenging for the opposition to be able to effectively debate legislation if it is not provided in sufficient time for review and preparation of responses, Official Opposition House Leader Gary McRobb told the Star.

McRobb said the NDP contacted Peter Jenkins, the government house leader, requesting that there be a meeting this past Monday to permit all parties to review the legislation and to view the order of debate.

Jenkins' office never responded to the request and did not attend the meeting on Monday.

A meeting of the three house leaders did not occur until 9:45 this morning, just hours in advance of the sitting, which began at 1 p.m.

'There's been no attempt at co-operation at all,' said McRobb.

'Keeping the opposition in the dark is a real step backwards as far as co-operation goes. The Yukon Party campaigned for greater co-operation. (Meetings of house leaders) allows parties to start to prepare their positions on the issues.'

The fact that the opposition has not had the chance to review any of the legislation that may be tabled today, which is expected to include the Co-operation in Governance Act and possibly even a supplementary budget, means today's sitting will likely adjourn well before its regular quitting time of 6 p.m.

Jenkins was unavailable to comment. He has been away at a health ministers' meeting in Toronto.

However, Yukon Party cabinet spokesman Peter Carr maintained it is tradition to adjourn the house early on the first day of the sitting.

'It seems a waste of the public's time to continue this practice, and it's time to consider a better way,' stated a letter sent to Jenkins on Oct. 18 from McRobb.

'It's tough to do business this way,' said Duncan. 'But behaviour we've seen over the last three years is not going to change overnight.'

Hardy said he hopes to see some 'really concrete examples' of what the Yukon Party government has done. As well, he would like to get some real answers to the 'very legitimate questions' asked by the opposition over the sitting.

Hardy added he hopes to see the Yukon Worker's Compensation Act review and the Child Act review be tabled. He'd also like to see some more balance in the government's approach to the economy and the environment.

Duncan agreed she would also like to see some 'answers from the top of the government.'

The legislature will be sitting with just 17 MLAs today.

An MLA for Copperbelt, to replace Haakon Arntzen, who resigned last month, will be elected in a byelection on Nov. 21 and should begin sitting in the house about a week later.