A former estranged territorial cabinet minister says he was very careful while in office not to discuss matters he may have had a personal interest in.

Peter Jenkins, owner of the Eldorado Hotel in Dawson City, told the Star Monday he went to great lengths to avoid any perception of a conflict of interest.

The official Opposition is suggesting to the legislature that members of the Yukon Party cabinet may have been in a conflict of interest with discussions surrounding proposed amendments to the Liquor Act.

In a press release last week, the Liberals point out amendments to the legislation tabled last week come only after cabinet minister Archie Lang had sold his interest in the Watson Lake Hotel, and Jenkins is no longer in political office.

The proposed amendments allow for neighbourhood pubs, and remove the requirement to have rooms for rent to get a licence for a bar.

The Liberals noted that last week, Jim Kenyon, the minister responsible for the Yukon Liquor Corp., told the house he had lengthy discussions with Lang and Jenkins regarding proposed amendments to the Liquor Act.

Kenyon told the legislature yesterday the discussions with his cabinet colleagues took place before the Yukon Party was elected to government in late 2002.

"I would remind the member that we were not elected at that time," Kenyon explained during question period. "We weren't members of this House; we weren't ministers.

"The discussions occurred during the development of our platform, and actually only occurred because I had a personal interest in the Liquor Act.

It has been a matter of great interest to my constituents in Porter Creek North."

At no time did any of the cabinet ministers with an interest in the amendments take part in any discussions, Kenyon said.

"Are we to believe that the six-year delay in bringing forward these changes to the Liquor Act had nothing to do with the backroom conversations that this minister had with his political colleagues?" asked Liberal MLA Don Inverarity.

He said it's accepted that neighbourhood pubs would dilute revenue streams for existing bars, and the ministers involved with discussions in amendments to the act would be affected by the proposed changes.

Inverarity has pointed out the Yukon Party has for six years sat on the proposed amendments crafted by the former Liberal government in 2001, as a result of a public consultation process.

Only after Lang is out of the hotel business, and Jenkins is out of the government, does the allowance for neighbourhood pubs come forward, the Liberals have emphasized.

Jenkins said he and Kenyon often spoke about many issues when Kenyon would visit Dawson as a practising veterinarian prior to life in government, and the proposed amendments to the Liquor Act were likely among them.

After the Yukon Party's rise to power in 2002, "I stayed away from everything, like the Plague, that I had any personal interest in," Jenkins said by phone from the Eldorado.

"I never discussed it, I was pretty thorough in that regard."

There was no response from Lang's office to a request for an interview.

In a counter-offensive Monday, Kenyon suggested it was Mitchell who should perhaps resign over conflict of interest infractions, as it is Mitchell who owns two local hotels, both of which have liquor licences.

In a quick retort, Mitchell pointed out his declaration of business interests on file with the legislature show him as a tiny shareholder in Northern Vision, with no decision-making ability. Kenyon, he said, was misrepresenting the facts to the house.

Northern Vision owns the Gold Rush Inn and the High Country Inn.

"We are not talking about percentages here; we're talking about being honest with the Yukon public," Kenyon said.

"Poppycock," was Inverarity's response to the minister's slight of the Liberal leader

"Last week, the minister admitted that when the government looked at changes to the Liquor Act, the two ministers who owned hotels at the time were part of those discussions.

"He also told a local radio station he had discussions with another hotel owner who happened to be the Yukon Party campaign manager."