The government's revamped Corrections Act passed with unanimous support in the legislature last week. But not before Justice Minister Marian Horne, often at the urging of her cabinet colleagues, had a chance to speak at great length on the matter - much to the chagrin of opposition MLAs.

"Let the record show that the questions are being asked (to Horne) by the government side," said Independent MLA John Edzerza. "(So) the minister is able to get up and read for 20 minutes in response ... this is just a waste of time."

Regardless, Horne continued despite Liberal MLA Darius Elias' suggestion that there were more pressing issues to discuss.

"As I said earlier, this is a good piece of legislation. We've got a $1-billion budget to debate, and I think we should move forward (with a vote) in the interest of time," Elias proposed.

But time was on Horne's side, not the opposition's. For more than 40 minutes, the Justice Minister went line-by-line through the new legislation.

Among the act's provisions is the ability for the minister to offload corrections services to a society, corporation or other entity controlled in whole or part by a first nation. The same goes for non-governmental organizations.

Other changes include a new system for earned remission, or early release.

"Under the current regime, inmates are automatically handed their remission time (one third of a sentence)," Dan Cable, the director of policy and communications for Justice, told the Star in March.

Back in the legislature last Thursday, despite indications by the opposition that they would support the bill, Horne seemed pleased to present each and every aspect of her department's handiwork.

"This is a very important piece of legislation. I'm pointing out parts here that affect the public," she said. "This is what Yukoners asked for; we are showing it is included."

But Edzerza wasn't buying Horne's explanation, and ridiculed her for wasting time.

"As the other members have stated, we've got a billion-dollar budget that the opposition wants to get to, and maybe the minister should have read this thing before coming into the House," Edzerza said.

"Let the record show it appears that the minister is the only one on the floor of this legislature who is questioning her own act."

When Elias attempted to stop Horne by seeking unanimous consent - deeming all clauses and title of the act read and agreed - government MLAs refused to agree, allowing the Justice Minister to continue.

After another 10 minutes, Elias tried again but to no avail. Then came urgings by his Liberal colleague, Porter Creek South MLA Don Inverarity, to heed Premier Dennis Fentie's advice that the government "move expeditiously in getting through bills and budget debates."

Nevertheless, Horne did not relent.

"As I said earlier, this is for people that are listening to the radio: 93.5 FM, as I understand, is a very popular radio station, and we are reaching Yukoners with our new Corrections Act," said Horne.

Not one to pass up an opportunity to inject some humour into assembly proceedings, Inverarity took his turn to reach out to radio land and even concocted his own handle for the brief schtick.

"This is D.I., your MLA on LA radio, 93.5 on your dial. I think that everybody here knows that this bill is supported by the whole House and could be passed unanimously here," began Inverarity before adding that Horne's performance could actually drag down

the ratings.

"All we have to do is deem all lines read and carried and we could be on our way. Can we get that done? Not today.

"Because why? This House is stalling, and that is all it is to it. So I'm not sure if people really want to listen to 93.5 radio."