A renewed agreement between the governing Liberals and the territory’s NDP provides for the elimination of no-cause evictions and eventual free transit service in Whitehorse.

The extension of the Confidence and Supply Agreement (CASA) ensures the government will be able to avoid a general election until 2025.

Meanwhile, the third party continues to receive support for its initiatives on issues like housing, affordability and health care.

The leaders of both parties, Liberal Premier Ranj Pillai and the NDP’s Kate White, announced the CASA extension this morning. The agreement had been set to expire today.

The new deal comes with new legislative and policy initiatives the government must advance in order to retain NDP support.

These initiatives focus on housing, health care, education, affordability, reconciliation and the environment.

Policies and initiatives from the 2021 CASA will remain.

The minimum wage, for instance, will continue to increase annually based on Whitehorse’s consumer price index (CPI).

Rent control, too, will remain in place, though it’s been modified.

Landlords will still be restricted to raise their rent annually based on the CPI, but that increase will be capped at a minimum of two per cent, and a maximum of five per cent.

More broadly on the housing front, the new CASA has committed the government to eliminate no-cause evictions and review the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act.

The agreement focuses on making life more affordable for Yukoners as well.

The territory will fund the City of Whitehorse to make public transit free.

The Yukon Child Benefit rate will increase annually based on inflation.

Those receiving social assistance will get a monthly $100 increase until a more comprehensive enhancement to social assistance rates is in place following a review.

In health care and education, the government is committed to spending money to recruit and retain professionals.

Over the next three budgets, $1 million each year will be spent recruiting and retaining rural education professionals across the territory, while $2 million will be spent annually to recruit and retain health care professionals.

Under the new CASA, a new walk-in health clinic must be opened by next January.

Last year, the government failed to follow through on its promise to open a walk-in clinic, so the territory is currently without one. 

The government will also work to cover expenses for fertility treatment and surrogacy. 

Investments in renewable energy, and commitments to co-developing and implementing updated mining legislation with Yukon’s First Nations communities are also initiatives outlined in the new CASA.

“The extended Confidence and Supply Agreement will allow again for strong, stable leadership to address the challenges Yukoners are facing,” Pillai told reporters at the Jim Smith Building.

He said housing, affordability, the environment, access to health care and education, and reconciliation are top priorities outlined in the agreement.

“Under the leadership of Kate White, the NDP has demonstrated a willingness to work with our government to improve the lives of Yukoners.” 

The two parties first signed an agreement following the April 2021 election in which the Yukon Liberals lost their majority in the legislature, tying the Yukon Party with eight seats.

The agreement allowed the Liberals to form a minority government without fear of a non-confidence vote.

In exchange, the NDP pushed policies and initiatives with government support, leading to the territory’s new dental plan, rent control and a supervised consumption site in downtown Whitehorse for Yukoners struggling with substance use issues.

“Since I was first elected, my priority has always been to put Yukoners at the centre of my work, to hold them at the core of my decisions,” White said today. 

“I hear from people who are struggling to put food on the table and to pay for housing.

“I hear from Yukoners who are spending hours in the emergency room to get a prescription renewed.

“And I hear from parents who are worried about their children’s education, and their children’s mental health, and who just don’t know where to turn,” White addded. “And I know that by continuing to work together, we can do better.”

The new CASA comes into effect today and will end when an election is called after the 2025-26 budget is approved in the spring of 2025. A general election must be held in November 2025.