FARO The Yukon has four days to make up its mind on how to share the federal gas tax proposal, Community Services Minister Glenn Hart told community leaders here over the weekend.

Hart told delegates attending the annual general meeting of the Association of Yukon Communities that Ottawa has given the territory until Thursday to reach an agreement on how the funding will be shared among communities and first nations.

'I think it is imperative for us to take a crack at it, at least to try and get a deal by next Thursday,' Hart told AYC delegates.

Federal officials, he said, aren't interested in an agreement in principle nor anything other than a sharing accord signed, sealed and delivered by the Yukon government, the AYC and the Council of Yukon First Nations.

On the line is $37.5 million in infrastructure funding over the next five years, Hart told delegates.

He said if they can reach a deal on a sharing formula, he's been assured the money will flow regardless of what happens to Prime Minister Paul Martin's government when the Liberal budget is put to a vote Thursday.

If there is no agreement, he said, federal officials have indicated there is no telling what will happen to Martin's commitment to share the gas tax with Canadian municipalities.

Hart said the gas tax issue has been a matter of discussion for five years, with the prime minister making his commitment during the 2004 federal election in June. Now the parties have five days to conclude an agreement.

'We have to come up with a deal,' the minister emphasized.

Whitehorse Coun. Doug Graham, who serves as the president of the association, explained in an interview over the weekend that it was only a week ago when Ottawa insisted the CYFN be party to the agreement.

Prior to that, he said, the discussion on how money would be shared was strictly between the Yukon government and the AYC.

Graham said the association opened its position in negotiations with a proposal to provide the eight incorporated communities with 85 per cent of the funding and 15 per cent for the unincorporated communities managed by the Yukon government.

The 85-15 split, he said, reflects the population distribution among incorporated and unincorporated communities.

The AYC and the Yukon government had finally settled on a 80-20 split, but with last week's addition of the CYFN to the mix, it's difficult to say where things will go, Graham said.

He pointed out that Martin had set aside a portion of the gas tax money specifically for first nations across the country, but he does not know why Ottawa has suddenly insisted CYFN be included in the deal involving Yukon municipalities.

The association had formed a committee at its 2004 annual general meeting to look specifically at the gas tax issue.

Hart said this morning the parties were meeting today and could have something as early as tomorrow morning.