Clarifying the roles of the Yukon Water Board and the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board (YESAB) is the Yukon Liberals' number one priority for the mining industry.

Party leader Arthur Mitchell and Don Inverarity, the MLA for Porter Creek South, revealed the Liberals' mining platform at a press conference this morning.

Sandy Silver, the party's candidate for Klondike, had been scheduled to join the pair, but was busy meeting with Eddie Taylor, chief of the Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in First Nation, based in Dawson City.

Mitchell did not miss his chance to slam Premier Darrell Pasloski, saying that his party "actually does meet with chiefs, unlike the Yukon Party.”

Inverarity said regulatory uncertainty — after the water board's decision in the spring of 2010 to reject Western Copper's project that was already reviewed and given the go-ahead from YESAB —is perhaps the most serious issue to face the mining industry in several years. This recent case, he said, shows that the boards are not harmonized and co-ordinated.

"In fact, it appears that they are at odds with one and other,” continued Inverarity.

The Liberals want to create what they call a process charter, or memorandum of understanding, between the two organizations to streamline the assessment process.

But Mitchell stressed the Liberal party is not undermining the water board's role.

"We certainly recognize the importance of the water board's role in protecting Yukon's fresh water and fisheries,” he said.

"We're not in any way disagreeing that they have the right to make those decisions, but those decisions shouldn't come as a surprise at the end of the day.”

Mitchell said that in the past several years, he's heard "clearly” from the mining industry that it's not opposed to following a strong regulatory regime.

What the industry is trying to avoid, he continued, is a dual process and paper burden where it's forced to fill out two applications with the same information.

The Liberal party is promising to continue to support the free entry staking system, the Yukon Mining Incentives program and the Yukon Minerals Advisory Board. The party would not increase royalties or fees on placer or hard rock miners if it wins the Oct. 11 election.

"Do placer mining royalties need to be looked at at some point? They probably do, but at this point, we're not going to look at them,” said Mitchell.

The party also wants to look at digitized staking — a way of mapping claims digitally with topographical maps instead of putting fence posts in the ground.

One of the biggest problems with the Yukon's current method, explained Inverarity, is people overlapping their claims and getting into legal disputes.

Mitchell said he's happy with the new resource royalty-sharing agreement. It gives the Yukon the same benefits as the Northwest Territories, and was agreed to by Prime Minister Stephen Harper during his northern tour last month.

"I obviously support the fact that Canada has responded and said yes, but we still are talking about hypothetical royalties because we haven't hit the $3-million cap to date.”

The party leader stressed, as he has been since Pasloski called the election 10 days ago, that it's high metal prices which are driving the territory's economy, not the Yukon Party.

In 2002, he said, the price of gold was $320 an ounce. As of Saturday, it was $1,810 an ounce.

"The Yukon Party doesn't control mineral prices, and neither do we,” he said.

"Sky-high mineral prices are the main reason we are in good shape today, and it won't change under a Liberal government.”