Premier Dennis Fentie has called upon David Jones, the territory's conflicts commissioner, to clear the air in the legislature.

Rather than tolerate any more of the Liberal's "wild accusations" of improper conduct by cabinet ministers regarding proposed amendments to the Liquor Act, Fentie told the legislature Tuesday he has asked Jones to look into the matter.

The Liberals point to a statement in the house last week by Jim Kenyon, the minister responsible for the Yukon Liquor Corp., suggesting he had extensive discussions with fellow ministers, both of whom owned hotels, regarding amendments to the Liquor Act.

Kenyon told the legislature on Monday those discussions with Archie Lang and Peter Jenkins occurred before the Yukon Party was elected to office, during preparations for the 2002 election platform.

At no time after taking office, he insisted, were Jenkins and Lang involved in those discussions.

The Liberals, however, point out that after seven years of sitting on proposed changes, the Yukon Party government is just now bringing forward the amendments, which include allowances for neighbourhood pubs.

It's ironic, Liberal MLA Don Inverarity has suggested, the allowance for neighbourhood pubs comes now, only after Lang sold his interest in the Watson Lake Hotel last year, and Jenkins has left the government.

"You know, Mr. Speaker, instead of the continuance of these wild accusations, the government has chosen to clear the matter up," Fentie told the legislature during question period.

"I have, effective today, formally requested that the Conflicts Commissioner look into the matter to provide that clarity."

Kenyon told the legislature Monday the proposed amendments to the Liquor Act did not come forward earlier because prepatory work needed to be done, such as developing and implementing the party's substance abuse action plan.

In an interview Tuesday afternoon during a break from the legislature, Inverarity said Fentie's request to the commissioner is completely off the mark.

It asks Jones to investigate whether Kenyon was in a position of conflict, when in fact it should be asking to determine if Lang was in a conflict, the Liberal said.

Inverarity said he will be asking Lang to stand up and clarify matters for the legislature. If the minister doesn't, Inverarity said he'll forward his own request to the conflicts commissioner.

In a seemingly coincidental request, NDP Leader Todd Hardy put a motion forward Tuesday calling upon the legislature to approve

the purchase of a lie detector unit for use by the conflicts commissioner in future dealings with MLAs.

Motions by opposition members have literally no chance of passing when the government holds the majority of seats in the legislature, as does the Yukon Party, unless the government supports the motion.

In a pre-election letter to the B.C.-Yukon Hotel Association in October 2002, Fentie, the premier-to-be, indicated the party was opposed to neighbourhood pubs because it would create unfair competition for bars who has to provide hotel rooms before they could get a licence.