The first sitting of the 32nd Yukon Legislative Assembly has concluded and Commissioner Geraldine Van Bibber has granted assent to three bills.

An Act to Amend the Income Tax Act, Fourth Appropriation Act 2005-06 and Second Appropriation Act 2006-07 all passed through the assembly Wednesday as the 12-day sitting wrapped up for the year.

'I think it clearly demonstrates that the Yukon Party government has a plan and a vision and that the opposition parties are simply searching for a plan and vision,' Premier Dennis Fentie said of the first meeting of the legislature since the Oct. 10 election.

The Yukon Party received a 10-seat majority government when it was returned to office for a second mandate. It was the first time a territorial government had been returned to office since Tony Penikett's New Democrats were re-elected in 1989.

Fentie pointed to the $4.3 million in income tax cuts directed at individual Yukoners and the change of deductible rates for small businesses as examples of the work his government has done.

Fentie also said the government demonstrated its commitment to combatting substance abuse in the territory with the proclamation of the Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods legislation and the opening of the office directed at shutting down drug houses as examples.

The Justice department also introduced $1.4 million in funding for the RCMP to establish a street crime reduction team during the sitting.

The first round of projects from the $40 million the Yukon is receiving from the federal government for the Northern Strategy were released, and an agreement was reached through the Yukon Forum to see the split of the $50-million Northern Housing Trust.

First nations will be receiving $32.5 million of the money to build in their communities. The territorial government will be keeping $17.5 million to invest in affordable housing likely to be directed at first nations not living in their home communities.

'The list goes on and on and on. This has been a very good sitting for the government,' said Fentie.

The opposition parties, however, are not looking at the short period of debate quite as favourably.

Liberal Leader Arthur Mitchell said the Yukon Party government must have done little work over the summer months to prepare for the fall sitting.

'There was no reason not to come in with all the things that were ongoing,' said Mitchell.

The government still hasn't concluded work on the Workers Compensation Act review, the Education Act review nor the Children's Act review, said the Opposition leader.

He added that the governing Yukon Party didn't bring in any new legislation. The income tax amendments were simply building on previous announcements and bringing the territory in line with changes already mandated at the federal level.

'It's not because Dennis Fentie got up one morning and decided to give people a break,' said Mitchell.

The Liberals would have also liked to see the government address social assistance rates and challenges in the Yukon's child care system, he said.

Increasing the direct operating grant and the subsidy was something that was very doable for the government during this sitting, he said.

Acting NDP Leader Steve Cardiff said he also would have liked to see progress on the Workers Compensation Act review, which is already badly behind schedule.

Amendments to the Landlord and Tenant Act is another piece of legislation the NDP would have liked to see discussed, he said.

The government does a lot of talk about improving the conditions of the most vulnerable in society but did nothing to advance it, said Cardiff.

'If you're going to evoke a line like governments are judged by how they treat their most vulnerable or least fortunate, you have to move fast on things like SA (social assistance) rates,' he said.

The government has demonstrated it can move fast on addressing issues related to business, but puts up constant stonewalling on social issues, he added.

Many issues under this government appear to just be stalled, said Cardiff.

Countered Fentie: 'For the official Opposition to suggest that it all should be done in a week or a month or two months is ridiculous, and they know it. This is nothing more than useless political grandstanding.'

The Yukon Party will live up to its platform commitments as its five-year mandate progresses, the premier added.

Cardiff said at the beginning of the sitting there appeared to be a willingness from the government to co-operate with the opposition, but that diminished by the end of the 12 days.

'They talk about co-operation, but in the end you don't end up getting it,' he said. 'It's a lot more of the same tactics in the legislature.'

The government didn't allow representatives from the Yukon Development Corp. nor Yukon Energy to appear before the assembly, said Cardiff. It also refused to share information regarding the education reform project or the Children's Act review.

Cardiff added that the opposition parties were told that the supplementary budget would be small, not needing much more than the 12 days allocated for debate.

The budget, however, included approximately $105.6 million more in expenditures.

Mitchell agreed that the government appeared to be taking an approach with the budget to ensure the opposition parties weren't able to get through every department.

'It was very frustrating in that sense,' he said, adding there was very little opportunity for constructive back and forth questioning.

'This was a very difficult session to get to any of the details,' said Mitchell.

The Liberal leader further added that he found some of the ministers to be very dismissive of the opposition's questions about the budget.

'I'm very pleased with how our ministers attempted to provide in, every way possible information to the opposition,' said Fentie.

'But the overall debate is usually controlled by the opposition and the questions they asked. If you read Hansard, most logical people would scratch their heads.'

The legislature is not expected to sit again until following the 2007 Canada Winter Games at the end of March.