Three motions were put before 12 students participating in the youth parliament at the Yukon Legislative Assembly on Friday.

Taking turns sitting on the government and opposition sides of the house, the teenagers became animated as several of the territory's MLAs looked on.

The first motion of the day suggested increasing the minimum wage in the territory to $10 an hour.

The move would reflect the rising cost in living and higher expenses related to the price of fuel, said David Giesbrecht, a Watson Lake Secondary School student in the government benches. He added many of the Yukon's neighbouring provinces and territories have a higher base-rate of pay.

It's predominantly students who work in the Yukon's minimum wage positions, argued Stephanie Stone of Watson Lake.

'Students need to keep up with the prices of every day things,' said Stone. 'Students are barely making enough to get what they need.'

It is a change of focus to youth training, agreed government member Dan MacKenzie, an F.H. Collins Secondary School student from Marsh Lake.

'It will encourage youth to find jobs and give them knowledge,' said MacKenzie. 'It will help youth find their path in life.'

The opposition members of the house, however, didn't support the motion. They argued that increasing the minimum wage could result in the Yukon's smaller businesses also raising their prices to make ends meet.

'This will be a burden on small businesses,' said Shawn Gillespie of Robert Service School in Dawson City, 'and it could result in more people having to work part-time jobs.'

Gillespie said if the government really wanted to encourage more students to enter the workforce, it should eliminate taxation on those under 18.

MacKenzie countered that argument by stating many people in the territory working for minimum wages are over the age of 18.

The motion is about fair exchange for labour, said Stone.

'Youth deserve the same treatment as anyone else,' she said. 'They don't need to be paid the same as adults, but everyone needs to be paid fairly.'

In the second motion, the youth were asked to debate the idea of putting a limit on the amount of vehicle fuel Yukoners could purchase in a calendar year as a way of combatting climate change.

Living in the North, Yukoners most acutely feel the impacts of climate change and should do their bit to ease the problem, said Jason Lane, a second-year participant in the youth parliament and a Vanier Catholic Secondary School student.

But Stone said the territory simply doesn't have the resources to implement this kind of policy and if it tried, the impacts on local industry, such as mining and tourism, could be staggering.

As the son of a miner, Gillespie said he understood how important a steady supply of fuel is in the Klondike.

He put forward an amendment stating the policy would exclude companies operating on the basis of large amounts of fuel and be limited to families.

Giesbrecht stood and asked the government to provide a clarification on the exclusions so emergency vehicles and any type of vehicle used for tourism would also not be affected by the fuel rationing system.

Stone asked how the policy would be applied to hunters, trappers, snowmobilers and pilots.

'As many exclusions will be taken as needed for the benefit of the Yukon,' said Lane.

Giesbrecht, however, also questioned with the need for so many exclusions was there really a point to the motion?

With the way the government proposed the policy, it would almost require an individual assessment of every individual in the territory, said MacKenzie. He added that within the system, the government must consider people living outside of Whitehorse.

Gas-guzzling RVs and tourists ramping up the territory's population numbers in the summer months likely have a larger impact than individual Yukoners do, argued Giesbrecht. The government, however, said the rationing wouldn't be applied to out-of-territory visitors.

'This is something that should be dealt with in the House of Commons,' said Giesbrecht. 'Let them put on the limits.'

The impact of Yukoners on green house gas emissions is negligible, Giesbrecht added. It should be the provinces that take the lead in finding solutions, he said.

'Yukon should lead by setting the example,' countered Lane. 'We should work on what we can do and not what everyone else should do.'

The government simply hasn't done its homework on the proposed policy, said Stone.

'They aren't providing a proper system of how it will be regulated. They haven't thought of what this all means,' she said. 'They can write it down but do they really understand it?'

The government side's entire approach on pushing through the motion smacked of arrogance, said Mckayla Morgan of F.H. Collins.

'They're just running around in circles. They can't answer the questions.'

'How convenient that they don't have to think the whole thing through before putting it into effect,' said MacKenzie.

No amount of amending could even make the motion usable, said Stone, adding the entire proposal seemed like a frivolous use of money that would be better spent elsewhere.

In the third motion of the day, the students were asked to debate if the Department of Education should give a higher priority to trades training when funding post-secondary education.

The youth quickly amended the motion to include reference to the importance of traditional academics as well and to indicate that funding for education outside of the trades would still be supported.

Both sides of the house acknowledged the importance of the trades in the territory.

'Scientists think it, engineers design it and trades people build it,' said Giesbrecht.

It would be a great thing for the territory to have more trained trades people, he said.

MacKenzie said better trades programming in the Yukon would likely encourage more young people to stay in the territory. There are huge numbers of jobs and money going untapped because of a lack of individuals with skilled trades, he said.

Shaylea Sembsmoen, a St. Elias Community School student in Haines Junction, said she was concerned an overemphasis on the trades may cause some teenagers to take their academics less seriously or see getting a university education as undesirable.

Lane said trades training already exists in the territory; it is simply underfunded, and that should be the issue being discussed.

It's interesting to watch the young people debate relevant issues, said Liberal Leader Arthur Mitchell. It shows that solid arguments can be made in a to-the-point way that doesn't eat up the time like many MLAs do in the house while debating motions.

Liberal MLA Eric Fairclough agreed it was refreshing to listen to the teenagers who weren't strictly speaking from neat little message boxes.

'It's an open debate,' said Fairclough. 'There's a lot more freedom.'

NDP MLA Steve Cardiff said the youth parliament provides the students with a good opportunity to learn how to debate while forming their own opinions and standing by them.

It's important for young people to think about how they feel about certain issues and figure out what they believe in, said Cardiff.

'The topics are valid and obviously something that's on their minds. It's interesting to hear their perspectives,' he said.

Cabinet minister Brad Cathers said it's a good experience for the youth to see the challenges and frustrations involved in debating in the legislative assembly.

'It helps enhance their understanding of how the system runs,' said Cathers.

The three-day young parliamentarian program is delivered as part of the Speaker's education outreach program.

This year's running was the second time the parliament has convened under the direction of Speaker Ted Staffen.

Prior to its reinstatement last year, the program, which has previously attracted the likes of Shayne Fairman, Dan Cable and Mike McLarnon, had lapsed for 16 years.

The whole point of the program is legislators educating the territory's future leaders, said Staffen.

Beyond having the opportunity to sit in the seats of the assembly, students also take part in team-building exercises, learn about legislature procedure, meet with the political parties, get a history of the Yukon's constitutional development and hear presentations from the media on coverage of the legislature.

'It's important for them to understand how precious our system is and it actually works,' said Staffen.

All three motions ended with a vote tied six yea and six nay.