The Yukon Liberal Party will be basing its campaign leading up to the territory's Oct. 10 election around five pillars of ethics and integrity.

'Honesty, integrity and high ethical standards are the most important thing a government can offer its citizens,' Liberal Leader Arthur Mitchell told a press conference this morning.

Mitchell will be releasing the party's platform points in regards to the five-pronged approach over the coming days.

The principles, however, will include:

• creating a more open, transparent and accountable government;

• creating partnerships with first nations to live up to the spirit of the Umbrella Final Agreement;

• finding a balance between the economy and the environment;

• ensuring quality of life and equal opportunity for all Yukoners; and,

• promoting healthy and productive opportunities.

Mitchell used today's news conference to announce the Liberals' plan to create the Yukon Ethics and Accountability Act.

The act will include instructions that any individual in 30 days of arrears on an outstanding debt to the government cannot run for office nor become a cabinet minister, measures to allow for the removal of MLAs convicted of serious offences and provisions so anyone convicted of an offence under the Elections Act cannot be a candidate for election.

'The bill would contain a number of measures to ensure that abuses that have occurred in recent years are not repeated in the future,' said Mitchell.

Independent Klondike MLA Peter Jenkins left the Yukon Party cabinet last November after not having paid a $308,000-plus debt in government loans related to his Eldorado Hotel in Dawson City.

Haakon Arntzen, who previously served as the MLA for Copperbelt, the riding Mitchell now holds, continued to sit in the legislative assembly for months after being charged with three counts of indecent assault dating back to the 1970s. He has since won an appeal and had a new trial ordered.

Mitchell said the notions of ethics and integrity in government have been a prominent concern he has continued to hear on the doorsteps of his riding, both in last November's byelection, throughout the summer and over the weekend since Premier Dennis Fentie called the campaign on Friday.

The Liberals are having their potential candidates sign a declaration stating they have no past criminal convictions.

Mitchell said he is unaware of any of his candidates having convictions. However, without disclosing names, he said there were a couple individuals who had had run-ins with the law in their youth related to bar fights and driving under the influence of alcohol.

'I'm not saying you can never have had a criminal record when you run for office; I'm saying if you are charged with serious crimes while you're in office, there ought to be a method for it to be addressed,' he said.

Mitchell added his party will also be addressing the inadequacies of the Yukon's Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

'Another part of being accountable and open is providing public the information,' said Mitchell. 'The public's information should be public.'

Information and Privacy Commissioner Hank Moorlag's past recommendations on improving the act have included:

• developing, updating and maintaining the ATIPP manual to make it a primary source of information and administration of the act;

• raising the profile of the records manager and striving for continual staffing;

• creating an annual reporting process;

• developing a performance measurement to see to what extent the act is understood and put into practice;

• providing better funding and training for ATIPP co-ordinators; and

• encouraging departments to make records more readily available to the public.

Moorlag has also recommended legislative changes that included clarifying the burden of proof provisions, removing the time limit for asking for a review, correcting a power imbalance between government and individual applicants, permitting fee waivers when disclosure is in the public interest and requiring periodic reviews of the act.

But one of the most important aspects that is still in need of examination is the definition of public bodies, said Moorlag.

The current definition of public body is limited to the Yukon government departments.

The definition is problematic, because it doesn't include the Yukon Workers' Compensation Health and Safety Board, the Yukon Utilities Board, the Yukon Mental Health Review Board and the Yukon Public Service Staff Relations Board.

Mitchell said the Liberal party is committed to addressing the changes needed in ATIPP legislation differently than the governing Yukon Party.

Highways and Public Works Minister Glenn Hart called off the review of ATIPP indefinitely last May. He said the territory would wait to see how other jurisdictions in Canada addressed their legislation before moving forward.

'The current government started down the path and then came back and simply said it was too difficult. They abandoned it,' said Mitchell. 'Sometimes you have to lead; you can't only follow.'

Ensuring the decision-making process of government is open and that public information is readily available is a way to improve people's confidence in government, he said.

'I believe you have to set the tone at the top,' he added.

'MLAs must recognize they are working for Yukoners and decisions must be made in a fair and transparent manner.'

Mitchell intends to announce the Liberals' plans on some of the other pillars of the party's platform when he speaks at a Whitehorse Chamber of Commerce luncheon tomorrow.