The Yukon Liberal Party re-emphasized its commitment to the mining and tourism industries today.

Party leader Sandy Silver and Mathieya Alatini, the Liberals’ Nov. 7 election candidate for Kluane, summoned reporters this morning to discuss the party’s commitment to the two industries.

Alatini is the former chief of the Kluane First Nation and also a former Yukon Women in Mining Champion.

“Mathieya has long been a strong advocate of business and industry that works in partnership with First Nations,” Silver said.

“She is an empowering role model for women who are seeking careers in their own back yard. She is the ideal candidate to outline our support for these two industries that are cornerstones of our economy.”

The party also vowed to focus on broadening existing industries to create a wider, more stable base for short and long-term economic success.

“As the MLA for Klondike, it is no surprise our party is a strong supporter of both the hard rock and placer industries,” said Silver.

“Unfortunately, we have dropped steadily in the Fraser Institute rankings as a good place to do business in recent years.

“The Yukon Party’s botched amendments to S-6 have created regulatory uncertainty, and its legal battles with First Nation governments have resulted in huge tracts of land being off-limits to mining.”

Only the Liberals have a plan to work with First Nation governments to rejuvenate the mining sector, he added.

“The NDP does not have the confidence of, or the connections with industry, especially the mining industry, to turn this around. We do,” he said.

“The Yukon Party has demonstrated it is unable to work with First Nation governments to build a successful mining industry.”

Alatini said one of the issues raised by tourism operators in Kluane is visitor tracking, or a lack of it.

“We don’t know how many visitors we have each year – full stop. There was a new system used for one year and then scrapped,” she said.

“We are back to counting vehicles as they cross the border, the same archaic system that has been in place for 30 years. We have to do better, and we will.

“Our plan is to convene an industry-led panel to introduce a modern way to measure and track tourism visitation year-round.

“By better tracking our visitation numbers and boosting our marketing budget, we think tourism can be an even stronger contributor to our economy.”

A Liberal government would :

• Examine the current mining assessment process to find ways to harmonize the Yukon Water Board processes within the Yukon Environment and Socio-economic Assessment Act framework;

• Ensure that the Mine Licensing Improvement Initiative is implemented via a collaborative approach with First Nations;

• Implement a Yukon Mineral Development Strategy;

• Ensure mine reclamation plans are supported by sufficient security;

• double the government’s direct consumer marketing efforts for a total investment of $1.2 million annually;

• make the temporary two-year tourism marketing funds permanent and raising the annual core marketing fund from $5 million to $7 million;

• examine options to develop a more competitive winter tourism industry;

• consider investments in government infrastructure from which the tourism industry can build businesses; and

• pave the Dawson City airport runway and make the necessary maintenance and infrastructure upgrades for all rural airports to enhance economic opportunities.