The RCMP became a focus during question period Tuesday, the opening day of legislature’s fall session.

Yukon Party MLA Patti McLeod questioned whether the Liberal government will support directing more resources to the RCMP.

“Those working on the front lines recognize that there is a gap in what is required to address the recent spike in crime and what they are able to provide,” McLeod said.

“The RCMP have said that their resources are stretched thin, and they have stated publicly that they need increased support from the Government of Yukon.

“The official Opposition asked the minister in July to take action on this, and her response to us, essentially, was that her government does not think this is an urgent matter and that everything is fine.

“Can the minister tell us why her government is not treating the strained resources by our police officers seriously, and will the minister be supporting the submission that the RCMP is putting forward now?”

Justice Minister Tracy-Anne McPhee pointed out the most recent request from RCMP only came about after she asked for it.

“I have been working on this issue since long before the letter that the member opposite notes, having arrived at my office in July, which I readily and quickly responded to,” she argued.

“Prior to that, I had already been working closely with the RCMP. The government supports the RCMP having the resources that it needs in order to protect our community and to serve Yukoners in the very best possible way.”

After she received the letter, on Sept. 20, just under two weeks ago, an analysis immediately began.

“ .... as a result, that work is underway, and I fully intend to analyze it properly to make a fiscal decision that is appropriate,” the minister said.

That had McLeod wondering how Yukon communities will be kept safe while that analysis happens.

It was then that Economic Development Minister Ranj Pillai responded by emphasizing the government is following up on the matter. He is the deputy premier.

Pillai went on to comment on other issues that have been brought forward by the Opposition.

‘Political rhetoric’

He argued the Yukon Party is “taking a statement that doesn’t have a lot of truth to it, saying it over and over again, and then it becomes internalized with voters so that they really can’t distinguish between what is true and what is simply political rhetoric.”

McLeod responded that Pillai’s comment “wasn’t even a subtle deflection of the question.” She pointed out that front-line workers from the Department of Justice to victim services to the coroner’s office, are feeling the pressure of increasing crime in the territory.

“The minister’s response previously indicated that this wasn’t urgent and would be addressed during a regular departmental review of victim services branch and that the department would make short-term capital repairs,” McLeod argued.

“Regular reviews and short-term fixes aren’t enough for these front-line workers. They and the RCMP need support today. Will the minister commit to reviewing the resources allocated to the RCMP, victim services and the coroner’s office?”

McPhee said that the territory will “absolutely” commit to that, describing it as an “ongoing issue” and emphasizing the close work between the Department of Justice and RCMP.

“We need to ensure a professional, efficient and effective territorial policing service,” she said. “The process includes undertaking regular assessments of staffing levels and examining future resource requirements.”

That type of work also happens with victims services and the coroner’s service.

“The Department of Justice will continue to work with the RCMP through established processes, not the media, to ensure that resourcing pressures are understood and that opportunities to address these pressures are realized in light of emerging issues,” McPhee said.

“In order to have appropriate, meaningful conversations with respect to these matters, they need to — at least initially — be confidential, so that determinations can be made that address the issues that have been raised by both the department and the RCMP.”

The RCMP said early this afternoon they have nothing to add to the funding matter.

The police have had to bring in officers from other jurisdictions to help investigate the unusually high number of murders in the territory in recent months.

A 25-year-old B.C. man, whose name has not been released, became the territory’s seventh homicide victim Sept. 21 after he was shot near the intersection of the Alaska Highway and Wann Road in Porter Creek. No arrests have been made.

The federal and Yukon governments cost-share the policing of the territory.