Todd Hardy and the Yukon NDP have a laundry list of grievances with the current government and the state of the legislature, and today virtually posted them on the door of the assembly.

Using the current U.S. financial meltdown as a backdrop, the NDP leader put Yukon Party leader and Premier Dennis Fentie in the "extreme right-wing" league of President George Bush, U.S. Senator John McCain and Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

"We're concerned about the financial turmoil, the impact on the Yukon and this laissez-faire attitude from (the premier)," Hardy told a morning press conference at the NDP caucus offices.

"And the premier's comments that you could've scripted from John McCain and Stephen Harper, repeated by George Bush and the extreme right-wing elements that have brought us this financial disaster."

Hardy has called for an economic summit to take place immediately, but said the premier has ignored his repeated requests.

"Fentie's position is that the proper place for debate (on the economy) is the legislative assembly," Hardy said, adding that stakeholders such as business, industry and aboriginal groups would be shut out.

Fentie's governing style was also on Hardy's hit list, starting with the guillotine clause, crafted during the Liberal government of Pat Duncan and ushered in under Fentie's regime in 2002.

While the legislative protocol gives the government the power to cleanly conclude sessions, it can be employed to fast-track bills without committee scrutiny.

At the end of the spring sitting, Liquor Act amendments were passed using the clause, in spite of protestations from Hardy that the changes, only in their second reading, were not afforded the proper amount of debate.

"The biggest problem with the guillotine clause is it hamstrings the ability of the opposition to hold the government accountable," said Hardy.

Today, Hardy called for "legislative renewal" and for MLAs to "work together" to bring back the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

He also blamed Liberal Leader Arthur Mitchell and Liberal MLA Don Inverarity for the PAC being left in limbo following their unofficial resignations from the oversight body at the end of 2007.

The pair quit because the majority Yukon Party PAC members voted against public hearings into the $36.5-million asset backed commercial paper investment, which has left other investors in the lurch to the tune of $32 billion.

To date, the assembly has yet to recognize either's resignation.

The NDP's lone PAC member, McIntyre-Takhini MLA John Edzerza, called the situation a "stalemate", and suggested the majority Yukon Party membership is playing politics with an oversight committee.

"They shouldn't be allowed to pick and choose what they hear in the Public Accounts Committee," he said.

When the legislative assembly reconvenes tomorrow afternoon, the global economic crisis, legislative reform and "phenomenal waste" on infrastructure spending will be on the NDP's agenda.

Speaking to his charges of wasteful spending, Hardy referenced the incomplete Watson Lake multi-care facility's "change on the fly" into a $36-million hospital.

He then lashed out at the partisan atmosphere of the house and committees that has resulted in "MLAs not doing their jobs."

During the press conference, the central theme of Hardy's criticisms painted a picture of an oligarchal scenario in the house, led by Fentie and propped up by the Liberals when it suits them.

"Let's put aside the Westminster system," said Hardy. "The public has called for a more non-partisan assembly."

Asked if the government is dysfunctional, Hardy responded that Yukoners are not getting value from their elected officials, who enjoyed substantial pay increases earlier this year.

"I'm a carpenter by trade, and if I only get three-quarters of the way through (a job), I'm sure I wouldn't get paid," he said. "We're falling short; we're not doing our jobs."

But in the current Yukon Party majority government, it is unlikely the NDP, with just three members in the legislature, will be able to get its agenda beyond the back-and-forth of question period's daily grind.

Nevertheless, Hardy said his party will hold the Fentie government accountable not only on the economy but on the environment, as well.

The NDP leader also called for an exploration and staking moratorium inside the Peel watershed until land use plans are concluded, and more robust investment in geothermal, wind and solar energy alternatives.

Currently there are no bills on the order paper and the government will have five days to introduce legislation it hopes to pass by the fall sitting's conclusion.