The people’s elected representatives will once again come together to sit, debate and declaim under a common roof this autumn.

Starting Oct. 23, the Yukon Legislative Assembly will reconvene for its annual fall sitting, Premier Darrell Pasloski announced this morning.

“Our work will continue in the legislative assembly, specifically, tabling the fall supplementary budget,” Pasloski said in a release.

“We will also bring forward a number of bills and look forward to working with all elected members for the benefit of Yukoners.

During an interview late this morning, the premier would not highlight any specific bills. He did say the government will table a motion on the first day of the sitting in support of the federal government’s decision to take action against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

“It is important that Canadians stand together to support the mission and support our troops,” Pasloski told the Star.

Conservative MPs voted Tuesday evening to take part in the U.S.-led bombing campaign against ISIL by sending up to 6 CF-18s and 600 Canadian Armed Forces personnel to the region.

Pasloski said upcoming territorial legislation would continue to “support our vision for Yukon, and that’s making the Yukon the best place in Canada to live, to work and to play, and to raise a family.

“After three years in office, we have fulfilled many of the commitments we made to Yukoners,” he added.

Liz Hanson, leader of the official Opposition, disagrees.

She accused the government of a “confrontational attitude” toward First Nations that could “create more economic uncertainty.

“This bulldozer approach — what I call the Harper approach — where you pretend to consult citizens and then ignore them is not working ... it doesn’t create the conditions for economic development.”

The Council of Yukon First Nations has threatened to sue the government after it supported changes to federal environmental legislation following consultations that included no mention of the proposed amendments.

Those changes, now before a Senate committee, would curtail the autonomy of the Yukon’s arm’s-length environmental assessment board and attempt to streamline the assessment process.

Meanwhile, the all-party fracking committee must report to the legislature by the end of the sitting.

Since it was established last May, the six-member Select Committee Regarding the Risks and Benefits of Hydraulic Fracturing has undergone 70 hours of meetings, 13 public hearings in a dozen communities and presentations from experts, industry and environmental groups.

Four recent hearings in Haines Junction, Carcross and Whitehorse saw nearly unanimous opposition from residents to the controversial method of shale gas extraction.

“The issue of the Peel hasn’t gone away either,” Hanson noted in an interview this morning.

The day after the legislature convenes, the parties in the legal battle over the pristine Peel River watershed’s future — often framed as one of protection or development — will clarify their arguments before a Yukon Supreme Court judge.

Affordable housing will likely be another issue raised by the Yukon NDP.

“Affordable housing is not there, despite what the government and the Yukon Party are saying,” Hanson said. “They’ve got some explaining to do, and the legislature is where they are held to account by the official Opposition.”

The government announced in June it would not move ahead with affordable housing projects following criticism from the local realtors’ and landlords’ associations.

Plans would have seen 75 affordable housing units built in Whitehorse under the Northern Housing Trust.

“They’ve been sitting on millions of federal dollars dedicated to housing for years while people are still struggling with high rent and low availability,” Hanson said.

The NDP leader also said home care services were “tightening,” resulting in more trips to the hospital for aging or disabled individuals whose medical emergencies could have been pre-empted.

“He’s accountable to the people of Yukon, so that’s really important, that we now have a place for the premier to do his explaining,” Hanson said.

Pasloski did not respond directly to his counterpart’s criticisms in this morning’s Star interview.

“The beauty of the house sitting is that we do have question period everyday and we look forward to hearing the questions brought forward by the opposition.

“We’re certainly disappointed that on a number of occasions, the opposition is deliberately misleading Yukoners,” the premier added.

Two weeks from today, formal democratic dialogue will resume at 2071 Second Ave.

The fall sitting will continue as late as Dec. 16. Held to a maximum of 60 sitting days per calendar year, the legislature’s 19 MLAs already occupied the assembly for 30 days this past spring.

All government bills must be introduced and given first reading within the first week.

The public is invited to attend the opening of the fall sitting, Pasloski said.