Good Friday marked the one-year anniversary of the Yukon government introducing the Midwifery Regulation into the territory.

The NDP marked the occasion – which they said isn’t a memorable one – last Thursday in the legislature.

“(Good Friday) will mark the one-year anniversary of the Midwifery Regulation coming into effect in the Yukon,” the party added in a news release. “This means it has been a year since Yukon midwives were last able to practise in the territory.”

According to the NDP, the new regulations require midwives to be registered for at least one year in another Canadian jurisdiction in order to practise in the Yukon. This prevented local midwives from practising here the day the regulations came into force.

That has forced Yukon midwives to take jobs elsewhere. The NDP said one has moved to Fort Smith, N.W.T., while another is practising in Vancouver while her family remains in the territory.

“It was clear from the start that it would take at least one year for Yukon midwives to fulfill the new requirements,” said NDP Leader Kate White.

“Yet, the government put new regulations in place with no real interim solution. This government is failing expectant parents.”

The posted salary for midwives is also far below salaries in neighbouring jurisdictions, White noted.

“The government is expecting midwives to practise outside of the territory for a year, come back to the Yukon, and accept a lower salary. It shouldn’t take a year to realize this is an issue,” said White.

She said much the same thing to Tracy-Anne McPhee, the minister of Health and Social Services, during question period last Thursday.

McPhee tried to shift the blame away from the government, saying there is a national and international shortage of medical professionals of all stripes.

She also said the government is negotiating the salary matter with the Yukon Employees’ Union, which objected to the idea of placing a rider on midwives’ salaries, rather than simply changing their salary category.

While talking to reporters, White said McPhee didn’t have her facts correct on that issue.

She said she had spoken to Steve Geick, the president of the YEU, and said the real issue over the rider was that the excess salary beyond what was in the collective agreement wasn’t pensionable income.

“That’s what the union is objecting to,” White said.

She told reporters that “Yukon communities have also been waiting to have birthing options closer to home, Whitehorse currently being the only place in the territory to give birth.

“We all recall the Yukon Party’s failure to provide birthing options in the Dawson City and the Watson Lake Community Hospitals,” the NDP leader added.

“The Liberals have had years to fix it – but here we are. No midwives anywhere in the territory, and no birth options in communities.

“It’s unacceptable to see families having unattended births at home because they feel they have no other choices,” said White.

Brad Cathers of the Yukon Party agreed with White on the issue.

“The minister is trying to blame anyone other than herself and her colleagues for the fact that when they put in place the regulations, they didn’t have a plan to actually transition into a model that would actually allow midwife services to transition to a regulated model,” Cathers said.

“They rushed it as a pre-election announcement and were more focused on the photo-op than the results at that time,” he added.

“They were prepared to tolerate a gap on midwifery services of some months, but in fact it has now been a year and that is going to continue.”

“Effectively, Cathers said, “all they did was ban unlicensed midwives from practising for a one-year period, creating a gap in services.”

Cathers and White said they know Yukoners who have chosen to have home births without midwives in the last year.

“They weren’t happy with the situation,” Cathers said.

“There have been some serious problems. I know one mother in particular who has had previous children with the help of midwife services, and was not happy she was deprived of the choice due to the Liberals shutting down the service.”