NDP Leader Kate White says her party would tackle head-on the issues of alcohol abuse and deadly illicit drug use if elected next Monday.

The territory has so much strength, so much optimism, White said in her platform announcement on Zoom Wednesday morning.

“But our territory is also facing an addictions crisis,” she said. “In 2020, there were twice as many overdose deaths as there were in 2019, and with the introduction of fentanyl and carfentanyl into our supply, we’re on track for another crushing year where sons and daughters, brothers and sisters are stolen from us due to the opioid epidemic.

“Anyone who hasn’t noticed that our territory has a serious alcohol problem on our hands needs only to open their eyes.”

The NDP leader was joined at the announcement by outgoing Mayo-Tatchun MLA Don Hutton. He left the Liberal party caucus in early March to sit as an independent, citing a lack of commitment from the government to address the territory’s alcohol and drug problems.

White said the NDP would establish a safe supply line for clean drugs to reduce the reliance on potentially toxic street drugs.

It would also implement a safe consumption program where users can be in the company of staff qualified to deal with drug overdoses.

The New Democrats would establish a clinic to help those suffering with chronic pain to help manage their pain and reduce reliance on opiate prescriptions, she said.

The party leader said 36 Yukoners have died of overdoses since 2016.

Safe supply lines and consumption sites have been run successfully across Canada, she noted.

“We must not let inaction take any more of our friends, family or neighbours,” White said. “We have a plan and our plan meets people where they’re at.”

The Liberal government, she suggested, has done nothing to address the opiate crisis.

White said her party would also build an addictions treatment centre out on the land and establish a live-in alcohol management program.

The party, she added, will double the number of beds at the detox facility.

White said there is a real alcohol crisis in the territory which has stemmed from colonization, poverty, trauma and lack of access to good treatment.

The crisis is so bad the Yukon received an F in 2019 on the report card from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, she said.

White said hospitalizations due to alcohol use are skyrocketing.

“It is long past time that we take decisive action to curb the death and disease resulting from alcohol misuse in the territory,” she said.

Hutton is not seeking re-election after a single term, and in fact is helping to elect Patty Wallingham, the NDP candidate for Mayo-Tatchun.

“I know that a strong NDP team, led by Kate White, is what the Yukon needs to stop the hurt the addictions crisis is doing to the people we love,” he said. “So with that, I encourage you to vote for the Yukon NDP and make Kate White our next premier.”

Hutton said he had to stake a stand and leave the Liberals because the concerns he was raising regarding alcohol and drug use were repeatedly ignored, dismissed and went unanswered.

“I was elected to be part of the Liberal government (in 2016), but their time in office has been a deep disappointment to me and my community with their inaction on issues that our communities struggle with, in particular, alcohol abuse and addictions,” Hutton said.

“I know I’m not the only person who feels let down.”