The Yukon’s MLAs returned to their seats in the legislative assembly early this afternoon for the beginning of the fall session.

The party leaders were kept busy over the summer, going on community tours and touching base with constituents all over the territory – and giving a helping hand during the federal election campaign.

For Yukon NDP Leader Liz Hanson, the summer tours reinforce her drive to get things accomplished in the legislature.

“All of the time in the legislative assembly, we are in a bubble,” she told the Star Wednesday.

“It’s an opportunity to hear what issues are really of concern to people.”

From those conversations, a theme is emerging – Hanson noted many people’s belief that the territorial government has its own agenda, and does exactly the opposite to what the public wants.

It’s that belief, Hanson said, that has brought big issues to court such as the Peel Watershed land use case – still awaiting a final decision from the Yukon Court of Appeal case, heard in August.

The Whistle Bend continuing care facility is sure to continue making splashes during this sitting.

The project with a $26-million price tag for first stage of construction is still raising questions and anxiety in the territory.

Over the summer, internal documents revealed that the senior government employee in charge of continuing care called the placement of the facility a “nightmare” that will “haunt the government.”

To stir the pot further, former health minister Doug Graham told the crowd at a September town hall meeting hosted by the Yukon NDP that Whistle Bend was not his first choice for location.

“I agree with you when you say the location is not that good,” he said.

The confusion as to whether the facility will be 300 beds or 150 beds added to people labelling it as a “warehouse.”

This week, the Golden Age Society hosted its own consultation on the facility – met with more calls for consultations and people wanting Premier Darrell Pasloski to speak about it at a meeting.

On the other hand, the government has not said much to acknowledge the concerns of citizens, seniors and medical associations alike.

Just last week, a news release was published with the title, “Whistle Bend neighbourhood becoming a beautiful place to live.”

Another big question mark is the federal government’s Bill S-6, containing four contentious amendments which has led three Yukon First Nations to file a lawsuit against the government.

Yukon MP-designate Larry Bagnell has promised to take the legislation to the House of Commons “as soon as possible” to repeal the four amendments opposed by the First Nations.

“I would offer that this is an opportunity for the Yukon Party to extend a gesture of reconciliation by withdrawing its support for those amendments,” Hanson said.

By doing so, she said, they could ask the federal government to move quickly to change the legislation.

“And then, let’s get on with business. This has been a huge impediment,” Hanson concluded.

Liberal Leader Sandy Silver said the summer was a chance to speak to Yukoners about his slightly different approach to tackling issues in the legislature.

“We’re trying to show people there’s a different way,” he said in an interview Wednesday.

Perhaps taking note from Bagnell, who boasted having run a “positive” election campaign with no cattiness toward other candidates, Silver added, “You can be respectful and still get your point across.”

Silver’s number-one priority for this session is to provoke discussion on diversifying the territory’s economy, which he says is “under-performing.”

Getting more local people involved in some of the major capital projects planned by the government would be a start, Silver said – keeping money inside the territory instead of contracting to Outside companies.

Along with the economy, the Yukon’s energy future is continuing to look grim.

Over the summer, Yukoners were informed that the government’s Next Generation Hydro Project was several months behind schedule.

Another area of Silver’s concern is technology.

“We’ve been talking about redundancy since 2011. (But) we’re no further ahead in making a decision.”

The government has been in talks about building a second fibre optic link for the territory’s telecommunications network to achieve that “redundancy.”

Last month, after a widespread disruption to the telecommunications network, Pasloski told Yukoners to “expect” an announcement in the coming months about a plan to achieve that longtime goal.

While he was unavailable for a pre-session interview, he has previously noted several things for one to expect coming out of the legislature this fall.

“This session, we will bring forward a number of bills, including major amendments to Yukon’s Municipal Act and Land Titles Act, which will help make Yukon the best place to live, work, play and raise a family,” he said in a statement earlier this month.

The Municipal Act, last revised in 2003 and 2008, was reviewed beginning in 2012.

The review resulted in 11 proposed amendments, including one change that would allow city council decisions to be overturned by citizens who launch counter-petitions.

Other amendments were suggested to give local advisory councils more control in the direction of their communities and to give the act more clarity overall in how its written.

In the spring session, Silver questioned why the Land Titles Act was not on the agenda – even though the government had informed Yukoners that the final draft of the bill was expected to be introduced during that session.

Justice Minister Brad Cathers told the assembly the stakeholders advisory committee had specifically requested additional time to develop the legislation.

“We did agree to not rush this bill and agreed to their requests with the expectation that the legislation would be all the stronger for it when it’s tabled in fall sitting of 2015,” Cathers said at the time.

Speaking Wednesday, Silver said this session will be a matter of going back and taking a look at the commitments made by the government – and “holding feet to the fire.”

During the spring session, Silver’s motion to create a mental health strategy in the territory was passed unanimously.

He intends to make sure something goes forward on that motion.

“If we could get a strategy ... and show some leadership in the government, we are going to do so much better for our health system.”

Hanson is also holding out hope that one NDP MLA’s work on reconciliation will get unanimous consent in the legislature.

MLA Kevin Barr plans to put forward both a petition and a motion for discussion to make National Aboriginal Day a statutory holiday in the territory.

“That would be a concrete and symbolic gesture by this government,” Hanson said.