In reflection of the fall sitting of the legislative assembly, which came to a close Wednesday, Premier Sandy Silver said it was a “progressive” season for his government.

“Yukoners want their elected officials to do their jobs and advance legislation, advance relations, work on reconciliation, protect our environment; and that’s what we’re doing,” Silver told the Star in an interview Thursday morning.

In this sitting, the government passed seven amended pieces of legislation.

The Tobacco and Vaping Act was modernized to include e-cigarettes and new marketing laws, a social responsibility mandate was added to the Liquor Act and rules for solitary confinement were adjusted in the Corrections Act.

The government also passed the Yukon University Act, establishing the first university North of 60 in Canada, and declared a climate emergency alongside a draft strategy to reduce emissions in the next decade.

Silver noted the increases to legislation posed a challenge to staff and resulted in several days of heated debate in the house.

“It’s tough, it’s tough to get criticized on those pieces of legislation, but it’s so important,” Silver said.

“We’re not shying away from tackling those tough decisions, because Yukoners need that modern legislation.”

The modernization mandate will continue in the spring with changes planned for the Motor Vehicles Act and additional rules for off-road vehicles and recycling, he said.

In the 30 sitting days, the house saw divisive rhetoric dominate nearly every question period.

The government received intense criticism from opposition members on the privatization of the Queen’s Printer and Central Stores, the lack of a forensic audit conducted in the finances of Many Rivers Counselling Services, the nursing shortage in Watson Lake and challenges at the Whitehorse Emergency Shelter.

Silver said he worked to maintain decorum in the house amid the onslaught of criticism.

“I try to reflect on how I behave in opposition,” Silver said. “You try your best to listen to the questions from Yukoners, and try to get rid of the spin. That’s hard to do some days, but that’s the job.”

As the minister for Health and Social Services, the Department of Environment and the Yukon Housing Corp., Pauline Frost saw the majority of this sitting’s difficult issues fall under her mandate and faced the brunt of the criticism.

Despite suggestions from opposition members that Frost’s workload is unmanageable, Silver maintained that she showed strong leadership in this sitting, though he agreed she had her work cut out for her.

“To come in and try and do a mandate but also have to fix the things that were damaged,” Silver said. “She’s doing extraordinary work.”

He lauded her as a “national lead” on housing who brought the inaugural Housing First residence to the Yukon and improved the lives of children in foster care, as well as her expertise in bringing Indigenous considerations to budgeting conversations.

Silver said the work his government has done this sitting has been collaborative among all Liberal MLAs.

He said most decisions were made collectively and aimed to utilize the experience level of every minister.

“You see certain ministers getting the grief in the legislative assembly, but these decisions are made whole of government. That’s the interesting part,” he said.

Interim Opposition Leader Stacey Hassard told media Wednesday afternoon he was disappointed with the government’s performance in question period this sitting.

He noted that questions asked by opposition members were met with answers “out of left field” and lacking in substance.

“Ministers really truly don’t appear to have a handle on their departments yet,” Hassard said.

“We’ve had ministers on their feet on numerous occasions who have not been able to answer basic questions.”

Hassard lamented unanswered questions regarding nursing shortages, over-budget projects, the expected government purchase of the old Salvation Army building and the “cost savings” associated with the cut to Queen’s and Central.

“These questions we bring forward every day, they’re on behalf of our constituents and all Yukoners,” he said. “It’s really unfortunate the government isn’t able to provide us with something more concrete and it’s unfair to the taxpayers of the Yukon.”

Asked to assess the sitting’s successes, Hassard said it “was great to see everyone come together to support CBC” when the national network made moves to curb local programming last week.

Hassard said he will be happy to see the assembly take a week off for the Arctic Winter Games in March, thanks to a motion passed that will allow MLAs to be involved with the event,.

He also said the legislative tribute to the past summer’s passing of ex-premier Dennis Fentie was “a really nice tribute to a great man.”

NDP Leader Kate White said she was disappointed in the Liberal government’s lack of decisive action on a number of key issues, most notably electoral reform and the climate change emergency.

“The draft plan is a good step forward, but we think it could be more ambitious,” White said of the climate plan.

White noted she hopes to see movement on a minimum wage increase and upgrades to the Alaska Highway in future sittings.

She lamented a lack of action on the Sexual Assault Response Team, which was promised for 2018 but has yet to launch.

White also reminded Yukoners that though the government has passed a variety of legislation, those changes still need to be followed up with regulations.

“All these issues need to be followed-up on if they’re going to make a difference in Yukoners’ lives,” she said.