Prime Minister Stephen Harper has once again refused to order a national inquiry into the significant issue of missing and murdered aboriginal women across the country.

His latest refusal come over the long weekend in Whitehorse.

Harper was in the Yukon on Sunday and Monday as part of his eighth annual northern tour. It was his ninth time in the territory.

The PM re-announced funding for Yukon College's new Centre for Northern Innovation in Mining on Monday morning at Quantum Mechanics.

He then took five questions from reporters, four from national media representatives joining him on the northern tour, and one from local media.

A CKRW reporter asked Harper why the government chose to invest in the new mining centre when there's an evident downturn in the industry, rather than investing in social issues important to Yukoners, like missing and murdered aboriginal women.

The premiers have issued a unanimous call for the federal government to undertake an inquiry into this issue, as has the Yukon Legislative Assembly.

"It's our strong belief that there has been a lot of study of this particular issue,” Harper responded.

"We've taken a number of steps to deal with this and we think what is important is that we look for ways of taking action, and obviously not just for missing and murdered aboriginal women but more broadly, securing safe streets and communities for not just women and children but everybody remains a priority of this government.”

He went on to explain the importance of the day's announcement that the government would be investing $5.6 million over four years into the new centre, funds that were allocated in the 2013-2014 budget.

"My reading of the situation is, that what has occurred – I mean, obviously, there's fluctuations in metal prices those are normal – but what has occurred in the layoffs of one mine in particular really has been because of the lack of available labour in the Yukon and the extremely high costs, the additional costs, that are imposed on mining in the Yukon through the necessity of flying people in from great distances,” Harper said.

"We think that's why this announcement today is so important, to create the capacity to build up the workforce in this territory to lower the cost of production in the long run.

"Because this industry is going to be the driving force, the driving sector, in terms of development in this territory moving forward.”

Premier Darrell Pasloski said this morning his government is happy to be partnering with the feds on the capital investment for this project. YTG is contributing about $5.5 million to the project.

Pasloski reiterated the benefits Yukoners will see from the skills training in terms of jobs and, more broadly, as the centre becomes a leader in research and innovation.

The prime minister also confirmed Monday that he will indeed lead the Conservatives into the 2015 election, setting to rest speculation that this may be his final term.

MPs will also likely be returning to the hill later than usual this fall.

Harper announced he will seek his fourth prorogation of Parliament, this time in preparation for a throne speech to be delivered sometime in October.

Harper kicked off his 2013 northern tour Sunday afternoon with his annual barbecue for Yukon Conservatives.

This year, the event was held at the Northfork Taxidermy property, the home of the late Shane Buchanan.

He and his father, Chuck, were killed in a plane crash in June.

Harper thanked the Buchanan family for hosting the event. He also shared his and wife Laureen's condolences for their loss, during his speech to guests.

He went on to note the 20th anniversary of the Umbrella Final Agreement and to congratulate Yukon MP Ryan Leef on his 1,200-km run across the territory to raise awareness of diabetes prevention, before wishing the gathering a happy Discovery Day.

Harper used the remainder of his speech to highlight Conservative success stories over the party's past three terms in office, taking shots at the opposition at the same time.

The prime minister continued his northern tour in the Northwest Territories today.

He is travelling with Leona Aglukkaq, the newly-named Environment Minister and Minister for the North; Aboriginal Affairs Minister Bernard Valcourt; and Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver.

By Ainslie Cruickshank

Star Reporter