A Yukon Liberal government would require its ministers to provide a public explanation when they decide to sole-source a contract rather than put it out for tender, Jon Breen, the party's candidate for Lake Laberge, announced this morning.

The Liberals are gradually rolling out their Oct. 10 election platform, focused on ethics and integrity.

As well as explaining why a contract is sole-sourced, a Liberal government would publish a list of sole-sourced contracts each month, Breen said.

'We want to see more use of competitive bidding because it provides the best value for taxpayers and it also ensures that all potential bidders are on a level playing field,' Breen told a news conference. 'That has certainly not been the case under the Yukon Party government.'

The Liberals are not proposing any changes to limits on how much a contract can be sole-sourced for. Generally, any contracts that are more than $10,000 are tendered out, while contracts that fall under that amount may be sole-sourced or go out to tender.

In some cases, sole-sourcing a contract makes sense and the government needs the ability to do that, said Breen, arguing that the public, however, needs to know why those contracts have been sole-sourced.

The reasons for sole-sourcing can vary from there being only one expert in the territory for a particular project to it being considerably cheaper than going out to tender on smaller initiatives.

Breen said there's probably about a dozen valid reasons a contract may be sole-sourced, but the public deserves to know the reasons for each.

'We intend to put people first,' he said.

He suggested the Liberals could add the explanations for the sole-sourced contracts on the government website which lists all contracts that are awarded.

Breen noted other plans already brought forward by the Liberals include developing whistleblower legislation with the Yukon Employees' Union; implementing ombudsman recommendations so there's better access to information and more openness in government; reviewing the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act; improving public access to government documents; restoring provisions for accountability in the Taxpayer Protection Act; permitting free votes on matters that aren't confidence votes; and providing 'meaningful consultation' with people.

While Liberal Leader Arthur Mitchell has been making most platform announcements for the party, Breen noted other candidates will likely be making more in the coming weeks.

It gives the public an opportunity to hear from the various candidates and will let the public see the part is not 'a one-person show,' Breen said.

Mitchell was not at the news conference as he was on his way to Watson Lake as part of the campaign.