A request by the City of Whitehorse to extend the timing of municipal elections to every four years was given formal approval Tuesday afternoon by the legislative assembly.

Coun. Ted Laking noted the approval at council’s meeting Tuesday evening during the discussion regarding proposed resolutions to be forwarded for consideration by the Association of Yukon Communities (AYC). Its meeting will take place next month.

Laking, who also serves as president of the AYC, said the extension to the voting period was first passed by Whitehorse city council, then approved by the AYC.

The legislature, said Laking, gave third reading to the bill that extends the voting period to four years.

Community Services Minister Richard Mostyn told the legislature the move to hold municipal elections every four years will become effective for the October 2024 municipal elections.

“The extended term will give municipal councils the extra time to fulfill their obligations, to enact their strategic priorities, and, importantly, allow them to plan beyond a three-year term,” Mostyn said.

Terms went from two years to three years in the mid-1980s.

Laking said he looks forward to see what comes of the resolutions being advanced this year to the AYC.

Council voted unanimously at its meeting Tuesday evening to forward five resolutions for consideration by the AYC next month.

Two of the resolutions are co-sponsored by other Yukon communities.

The three resolutions being advanced by Whitehorse are:

• that Yukon Government conduct a comprehensive review of the Municipal Act;

• that Yukon Government review the Municipal Act for the purpose of allowing permanent residents to vote in municipal elections; and

• that the federal government triple the Yukon’s Canada Community Building funding.

The two sponsored resolutions are:

• Co-sponsored with the City of Whitehorse and the Village of Teslin: That the Yukon Government create a territorial “disaster financial assistance program” to help municipalities respond to natural disasters and better support municipalities with long-term mitigation projects to address the impacts of natural disasters and climate change on infrastructure; and

• Co-sponsored with the City of Whitehorse, the Town of Watson Lake and the Village of Carmacks: That the Yukon Government ensure meaningful and respectful consultation and advance notification to municipalities on territorial decisions that may impact municipalities, in a timely manner.

Coun. Kirk Cameron said a comprehensive review of the Municipal Act makes good sense, as it was last reviewed in 2015.

There is some wording in the act that has caused some confusion, and opening it up would provide an opportunity to clarify the wording, he suggested.

Cameron said there is no better time to talk about the need for a disaster assistance program, given another major mudslide that has again closed the Robert Service Way main artery – for the second year in a row.

“All of the municipalities are facing challenges of one sort or another,” he told his colleagues on council. “I think this is very good.”

Mayor Laura Cabott said at a landslide media briefing Tuesday morning that addressing the issue of slides along the escarpment will be very costly, and could reach up to $100 million.

Addressing the April 2022 slide, including the placement of sheet metal pilings, cost the city an estimated $3 million, of which the Yukon government reimbursed $2.3 million.

At this point, the mayor said Tuesday, city engineers and consulting engineers are working on an escarpment management plan.

They don’t have one yet, and there is no timetable for when it will be completed.

It’s expected most of the heavily-used roadway will remain closed for the foreseeable future, triggering morning and afternoon commuter traffic headaches on Two Mile Hill and its approaches.