Premier Darrell Pasloski will be returning home to Whitehorse after a multi-day conference for all of Canada’s premiers in St. John’s.

In an interview at the end of the conference on Friday, Pasloski spoke of several big strides made by premiers at this year’s meeting.

“The primary driver for Canada’s premiers is always the economy,” Pasloski told the Star.

Infrastructure, he said, is always very important– not just in terms of job creation, but also in building roads, bridges, subways and power lines, for example.

All economical discussions aside, the 13 premiers released a national energy strategy – something Pasloski said they had been working on for about eight years.

The strategy provides a foundation for the provinces and territories to work together on energy priorities, emphasizing support for both project development and emission cuts.

A news release detailing the energy strategy states that with the strategy, each jurisdiction will be better positioned to identify opportunities to develop, transport and transmit energy while encouraging the transition to smaller carbon footprint.

Though discussing the strategy had some tense moments, Pasloski said that it was a great example of people coming together and labouring through each others’ differences.

“If you were a fly on the wall, it’d be difficult to sit and watch and pick out each political party in each area,” he said.

“Coming through all of the differences and priorities that each province has, (and) to be able to come out with a national strategy, shows how everyone can work through that.”

He also noted that the Yukon’s current energy and climate change strategies “really mesh well” with the national energy strategy.

Another highlight for Pasloski, as a co-chair of the Health Care Innovation Working Group, was being able to provide the premiers with a report detailing significant savings in pharmaceutical drug prices.

Negotiations for both brand-name and generic drug pricing initiatives resulted in a combined savings of about $490 million for Canadian taxpayers.

The premiers also held a meeting with the nation’s Aboriginal leaders to discuss the Truth and Reconciliation Report that was released at the beginning of June.

In addition to updating other premiers on the Yukon’s progress with the report’s recommendations – which includes a report from deputy ministers come fall after assessing the recommendations – Pasloski said that part of the discussion was focused on hosting another national roundtable for missing and murdered aboriginal women.

The premiers have already pronounced their support for a national inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women. The challenge now, Pasloski said, is building on that work from the first roundtable discussion without commitment from the federal government.

Whitehorse will host next year’s Canada’s premiers’ conference from July 20-22.

It will be the first time a territory has hosted the annual summer meeting as well as the first territorial premier to chair the Council of Federation.

“Hosting these meetings really speaks to the confidence that the group has,” Pasloski said, adding how it will be a good opportunity to showcase the Yukon to the rest of Canada.

“I am very pleased to take on the significant leadership role of chairing the Council of the Federation next year,” the premier said in a statement.

“Yukon has made many contributions to our country over the decades. This new opportunity to lead on issues that are important to all Canadians acknowledges our northern expertise and recognizes the long-standing significance of the North within Canada.”

About 400 delegates typically attend premiers’ summer meetings, bringing economic benefits as well as profile-raising opportunities for host jurisdictions.