Just because McIntyre-Takhini MLA John Edzerza has been nominated to serve as the NDP candidate for the riding in the pending election doesn't mean he will be permitted to forget his Yukon Party past.

Laurie Butterworth, president of the Yukon Employees Union, said this morning he expects Edzerza to be having to answer some questions out on doorsteps about his silence during the computer-misuse investigation.

Edzerza quit the Yukon Party earlier this month to seek the nomination of the NDP in the McIntyre-Takhini riding he currently holds. He won the party's nod on Saturday in a 37-14 vote against contender Rachael Lewis.

However, during his 3 1/2 years in the Yukon Party cabinet, Edzerza was the minister responsible for the Public Service Commission during the 2002-2003 search of 542 government computers for inappropriate uses. It resulted in disciplinary action against more than 90 employees.

During the fallout of the now infamous porn probe in 2003, Edzerza refused to answer questions about the investigation.

'He was so silent with that other party,' Butterworth told the Star. 'He was just Mr. Silent.'

Butterworth said he didn't know if the decision not to speak on the issue was a choice made by Edzerza or an instruction given to him by higher-ups in the Yukon Party.

'But now he's going to have to say something,' he added.

Many members of the Yukon Employees Union still see the incident as a 'sore point', said Butterworth.

'They were not employees of John (Edzerza),' NDP Leader Todd Hardy said in an interview today from his hospital room in Vancouver, where he is being treated for leukemia. 'They are employees of the leader.'

Edzerza may have been 'carrying the can' in the process, but it was clear it was Premier Dennis Fentie who was making the decisions, said Hardy.

'Most of this was being directed by Mr. Fentie,' he said.

Hardy and the NDP took on the plight of the workers and government employees during the investigation, hammering the Yukon Party in question period while Edzerza declined to respond.

Hardy said the fact the responsibility for the Public Service Commission was removed from Edzerza's hands following the affair 'speaks volumes' about what was likely going on behind the scenes in the Yukon Party.

He added, 'John (Edzerza) is an honourable man. He did what as a minister he had to do.'

Hardy said Edzerza knows clearly what the NDP's position is on the investigation and understands there are other methods that could have been used in the given situation.

It is now a matter of Edzerza understanding there will be a process of reconciliation with some people during the pending election campaign, said Hardy. Fentie must drop the writ by November.

'Any time you go from one group to another, there's a period in which you need to adjust,' said Hardy. 'It's a matter of listening to each other with respect and dignity.'

Despite any past baggage Edzerza may carry from his past with the Yukon Party, it is not a new experience in the Yukon, added Hardy.

Many politicians have sat in one party while hammering another, he said, drawing reference to Kluane MLA Gary McRobb and Mayo-Tatchun MLA Eric Fairclough, who left the NDP to join the Liberals earlier this year.

Edzerza has demonstrated support of the NDP's political initiatives even while in the governing party, added Hardy, pointing to the safer communities legislation as an example.

'His portfolios are the ones we've had the most success with.'

What needs to be considered is the ability of the party, and that of the people within it, to move forward, he said.

Maybe Edzerza has become more 'enlightened' since leaving the Yukon Party, said Butterworth.

The Yukon Employees Union doesn't back any political party, said Butterworth. However, Edzerza likely has some issues that he is going to have to address with its members at some point in the election process.