When it comes to election platforms, what you’ve seen is what you get with the Yukon Party.

On Wednesday, the YP became the last of the parties to announce its campaign platform for the April 12 territorial election. The party chose The Woodcutters Blanket on Second Avenue as the venue to help highlight that small businesses need support.

“The Yukon Party is committing to Action for a Change,” party leader Currie Dixon said at the announcement.

He said Action for a Change is the party’s visionary platform document for the success of the territory, focusing on Economic Recovery, Supporting Yukon Families, and Safe and Growing Communities.

“This election is about who you trust to lead the territory through the economic recovery and into a prosperous future and who you trust to be decisive,” Dixon added. “We can’t wait another four years for decisive leadership.”

Dixon said the Liberals government has spent too much time dithering instead of making decisions, and conducting studies instead of carrying out promises.

“Our Action Plan sets out a vision to not only get the territory through to a safe reopening but also to set the territory on a path to success for many years to come,” said Dixon.

“We know better is possible, and we are ready to deliver for Yukoners, to make their lives more affordable, and ensure we leave the territory better than we found it.”

The party’s Action for a Change platform promises the construction of a Whitehorse-based liquid natural gas plant to reduce the territory’s reliance on diesel generators.

The party has been heavily critical of the money the government spends leasing diesel generators to ensure there’s enough power for the territory’s long, cold winters.

The platform contains a range of specific actions, almost all of which have been previously announced. The party promises to:

• Work with public health professionals to provide a plan for a safe reopening.

• Introduce supports for business through to recovery, including cutting red tape, encouraging economic diversification, creating new private sector opportunities, and bolstering the Yukon’s tourism industry.

• Address energy and climate change, making record investments in green energy, and ending the practice of renting diesel generators.

• Provide support to Yukoners all the way from birth to post-secondary. With specific actions for healthy beginnings, enhancing early learning and childcare with a universal benefit that leaves no children behind, improvements to K to 12 and First Nations education, and post-secondary initiatives.

• Expansion of health and wellness, and mental wellness initiatives.

• Make life more affordable by freezing power rates.

• Address housing and land development, investing in the Yukon’s communities, and creating safe communities.

“I invite all Yukoners to read our Action Plan,” Dixon said. “I know Yukoners are looking for clear leadership and clear direction as we look to recover from the pandemic, and to create a bright future for the next generation.”

The Yukon NDP didn’t waste any time in criticizing the platform.

The platform says the party will “review the size and purpose of the Yukon government’s involvement in the housing sector,” NDP Leader Kate White said.

“They also said they would review Yukon Housing’s role in rural communities.

“There were 369 on the waitlist for Yukon Housing as of January 2021,” she added.

“People are struggling right now to find an affordable place to live. Anytime I see the words ‘review government involvement’ from a conservative party, I get worried about what that’s going to mean for people,” White said.

“We know that conservative parties, like the Yukon Party, make cuts. That’s not what people need right now – especially when it comes to housing. If cuts are what the Yukon Party is planning, they need to be clear with people up front.”

The Yukon Party’s platform can be read on its website: http://www.yukonparty.ca.

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