In an anti-climatic resolution after three hours of debate, the Yukon government survived its first non-confidence motion Wednesday afternoon.
In an anti-climatic resolution after three hours of debate, the Yukon government survived its first non-confidence motion Wednesday afternoon.
Along with the Liberal MLAs, the NDP voted against the motion introduced by Opposition Leader Currie Dixon.
He was the lone Yukon Party member to speak to the motion, which shortened the debate considerably. Similarly, only NDP Leader Kate White spoke for her
party.
The ruling Liberals, on the other hand, had six of their seven members address the motion. A number of them spoke in what could politely be called a rambling manner, eating up some two hours of the debate.
In the end, though, the motion failed, with only the eight Yukon Party members voting in favour.
The motion was lost on an 8-10 vote, without Speaker Jeremy Harper being called upon to vote.
As the debate began, Dixon said, “A confidence motion is not something that I believe should be brought forward without substantial cause.
“I believe though that, when I look at the direction that the Yukon is currently heading on several important issues, I’m extremely concerned, and that concern has culminated in this motion that we are discussing today. It is my view that the current Liberal government has ignored the doctor shortage, ignored the teacher shortage, ignored the housing shortage, and continued to offer inadequate solutions to a growing list of issues that have been raised in this legislative sitting, whether those issues are the ones that have been raised by the NDP regarding the growing mental health crisis in our communities, or the opioid crisis in our communities, or issues that we have raised about the cost of energy and fuel wood, or other issues facing our health care system.”
The most concerning issue, Dixon said, has been the government’s handling of the Hidden Valley School sexual abuse scandal.
“This failure, of course, eventually led to a majority of members in the legislature voting in favour of having the deputy premier (Tracy-Anne McPhee) resign from cabinet as a result of her not ensuring that parents were notified of this issue when she became aware of it.”
Dixon added, “We were elected to come to this house and make difficult decisions on behalf of Yukoners. We were elected to ensure that the decisions and actions of government are given the scrutiny.
“It’s my obligation to live up to that duty. When the government refuses to show accountability, that is how we get into the position we are in today.”
Dixon went on to explain the rationale for offering to form a government with NDP support.
“Now, no Yukoner will be surprised to hear this, but there are many policy items in the CASA (the Liberal-NDP agreement keeping the government in power) that I do not like and that I have had strong words about,” Dixon said.
“So, arriving at the offer of honouring the CASA was not done easily for me. I had to bring my own party on board and convince people that I, who have spent the last six months explaining why I disagree with the CASA, was now going to offer to support it.
“That was not easy, but I believe that it was the right course of action and worth the effort. It was worth it to make a serious offer and a serious compromise.”
Premier Sandy Silver said, “This team will not be deterred by political games being put forth by the Yukon Party. If the Yukon Party wishes to continue
spending our time playing politics and embracing division, well, so be it.
“But in the meantime, this stable government will continue to get us through the pandemic and will continue to fight for the future and prosperity of our
territory.”
White was by far the afternoon’s most eloquent speaker.
“First, I acknowledge the parents in the gallery. I want you to know that I see you. I thank those who are in the gallery. I thank those who have reached out in other ways. I have read your letters. I have had phone calls, and I know where you stand. This is an issue of confidence, and it’s a tough one,” the NDP leader said.
“I have made it clear that the Liberals have made some serious mistakes. I absolutely agree that the Liberal government has mishandled the Hidden Valley issue, but I want you to know that it is because of what you have shared, what you have experienced, and because you have shared the failures that you’re living with that systemic changes will be made. I can assure you that we won’t stop working toward this end to ensure that your experiences are never shared by another family.”
Early last Friday evening, White said, Dixon approached her to give her advance notice about his motion.
“He told me that he was prepared to accept the confidence and supply agreement that the NDP had signed with the Liberals. I was surprised,” White told the house.
‘I was surprised because only six months ago, after the spring election when I was approached by both the Yukon Party and Liberals, we spoke a few times,
and it was that very same person who is making this proposition now who was not interested in working with us then.
“The Yukon Party has repeatedly slammed this agreement for being too radical,” White recalled. “They have continued, until Friday evening (Nov. 19), to come out against the principles of that agreement at every opportunity and in very public ways.”
She and her two other MLAs were surprised by the Yukon Party’s reversal, she said.
“But the leader of the Official Opposition is now saying he feels so strongly about accountability that he is ready to take these commitments on.”
White then discussed accountability by the past Yukon Party majority government.
That regime, she said, “regularly chose to disregard and disrespect First Nation governments, a government that forced First Nations to the courts to defend their belief in environmental protections and the sanctity of the land use planning process, a government that continually fought with First Nations in the courts and regularly lost, and a government that wanted to welcome unconventional gas extraction to the territory — under that government, I learned what a workplace laced with lateral violence meant,” White said.
“I remember how there was absolutely no way to work together because, for five years, there wasn’t ever an acknowledgement that good and important ideas came from all sides of the house, and there was never a willingness to work together. The leader of the Yukon Party was in that government, as were four of his colleagues,” she pointed out.
White continued to hammer the Yukon Party for what she said she saw as political opportunism.
“On Thursday last week, one of his (Dixon’s) MLAs came to me and finally apologized for an event that had happened in the spring,” White said.
“After months of silence, I got an apology. I was touched. Maybe, Mr. Speaker, this is where I’m still naïve, because I’m always optimistic. I was touched; I really was.
“I thought: ‘oh, finally, after months and months of silence, I finally get an apology.’ It felt genuine, and I’m still hopeful that it was, but looking back at the timing, it gives me pause.”
“It turns out that I received that apology just 24 hours before I was approached by the Leader of the Yukon Party,” White noted.
“This is where it is so hard, because of that timing. What felt like a heartfelt apology made me question whether or not I had been manipulated. It pains me to say this, because I don’t think it was done in that way, but it made me feel like there was a bigger game being played that I never agreed to play.
“I never agreed to this — never. This is not what I call accountability. This is not what I call leadership.”
White said she was strongly influenced in her decision to decline the offer because the situation would most likely have led to another election.
“Voting in favour of this motion would most likely result in the calling of an election this winter. I know that, and I assume the leader of the Opposition knows that too, because I reached out to an expert on the matter and was told, if he had to put money down on the issue, that he would put his money on an election, because it’s not up to the opposition to decide. Again, he is promising something that can’t be delivered on.”
White accused the Yukon Party of “using the tragedy of a sex abuse scandal at a school as leverage for their own political gain, and this is shameful.
“My job is to put Yukoners at the centre of my decisions, and even though, for some, it does not feel like that is what I am doing today, that is what I am doing today. I am well aware that my decision will be questioned and it will be criticized, but what we don’t need right now are political games. We don’t need a party leveraging the abuse of children for their own political gain.”
What’s required is all MLAs working together to solve the crises the Yukon is facing, she added. She then addressed the Liberals.
“This is not a free pass. If anything, the rules have been redrawn today, and I expect more, and I expect better.
“The government has failed to act on and address many issues, and Hidden Valley is the primary one. I hope that you understand that what is needed right
now is an acknowledgement and a genuine apology, because families need to heal, and that has to be the first step.”
The Yukon NDP will continue to ask the hard questions, White vowed.
“We will continue to hold the government accountable, because that’s what Yukoners have asked us to do. We will always put people over politics.”
This morning, Dixon was philosophical about the situation.
“I’m disappointed it didn’t pass,” he told the Star. “I didn’t put the motion forward lightly.”
He said the afternoon revealed a few things about the atmosphere in the legislature.
“The debate showed the government is on life support,” he said. “They’re having trouble getting things done, and even the third party’s patience is wearing thin.”
He has no plans to introduce another stand-alone non-confidence motion, he added.
White told the Star this morning she had little to add.
“I’m almost out of words,” she said. “I stand by my decision, and I’m still thinking about the families (at Hidden Valley).”
