Yukon Liberal budget falls short on big issues
March 3, 2022
Whitehorse, YT — The Yukon Liberal’s Spring 2022 budget shows that the Liberals are disconnected from what Yukoners want and need.
“We’re glad to see the commitments of the Confidence and Supply Agreement reflected. But the overall budget is underwhelming,” Yukon NDP Leader Kate White said Thursday, March 3.
“There are no bold investments for climate change adaptation and mitigation and little new money dedicated to the drug poisoning crisis.
“Housing investments won’t come close to solving the Yukon’s ongoing housing shortage. The Liberals have delivered an unexceptional budget in exceptional times,” White added.
The NDP’s Annie Blake, MLA for Vuntut Gwitchin, criticized the Liberals’ budget for not doing enough on climate change.
“This Liberal government has declared multiple emergencies, especially on climate change and the opioid crisis, yet none of this urgency is reflected anywhere in their Spring budget.
Once again, the Liberals are long on big words and tough talk, and short on action and ambition,” Blake said.
Emily Tredger, Yukon NDP MLA for Whitehorse Centre, said the Liberals’ budget falls short on housing.
“Everyone deserves a stable, affordable place to live. This budget calls for business as usual for housing.
“What we need is creative, innovative investments and policies to make housing affordable for everyone, including renters,” Tredger said.
The Yukon NDP has identified the following budgetary gaps:
Healthcare – With thousands of Yukoners still without a family doctor, the Liberals failed to include funding for a new walk-in clinic. With the emergency room as the only other option for basic healthcare, hospitals have felt a strain because of it.
As our aging population continues to grow, this budget misses an opportunity to implement aging-in-place initiatives. The government is stalling on their own promises as they make cuts to home care and continuing care.
Harm reduction – The Yukon is now the Canadian jurisdiction with the highest rate of deaths by drug poisoning per capita. Yet, the Liberals’ latest budget includes almost no new funds for harm reduction initiatives.
Training for health-care practitioners to prescribe a safe supply of opioids should be a priority, as well as allowing registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses to prescribe treatment medications for opioid use disorder.
The Yukon will receive less money this year from the federal government for substance-use addiction programs, because the Liberals’ health minister failed to apply for available funding streams, including streams for a managed alcohol program.
Climate change – Despite the Liberals’ declaration of a climate change emergency more than two years ago, their budget for Our Clean Future is still less than they spend on highway maintenance.
Their budget isn’t serious about tackling the climate crisis.
Education – The Department of Education needs to recover from years of neglect under successive governments, and the Liberals’ “business as usual” budget just doesn’t cut it.
Clinical counsellors are needed in schools.
Physical changes to schools and classrooms need to be made. More training needs to be available for educators, and the government needs to recruit permanent teachers instead of filling full-time positions with teachers on call.
Housing – The Liberal budget’s housing commitments won’t come close to addressing this crisis or clearing the ever-growing waitlist at Yukon Housing.
The Yukon is facing the worst housing crisis the territory has ever seen. Many families have given up on ever owning a house, and some are a paycheck away from homelessness. While the rent cap protected hundreds of people from losing their homes to rent hikes, the Liberals have actively refused to provide more protections to Yukon tenants.
Paid Sick leave – Public engagement around paid sick leave showed an overwhelming support for paid sick leave for every Yukon worker. The recommendations from the Make Work Safe panel called for a co-funded model.
It’s disappointing to see the Liberals chose to leave this out of their budget.
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