The Yukon Liberal Party announced commitments to keep communities safe by extending community safety plans and expanding the Sexualized Assault Response Team program.

Jeanie McLean, incumbent candidate for Mountainview and Amanda Brown, candidate for Watson Lake announced plans to create a community safety planning program that will ensure a consistent approach to funding community safety planning activities across Yukon. Under the Liberal government, community safety programs were successfully introduced in Whitehorse and Pelly Crossing in partnership with the Kwanlin Dün First Nation and the Selkirk First Nation.

“All Yukoners deserve to live in communities that are safe, welcoming, and support them to live healthy, happy lives. We have seen the effectiveness of innovative, locally-driven approaches to community safety in our territory and we will provide funding to expand and support these programs in all rural communities.”

Jeanie McLean, candidate for Mountainview

The Liberals will also work with stakeholders and community partners to expand the Sexualized Assault Response Team (SART) program to include Yukon communities. Jeanie McLean, Pauline Frost and Tracy-Anne McPhee launched the Sexualized Assault Response Team in 2020 to provide enhanced supports to victims of sexualized assault. Wrap-around supports currently available in Whitehorse include victim support workers available after hours and on weekends, and on-call physicians trained to help victims of sexualized assault.

“The Sexualized Assault Response Team provides the wrap-around, 24-hour support that victims in our territory need. Advocates and NGOs had been asking for this kind of program and the Yukon Liberals made it a reality. If elected, we will work with partners across the territory to expand SART in a way that meets the unique needs of our rural communities.”

Amanda Brown, candidate for Watson Lake

To increase community safety and justice as part of Yukon’s MMIWG2S+ strategy, the Liberals will establish a program to provide supportive community housing to justice involved women that will be gender responsive, culturally sensitive and trauma informed.

To further support rural communities, the Liberals will also expand resources for rural Emergency Medical Services (EMS) by increasing coverage and dispatch services and increasing the training honoraria for volunteer EMS and firefighters, bringing it up to active duty regular pay. These initiatives will help increase community safety and emergency preparedness in Yukon communities.