Mr. Silver: I also rise today on behalf of the Liberal caucus to pay tribute to Earth Day. Canada is celebrating its 25^th Earth Day by promoting a Rooting 4 Trees campaign with the goal of planting 25,000 trees in the month of April.

Mr. Silver: I have a question for the Minister of Economic Development about a letter that he received this week from the president of the Screen Production Yukon Association. It was regarding a review of the Yukon government’s film funding programs. According to the letter, these programs are in desperate need of revision and reflection of the recent evolution in the industry. Digital media, in particular, is in dire need of incorporation into the Yukon film funding programs. The government has identified the requirement to review and update the current funding programs to address digital media, as well as other funding gaps, but it has not delivered on providing any solid process, timelines, road maps or otherwise to have such a task completed on time soon.

The government began its review a year ago and said programming will be updated in January of 2016. Mr. Speaker, why has the government missed its own deadline?

Mr. Silver: I also have a question for the Premier about the Whistle Bend seniors facility.

Yesterday in Question Period, the Premier said he put a great deal of stock in what the Auditor General of Canada has to say about budgeting and Yukon’s finances. In 2013, the Auditor General released a scathing report on the Yukon Party’s fiscal mismanagement on the construction of two rural hospitals. In it, he was sharply critical of the decision to begin construction before knowing the operation and maintenance costs of these facilities. As the election looms, the Yukon Party is once again starting construction on a very large project — the Whistle Bend seniors facility — with no idea of what the operation and maintenance costs will be.

Mr. Speaker, why is the Yukon Party ignoring the advice of the Auditor General when it comes to financial management of projects?

Mr. Silver: I would like to rise on behalf of the Liberal caucus to also pay tribute to Biodiversity Awareness Month.

April is a month of great change in the Yukon. The snow melts — or in this year’s case a bit earlier — buds begin to open and animals come out of hibernation. It is a grand display of our territory’s biodiversity. Biodiversity defines many stages of biological interaction within species, between species and between ecosystems. It is an ever-changing balance with time and is greatly affected by human activity. As individuals, we all have a part to play in ensuring that our actions do not have a negative effect on the flora and fauna, but instead promote healthy human interaction with them.

WHITEHORSE – Richard Mostyn is the Yukon Liberal candidate in Whitehorse West after the party held its first contested nomination on Tuesday evening. 165 ballots were cast at the Mt. McIntyre Recreation Centre, seeing Mostyn win the majority after a four-month-long nomination contest with Ramesh Ferris. More than 200 people took out memberships in the Yukon Liberal Party, to participate in the vote.