Whitehorse: The Government of Yukon should examine the potential of moving energy planning in-house, away from the Yukon Energy Corporation, says Klondike MLA Sandy Silver.

Mr. Silver: One of the predominant themes of this sitting is a lack of planning done by this government when it comes to major issues. We have seen this with the new F.H. Collins Secondary School, with the two new rural hospitals, with doctor recruitment, with the Peel watershed, with the housing strategy and, of course, when it comes to planning for our energy future. We are facing a looming power supply shortage in the Yukon. We are fast approaching a power supply cliff, and even the minister himself has acknowledged that. One of the reasons we’re in this situation is a lack of planning from the government. A project the government is looking at in Skagway recently was trying to get money to fund a feasibility study. According to the Mayor of Skagway, the chances of the municipality getting a feasibility study funded are pretty slim. This is a $140-million project that is years away from happening, if it ever will. Has the Yukon Development Corporation spent any of its own money on this project?

Mr. Silver: I have a question for the Minister of Finance. The centerpiece of the budget we’re debating this spring is a $27-million bailout of the Yukon Hospital Corporation. It was only a couple of years ago that the Yukon Party government
brushed off concerns about the amount of debt the Hospital Corporation was running up, insisting it was not biting off more than it could chew. It was only a couple of years ago that the Government of Yukon was insisting, despite the fact that it generates almost no revenue, the Hospital Corporation was capable of paying off almost $70 million in loans by renting space back to the government.

It was a financial agreement based on fantasy. Well, that fantasy came to an end this spring in the form of a $27-million bailout.

Why was the corporation allowed to borrow this money in the first place, when there was really no plan to pay it back?

Mr. Silver: Mr. Speaker, I have a question for the Minister of Justice on whistle-blower legislation. Last winter, the Select Committee on Whistle-blower Protection tabled its final report. The report concluded that yes, whistle-blower legislation is needed in the Yukon and recommended that the government move ahead with a new law to protect workers who report wrongdoing in the government.

The ball, as they say, is in the government’s court. This law has been a long time coming and the Liberal caucus is pleased that we have reached this point. However, since the report was tabled, there has been no word from the government on how it plans to proceed.

The government simply said, and I quote: “We are looking forward to moving forward with whistle-blower legislation in short order.”

When will that legislation be coming before this House?

Mr. Silver: In 2009, the Yukon Party government announced its Yukon Solid Waste Action Plan, to modernize how our landfills operate.

An important part of the plan was the creation of a solid waste advisory committee. It was established to assist in the successful implementation of the Yukon Solid Waste Action Plan and as an ongoing opportunity for partnerships and ideas. The committee produced one annual report and has been dormant since May 2012, when the terms of all the appointees expired and the government didn’t appoint any new members.

Can the minister explain why a committee the government itself described as “ongoing” no longer exists?