Mr. Silver: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When we met in the spring, the first question that I raised was about the Yukon’s lack of a mental health strategy. Near the end of the Sitting, a motion I introduced received unanimous support for the creation of just such a plan. Unfortunately for those suffering from mental health issues, we remain one of only two jurisdictions in Canada without such a strategy.

Mr. Silver: With little to no public consultation, the Yukon Party decided midway through its term in office to build a 300-bed continuing care facility. Shortly after it was announced, the government backed away from that commitment and said it was really going to be a 150-bed facility.

Mr. Silver: When the Premier set out new mandate letters this summer, he gave himself a to-do list. On that list: negotiate reconciliation agreements with non-settled Yukon First Nations and the Kaska Dena Council. This is a welcome change for the Yukon Party, who spent years ignoring unsettled First Nations, as opposed to finding partnerships outside of the UFA framework.

Mr. Silver: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The final section of the budget speech in the spring outlined yet another attempt by this government to redesign our education system. Big, block letters proclaimed, “A New Vision: A Made-in-Yukon K to 12 Education Curriculum”. This is the third or fourth try over the last 13 years that this government has been in office to redesign, makeover or lead the Department of Education.

Mr. Silver: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This week I have been asking some questions about infrastructure projects that this government has had 13 years or so to address but has failed to do so. We know that the next new hydro project and the paving of the Dawson City runway and also the project to fix our Internet service are all going to be resolved by the next government, not this one. One project this government has tackled is the rebuilding of F.H. Collins.

Mr. Silver: Yukoners are well aware that for many years the Yukon Party government explored the privatization of our energy future.

The government had plans to sell our public utility to Alberta, and the former minister, who is now the minister again, was in full support of it until it was leaked to the public. Luckily the plan never came to fruition.

Mr. Silver: Mr. Speaker, yesterday the 43^rd annual Geoscience Forum wrapped up here in Whitehorse. It brought together representatives from the mining community, from the Yukon government and also from First Nation governments as well, just to mention a few.

Now, I do know that the Premier attended part of the forum. My question is: What did he hear from the mining industry about the current state of our mining in our territory?

Mr. Silver: This week in the Legislature the Minister of Community Services stated that there has been — and I quote: “considerable deliberation, considerable discussion and considerable study” on the proposed fibre link project. We thank the government for their diligence for the work now to build some redundancy into our Internet connection after 13 years in office. To date the government has released several reports: February 2013 Yukon Telecommunications Development report; February 2014 Feasibility Study for Alternative Yukon Fibre Optic Link; February 2015 Yukon Diverse Fibre Link Project: Investment Delivery Models Summary Report.

Mr. Silver: Mr. Speaker, this spring I asked the government when it was going to move ahead with paving the Dawson City Airport runway. It was the spring of 2014 when the former Yukon Party Minister of Tourism returned from a meeting in Dawson where he had heard concerns about a gravel runway. It was limiting the number of tourists that Air North could fly in and out of Alaska, for example.

Mr. Silver: Mr. Speaker, the Yukon Party has been talking about improving the reliability of our Internet and cellphone systems for the last three years and it has certainly been aware of it for almost the 14 years that they’ve been in office. Despite this, the recent announcement about a new fibre optic link up the Dempster Highway certainly looks like it was hastily written on the back of a napkin.