A look back on Yukon's marathon 31-day legislative sitting

The Yukon Legislature's marathon 31-day sitting has come to a close, but party leaders didn't go quietly. 

They each took one last opportunity to discredit each other's work after Thursday's question period — a reflection of the tension that's been on the Yukon's legislative floor since it started on Oct. 7. 

"We were prepared for the tone, we weren't prepared for so much of the personal attacks," Premier Sandy Silver told reporters. 

Silver's government was tested several times during this sitting right from the start, with a week of relentless questioning from the opposition on the Hidden Valley scandal. 

Then, the opposition introduced two separate motions calling for the resignation of a cabinet minister at the centre of the scandal, and then for a non-confidence vote on Silver's government. 

His government also called a state of emergency over COVID-19 on Nov. 8, and announced new measures to curb its spread, including speeding up plans to implement a vaccine passport program. The government had introduced a controversial mandatory vaccination policy for all public service employees on Oct. 15, which it updated on Nov. 3.  

Despite all these challenges, Silver said he's "very proud" of the leadership that his team showed during the sitting. 

CBC News looks back at the sitting that was: the highlights, the lowlights, and what we can already expect from the next sitting in the spring. 

Sitting dominated by Hidden Valley questions

The questions about who knew what in the Hidden Valley scandal loomed over much of the fall sitting. 

"Mr. Speaker, let's begin with answers," Yukon Party leader Currie Dixon said on Oct. 7. "When did the current minister of education learn of the sexual abuse of a student at the Hidden Valley school?" 

When asked about Hidden Valley, Premier Silver said he "believes that both [his] ministers have done an exceptional job of trying to get to the bottom of what has happened." 

On Oct. 27, both opposition parties voted in favour of a non-binding motion to oust Tracy-Anne McPhee from cabinet, because of the role she played as education minister during the scandal. 

The NDP cast the decisive votes on that motion. Leader Kate White told the legislature that she made up her mind after "[being] told that decisions were made with children in mind … that's not how families feel." 

However, only the premier can hire or fire ministers from his cabinet. 

Liberal government survived confidence vote  

Once the premier said that McPhee would stay in cabinet, the opposition brought forward another motion calling for a non-confidence vote that, if it had passed, could have meant the defeat of Silver's government and a possible election. 

Dixon promised to honour the Confidence and Supply Agreement (CASA) with the NDP if they voted together on the non-confidence motion, something he said took "a lot of capital" within his own party. 

In reflection, Dixon said he's "done his best" to show the NDP that he's willing to work with them. 

"We brought forward the non-confidence motion … with the view and interest of the parents … of Hidden Valley," he said. "The [non-confidence] motion was the strongest tool that we had to hold the government to account." 

Supported by the NDP, the Liberal government did not fall and maintained the confidence of the house.

"I have made it clear that the Liberals have made some serious mistakes," White told Hidden Valley parents in an evocative speech. "But what I want you to know … that systemic changes will be made. 

"If anything, the rules have been re-drawn today. And I expect more, and I expect better."

The opposition also continued to push the government to call a public inquiry. Silver responded by acknowledging that four other investigations are currently underway. 

Controversy over mandatory vaccination during state of emergency

On Nov. 8, the Yukon government declared a state of emergency during the sitting in response to a rapid rise of COVID-19 cases throughout the territory. 

The order came with a new set of requirements: including limits on public gatherings, a mandatory mask mandate as well as a new requirement for all public service workers to get at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccination before the end of November, or they will be put on leave without pay.

"We are seeing a resurgence of COVID-19 in the territory and we need to take immediate action to protect the health and safety of Yukoners," Silver said in a news release at the time.

The latter met some controversy from Dixon, who accused the Liberals of rolling out the vaccination mandate "to distract Yukoners from the massive scandal ... at the Hidden Valley school."  

Numbers tabled in the legislature this week show that approximately 94 per cent of the territory's workforce has at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. 

Budget, municipal act changes to come in spring

It's too early to know what will come forward in the spring session, Silver said. Bills will be embargoed until the session begins. 

Customary to protocol, the government will table a budget. Supplementary budgets passed during the fall sitting reserved millions of dollars for the 2021 flood response in the Southern Lakes, COVID-19 public health measures and childcare. 

One thing that is definitely in line for the spring session is a small, seven-page set of amendments to the Municipal and Taxation Act. The Liberals and the NDP reached a deal to vote through the bill on second reading this week, but to delay the third reading till the spring session. 

That will allow a recently formed working group to address the concerns of municipalities, who say the bill will offload administrative responsibilities onto them while they struggle with COVID-19 responses and staffing shortages. 

Silver said another good hint would be to look at the commitments in the CASA agreement.  

"Time's ticking down, we have another year in that document," Silver said. 

The first review into the Hidden Valley scandal will be released by the end of January, so questions around those reports should be expected as well.