Yukon Legislature prepares for pandemic-proofed fall sitting

Yukon MLAs beat a hasty retreat from the Legislative Assembly back in March, with the COVID-19 pandemic, and fear of contagion, spreading rapidly.

All three parties agreed at the time to pare the assembly's agenda down to the bone, opting to rush through debate on the budget, which they passed before adjourning for the summer.

Since then, the governing Liberals have rebuffed opposition calls to reconvene the assembly, or at the very least strike some form of committee to discuss the various emergency measures enacted by the government in response to the pandemic.

But the assembly's unexpectedly long summer break will come to an end in a few weeks. The fall sitting begins Oct. 1 and could run up to 40 sitting days, likely 10 calendar weeks (the legislature doesn't sit on Fridays), which is the legal maximum, in order to deal with the backlog of business.

The default session length is 30 days, but can be extended if the government house leader and at least one opposition house leader representing a majority of MLAs agree. The length of a session is decided after all government bills are introduced.

The COVID-19 pandemic still rages, of course. But with more known about how the disease is transmitted, and a better sense of the risk in Yukon, life in the territory has largely returned to something approaching normal: bars and restaurants have mostly reopened and school is back in session.

Assembly will look a little different

That kind-of-normal will extend to the Legislative Assembly. House business will resume as scheduled, but things are going to look a little different.

"It's sort of new ground," said Dan Cable, the assembly's clerk, who's in charge of managing the workings of the house on behalf of Speaker Nils Clarke.

"We're trying to make it as normal as possible and manage the risk as much as possible."

That means spreading out MLAs' desks to allow for physical distancing. A version of this took place in March, forcing some MLAs to move into the bleacher seats in the public gallery. Cable said this time all MLAs should be able to fit on the floor.

"It's not just a matter of moving people around," he said. "It's the fact that we have to be operationally the same or similar to what we had before. Microphones have to work. Speakers have to be able to be heard."

All of the details aren't set yet. Cable said his office will meet with MLAs and Dr. Brendan Hanley, the chief medical officer, in the coming weeks to finalize things.

Parties confident setup will work

Yukon's political parties don't seem worried about the details being sorted out in time.

"The Legislative Assembly office will make the proper operational changes to respect safety of staff and elected officials," reads a statement from Tracy-Anne McPhee, the government house leader. The government did not make McPhee available for an interview.

The opposition parties share McPhee's confidence that the assembly will be able to operate safely. They're more interested in getting back in session to press the government on the myriad issues stemming from the pandemic.

Most assemblies across the country have sat in some form since March. Yukon Premier Sandy Silver has said the government regularly briefs the opposition parties and that the government was too busy dealing with the pandemic to handle a legislative session over the summer.

"We should have been sitting months ago," said NDP Leader Kate White.

"The point that we should reflect on is that we've already sent our kids and teachers back to school. So surely MLAs should be able to [go back to work]."

Scott Kent, the Yukon Party's house leader, said there's no reason why the assembly could not have resumed earlier, considering other jurisdictions have found a way to hold sessions.

"The current Liberal government is building up an extreme accountability-deficit when it comes to what's happening with administrative orders and the other regulations that they're bringing in under the [Civil] Emergency Measures Act," he said.

Public gallery will be closed

One thing that has been decided: the public gallery will remain closed. The bleacher-like nature of the seats make it difficult for people to remain physically distant, Cable said.

And while the gallery is most often empty, it tends to fill up for special occasions or contentious debates. But this fall the public will have to rely on the assembly's online feed, or its TV and radio broadcasts, if they want to follow along.

But Cable said it's likely that staff who also work on the house floor, including pages, the sergeant-at-arms, and Cable himself, will probably wear masks during proceedings. MLAs likely will too, at least while seated, though it's not clear if that will extend to when they're speaking.

That's partly because of parliamentary rules. Masks "are not a tradition of the House," Cable said, requiring a tweak of the rules before they can be worn during debate. 

There's a similar issue with quorum, the minimum number of MLAs who must be present in the chamber for business to continue. It's supposed to be 10 MLAs, including the speaker, but Cable said there's language in the assembly's standing orders that may offer a workaround.

Cable also said the speaker has instructed assembly staff to develop a backup plan in case of a major COVID-19 outbreak in Yukon. That would mean using Zoom, although Cable said any online system in place has to be able to record the proceedings.

"Unfortunately, [Zoom] is not designed for legislative assemblies," he said.

"What a lot of jurisdictions have done is they've gone to a Zoom platform, but then they've had to make certain modifications for that. But they've got a lot bigger budgets than we do."