Political round up March 24

Wednesday, 24 March 2021 16:19

Amy Labonte has withdrawn her name as an NDP candidate. (Photo:yukonndp.ca)

The NDP are down one candidate. Here is everything you need to know about Yukon politics today.

Amy Labonte has withdrawn her name as the Yukon NDP candidate for Watson Lake.

Her resignation comes after a tweet from 2019 was found on her twitter account in which she hopes for the death of Donald Trump.

A statement from Labonte was issued in a press release today.

It reads - “A number of past posts I've made on social media have been circulating with the media. I want to take responsibility for these comments. Some of these comments were racist and ableist, and they are not acceptable. I've changed a lot since these comments were made, and they aren't comments I would make today. Regardless of when the posts were made, the fact is that I made these comments and put them out in the world.

No matter how I feel about them today, I cannot erase them, no matter how regretful I feel. I helped contribute to a conversation online that hurt people, and I deeply regret this. And today, these comments are creating a conversation that is louder than the one we are trying to have about helping people and making life better for Yukoners.

I had a conversation with Kate, our leader, and we agreed that it would be best for me to withdraw my name.”

The cut off for nominations was March 22, which means there will be no option to replace Labonte.

The Yukon NDP say, if elected, they will raise the minimum wage to $15.20.

“When COVID hit, the federal government topped up the minimum wage by four dollars for a very limited time. The fact that we had to give that top up to workers proves that our minimum wage is too low.” Says NDP leader Kate White.

The Yukon NDP say this wage increase is about ensuring Yukoners’ right to a level of economic security that allows them to grow and realise their potential.

The Yukon Party announced there plans to reduce red tape for Yukon businesses.

They are calling it their Red Tape Modernization Action Plan. It includes elements such as a one for one rule.

“This one for one rule will require the territorial government to manage the growth of the regulatory burden on businesses. The one for one rule will require government to offset new administrative burden costs imposed on business, with equal reductions in administrative burden from the stock of existing regulations. This means that government would have to remove a regulation when a new one increases administrative burden costs on businesses. This would ensure that government acts thoughtfully and carefully about the need for new regulations on small businesses before implementing.” Says Yukon Party leader Currie Dixon.

If elected, the party will also introduce a small business lens to the regulatory development process, which will require government to specifically consider the impact regulations have on small business. This assessment will include the publication of a checklist that drives efforts to minimize burden on small business, an assessment of what efforts have been done to avoid bureaucratic duplication and a requirement of communication of regulatory requirements in clear, plain language.

The plan also includes the creation of a Forward Regulatory Plan which will be a biennial publication that will highlight upcoming regulatory changes over a 24-month period from each department, providing businesses with predictability and certainty that will be critical to the economic recovery of the territory.

The Yukon Liberals are saying that all Yukon communities deserve access to infrastructure that works and meets their needs.

John Streicker, Liberal candidate for Mount Lorne-Southern Lakes said in a statement "When we took office in 2016, the Yukon was in an infrastructure deficit. We worked closely with First Nations and municipalities to identify priorities and maximize available federal funding to advance projects that met the needs of Yukon's communities. A re-elected Liberal government will continue this collaborative approach to keep building resilient communities across the territory."

The liberals say if they are re-elected, they will continue to invest in infrastructure projects to build strong, sustainable communities for the benefit of all Yukoners. In partnership with First Nations and municipalities, projects have been identified in each Yukon community over the next five years.

The territorial election will take place April 12th.