Spring sitting ends at Yukon Legislative Assembly with passage of $2.3B budget
CBC
The Yukon Legislative Assembly's spring sitting ended Thursday with MLAs passing the 2025-26 budget, which the Liberal government says includes record spending on health care, more money for police, and for communities.
The government says the $2.3-billion budget includes historic investments that will respond to the needs of a rapidly-growing territory.
"We are now experiencing here what many jurisdictions have been experiencing for a long time," Premier Ranj Pillai said Thursday, referring to concerns about public safety amid a drug crisis and rise in gun violence.
"You need to ensure that you have the right social supports and social nets in place."
The budget includes nearly $30 million in transfers to municipalities through the Comprehensive Municipal Grant. There's also money for Yukon RCMP, and for the Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods (SCAN) unit.
Other major investments are being made in education, housing, and health care.
"I think we all know this is a challenge across the country," Pillai said about the health care system.
"Making sure that we are hiring more individuals to work in the health-care sector, making sure that the Yukon Hospital Corporation has the money they need, finishing off the infrastructure that's required for supports for mental health, I think is incredibly important."
The budget passed with support from the NDP while the Yukon Party voted against it.
"Ultimately, we're doing what Yukoners tasked us to do which is, they asked us to work together," NDP Leader Kate White said Thursday.
"They asked us to prioritize their needs and their wants. And that's what we've done. And even though it has been tough, because it is not an easy process, you know, we've stood by that commitment."
White also touted her party's role in many initiatives, through the confidence and supply agreement with the Liberals.
She pointed to the new walk-in clinic in Whitehorse, as well as Blood Ties Four Directions' safe consumption site, and the managed alcohol program as NDP-driven initiatives.
The NDP also introduced Bill 310, which gives the Yukon Medical Association (YMA) bargaining rights and establishes processes for dispute resolution and binding arbitration.
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