Yukon premier stands by minister, despite motion calling for resignation
CBC
Yukon's opposition MLAs were unanimous in calling for the resignation of cabinet minister Tracy-Anne McPhee on Wednesday, over her handling of a sexual assault case at a Whitehorse school.
But Premier Sandy Silver said he alone gets to decide who sits in his cabinet — and that McPhee isn't going anywhere.
"I have full confidence in Minister Tracy McPhee. She will remain in cabinet to do the important work that Yukoners have entrusted her to do," Silver said in the legislature on Wednesday afternoon.
McPhee was the minister of education in 2019 when William Auclair-Bellemare, an education assistant at the Hidden Valley elementary school, was arrested and charged with sexual interference.
Documents obtained by CBC News show that Yukon's Department of Education wrote communications about Auclair-Bellemare's arrest as far back as December 2019, but none were sent to parents.
McPhee is now health minister and deputy premier.
The opposition Yukon Party tabled a motion on Wednesday calling for McPhee to resign from cabinet. The motion was non-binding.
A majority of the territory's 19 MLAs — eight from the Yukon Party and three from the NDP — voted to support the motion. Liberal MLAs all voted it down.
Yukon Party Leader Currie Dixon says he hasn't ruled out calling for a confidence vote if McPhee remains in cabinet despite the motion. That could potentially topple Silver's minority government.
"If the premier wants to ignore [the motion], the clearly expressed will of the Legislature, he will find himself in contempt of the Legislature," Dixon said.
Yukon Party MLA Brad Cathers — who represents the riding that includes Hidden Valley school — said his party has never before pushed for a minister's resignation.
"We did not come to this place lightly. It was after weeks of asking questions on behalf of parents that the deputy premier refused to answer — reasonable questions about her role, what she knew, when she knew it and what she did about it," Cathers said.
"Refusing to be accountable is not acceptable. Refusing to answer reasonable questions about your actions as a minister is not acceptable."
Cathers accused the government of being more interested in protecting McPhee than in being accountable.
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