WHITEHORSE – Shortly after the Yukon Liberal government was called out for potentially violating the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, their abuse of power continues as the government’s debt limit was doubled without any legislative oversight or public scrutiny.

Late Friday afternoon, the Liberals quietly snuck out a press release announcing the Yukon’s debt limit had doubled from $400 million to $800 million. This is the result of a request made in secret by the territorial Liberal government, and would allow them to saddle future generations of Yukoners with a massive amount of debt without prior public debate or democratic accountability. This announcement came on the heels of the Liberals extending the Civil State of Emergency for another 90 days without public debate.

“The Yukon government had only used about half of the previous debt limit – so the fact that the Premier asked the federal government to double the debt limit is a clear indication he plans to borrow an unprecedented amount of money, leaving future generations of Yukoners with the bill to pay,” noted Brad Cathers, Official Opposition Critic for Finance and Democratic Institutions.

Several times in the Legislative Assembly, the Premier denied that he was contemplating increasing Yukon’s debt limit. 

“The Premier repeatedly told the Legislative Assembly he had no interest in increasing the debt cap. It’s no wonder he’s afraid to reconvene the Legislative Assembly and answer tough
questions about why he deliberately misled Yukoners,” added Cathers. “A decision to burden future generations with massive debt should never be made behind closed doors by the seven members of the Liberal Cabinet. Yukoners deserve better from their government.”

On June 2nd, when Ontario extended their State of Emergency, they allowed their Legislature to first debate and vote on it.

“Not only are the Liberals planning to sink the territory deeply into debt, they extended the state of emergency without allowing for legislative oversight. Under the Liberals, the Yukon has become an outlier through Premier Silver’s continued disregard for the Legislative Assembly,” added Cathers. “Almost all the legislatures and parliaments across Canada have met to discuss their government’s response to COVID-19, but Premier Silver keeps dismissing the importance of democratic accountability.”

According to the 2018-19 Public Accounts, Yukon’s total debt was $209 million. So the question is, what do the Liberals plan on spending the extra $591 million on?

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For further information, please contact:
Madison Pearson
Communications
(867) 335-3334