WHITEHORSE – Last week, the Liberal government announced that they had decided they were going to make significant changes to the 2020-21 school year. However, it quickly became clear that the Liberals made these decisions in isolation and without any consultation or regard for the opinions of parents, students, or teachers.

The Yukon Party is now calling on the Liberals to go back and properly consult the people that these changes affect the most.

“It is astounding that the Liberals have left out a key partner in education during their planning process – the parents,” said Currie Dixon, Leader of the Yukon Party. “The Liberals were elected on the promise of Yukoners being heard, and yet not only is no one listening, the government hasn’t even bothered to ask.”

Within hours of the Liberals’ unilateral decision that was made without any consultation, the Yukon Party was flooded with angry emails, questions, and concerns from parents, teachers, and students. One Facebook group that was created to protest the announcement had over a hundred members within hours.

“Parents, teachers, and students are all being left out of what could be the most critical decisions around our children’s education that will ever be made,” added Dixon. “What makes this worse is that the Liberals have undemocratically refused to bring back the Legislature and allow any oversight or questioning of their response to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The Yukon Party is once again demanding that the Liberals recall the Legislature so that MLAs can provide oversight of the government’s response to COVID-19.

“If the Legislature were allowed to sit then elected representatives would be able to exercise their democratic rights of scrutinizing government decision-making,” said Dixon. “It is clear that the Liberals need oversight and if they had not shut down our democratic institutions, then we would have been able to avoid a situation where hundreds of parents and families are cut out of crucial decision-making processes.”

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Contact:
Madison Pearson
Communications
(867) 335-3334