Whitehorse, YT – Yukon Legislative Assembly Speaker Jeremy Harper has raised concerns over the government bypassing a traditional budget review process, which he says could undermine the independence of key offices, including Elections Yukon, the Ombudsman, and the Child and Youth Advocate Office.
In a December 19th letter to Finance Minister Sandy Silver, Harper criticized the government for introducing budget estimates directly to the Legislative Assembly without input from the non-partisan Members’ Services Board. Harper emphasized that the process, mandated by legislation, is critical to ensuring the independence of these offices from government influence.
“This concerning change in practice undermines the independence of the above offices as separate entities from the Yukon Government,” Harper wrote.
Yukon Party Finance Critic Brad Cathers called the actions illegal, pointing to concerns raised by the Chief Electoral Officer, who warned that bypassing the review process could “compromise operational readiness” for Elections Yukon ahead of the next territorial election.
“That the Chief Electoral Officer has taken the unprecedented step of calling out the government for threatening Elections Yukon’s ability to successfully conduct a territorial election next year shows how just serious the impacts of this illegal political interference by the Liberals could become,” Cathers said in a statement.
In response, Cabinet Communications said the budget is still in development and described the Members’ Services Board’s concerns as premature.
“Given that budget is not yet finalized, we believe their concerns are premature, but thank them regardless for providing input,” reads an email from Cabinet Communications.
They add that the Yukon Party has the majority vote on the board. The committee is made of two Yukon Party MLAs, one NDP MLA and two Yukon Liberal MLAs including Speaker Harper.
Cabinet Communications added that the recent caucus budget freeze was a decision made by the independent Legislative Assembly Office, not the government.
