Editorial

Bureaucrats think public policy is their property

If you have a question about a government policy in this country, odds are fairly good that the government’s response will amount to: “Get bent.”

Getting your car squeaky clean for spring

Spring is the perfect time to give our cars a full wash. They have a tendency to accumulate a lot of dirt and mess over the winter months. We want them looking good and ready to go for all the road trips that summer promises.

  • Apr 28, 2017

The housing crisis is here

The rental crisis, which has made headlines in places like Toronto and Vancouver, is alive and well in the the Yukon.

Silver’s second throne speech comfortably numb

Sandy Silver’s government has now delivered two speeches from the throne and zero budgets.

Trudeau government neglecting the North

This year marks Canada’s 150th anniversary, and a special anniversary for the Yukon as well. Yukon’s economy and infrastructure have experienced three major transitions since Confederation: the end of the fur trade, the lure of the Klondike Gold Rush, and the construction of the Alaska Highway during the Second World War.

  • Apr 5, 2017

Budget 2017: The North needs cash, but don’t get too comfortable

Federal budgets, by their very nature, are mixed bags. Regions and interest groups lobby for their causes and win, lose or draw as fortune and politics dictate.

It’s time to end disruptive fibre cuts and strengthen our Northern economy

When it comes to our common fibre optic network, Northerners have an important decision to make. Yukoners deserve more than inflammatory editorials. They deserve a decision based on what’s best for Northern Canadians.

  • Mar 10, 2017

It’s time to break Northwestel’s internet monopoly

It’s tempting to react with resignation to news that the estimated cost of a proposed fibre-optic line up the Dempster Highway has ballooned from around $32 million to upwards of $50 million.

The justice system failed Michael Nehass — and by extension all of us

It’s clear at this point that, unsupervised, Michael Nehass is a danger to himself and to society at large. But that’s no excuse for the seemingly endless legal labyrinth he has endured since his 2011 arrest.

The violence in Quebec City can happen here, but we can stop it

Monday’s vigil in downtown Whitehorse for the victims of the terrorist attack on the Centre culturel islamique de Québec, that left six dead and 19 wounded, drew perhaps 200 shivering souls, huddled around flickering candles.

Yukon Party’s early performance shows governing is hard, and so is opposition

With any new government there is a period of adjustment for everyone associated with the political system.

Silver’s Liberals could blunt carbon tax rage by showing their work

Libtard. Dumbass. God damn idiot (sic). And those are the comments we didn’t delete. The coming of carbon pricing is not going down well among certain segments of the electorate.

Sandy Silver’s great gamble

Probably the truest words spoken during last weekend’s swearing-in of Yukon’s new Liberal cabinet came from the mouth of Commissioner Doug Phillips, himself a former MLA.

A dictator is a dictator

Can a strongman dictator who suppressed dissent, jailed and killed his political opponents, and maintained power without a democratic mandate from the people redeem his legacy by accomplishing economic, social or geopolitical good?

  • Nov 30, 2016

It’s time to review the Yukon’s royalty regime

For Yukon miners, last weekend’s Geoscience Forum & Trade Show must have been good cause for a party.

After 14 years in power, time for the Yukon Party to reflect

If you’re a Yukon Party supporter, Monday night probably was not a great experience. Watching your caucus get cut in half, your leader lose his own seat and a 14-year run of power come to an end cannot be easy.

Throw your talking points in the garbage where they belong

Yukon’s election campaign draws to a merciful end over the weekend and while formally it’s only been going for a month or so, the reality is that the parties have been campaigning since the summer, if not earlier.

One solid climate change platform split between three parties

Today marks the approximate halfway point of Yukon’s territorial election campaign. And while it’s not hard to improve upon the horrific gong show that is the U.S. presidential election, Yukon’s political parties are due a small amount of credit.

The Yukon Party’s clever carbon tax gambit

One suspects that Premier Darrell Pasloski is more than content to waltz into an election campaign against two left-leaning, vote-splitting parties who are talking about how to implement a carbon tax.