Ken Bolton’s recent letter referring to Dennis Fentie as a dangerous politician was right on the mark.
His particular style of leadership is quite contrary to the expectations of those of us in Watson Lake who unwittingly elected him in the first place.
We are now recognizing more clearly that since becoming premier back in 2002, he and his cabinet colleagues have consistently neglected provision of adequate funding for most community needs.
This became even more evident this spring following his announcement that a $150-million federal grant for infrastructure funding to municipalities would be distributed throughout Yukon. But predictably, after years of waiting, not one dollar was allocated to meet the longstanding requirements of Watson Lake.
As premier, minister of Finance and our elected MLA, one would think he would be sympathetic to his area problems and ensure sufficient funding was made available to at least meet our basic requirements, but all we can do is continue to beg him for assistance.
Unfortunately, he and members of his cabinet exist in a position of parliamentary privilege, exempting them from ordinary law, so the possibility of a judicial review seems unlikely.
But by concurring with his policies and edicts affecting Watson Lake over these past years, each member of cabinet must be held equally responsible for this continuing betrayal of our public trust.
In addition, the recent patronizing appointment of Pat Irvin to replace Willard Phelps as chairman of our Yukon Energy Corporation was certainly not based on merit.
In fact, Irvin is well known locally as a principal campaign organizer for Fentie and a longtime business partner of Highways Minister Archie Lang.
This now places the premier de facto in the chair of an energy corporation designed to function at arm’s length from his own administration.
This can only be described as yet another blatant betrayal of public trust, but until another election is called there is little we can do about it except complain!
Donald E. Taylor
Watson Lake