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No new rules for cabinet ministers seeking Yukon Liberal Party leadership: premier

Date of Yukon Liberal Party leadership convention remains undetermined
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Premier Sandy Silver announced he will be stepping down during a press conference in the cabinet office on Sept. 9. (Dana Hatherly/Yukon News)

Premier Sandy Silver has declared he will not be creating any new rules for cabinet ministers seeking to take over as leader of the Yukon Liberal Party.

“Anybody who’s going to run has to do so within the laws and within the Conflict of Interest Act,” Silver told the News during an Oct. 4 interview.

“I see no problem with that.”

The Conflict of Interest Act doesn’t include any rules specific to elections or party leadership races. It sets guidelines against MLAs using information gained in office for personal gain. It also includes rules for receiving gifts and accepting or awarding government contracts.

Silver announced Sept. 9 that he will not be seeking re-election for a fourth term.

In the meantime, he will continue in his role as MLA for Klondike for the remainder of his term and he will continue serving as the premier until a new leader is chosen to replace him through a Yukon Liberal Party leadership convention.

In an email statement, Paolo Gallina, the spokesperson on behalf of the Yukon Liberal Party for the leadership convention, said the party is still discussing rules for candidates and wants to be open to as many candidates as possible.

“As the premier has mentioned today, he is not applying additional rules to ministers,” Gallina said.

“The party is also confident that anyone seeking the leadership will do so with integrity and in a way that avoids any conflict of interest.”

The party has not yet set a date for the leadership convention.

The Yukon Party and the Yukon NDP had been calling for the parameters of the race to be set out ahead of the 2022 fall sitting of the legislature, which begins Oct. 6.

In a joint statement, both opposition parties wanted to see clear rules for cabinet ministers to ensure their positions and government resources are not being abused and used to campaign.

Contact Dana Hatherly at dana.hatherly@yukon-news.com



Dana Hatherly

About the Author: Dana Hatherly

I’m the legislative reporter for the Yukon News.
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