'Unremarkable': Hefty budget packs no punch, Yukon opposition says

Yukon's two opposition parties don't often agree with each other, but they're in harmony when it comes to the territorial government's latest budget it's kind of a yawn, they say.

"Unremarkable," said Official Opposition Leader Currie Dixon of the Yukon Party.

"Unexceptional," offeredNDP Leader Kate White.

That's despite Premier Sandy Silver's efforts to talk up the budget he tabled in the Legislature on Thursday, the first day of the spring sitting. The $1.97-billion dollar budget includes $546 million in capital spending both record-high figures and puts the territory firmly in the black this yearwith an estimated surplus of $39.5 million.

"Despite record spending, I am proud to once again deliver a balanced budget that reflects the prudent fiscal management Yukoners expect from their government," Silver said in his budget address.

Dixon, not dazzled by the numbers, and said the budget is remarkablein sizebut not in vision or innovation.

"When you look at the contents of the budget itself, it's fairly unremarkable. There's a long list of projects in there, none of which I think are new," he said.

"Really, what we see is an inflated version of last year's budget, with a few trinkets thrown in to buy off the NDP."

The NDP's support is crucial for the government to survive. After Silver's Liberals were reduced to a minority in last spring's election, he signed an agreement with White to keep the Liberals in power. The NDP would support the Liberal governmenton any confidence vote, such as a budget bill, in exchange for some policy concessions.

White suggested the budget does pass muster, pointing to the $1.8 million committed to a territory-wide dental care plan for people who are uninsured.

"Because of the things that I'm so committed to, including the dental planwhich I'm really happy to see funded in there, I'll be voting in favourof [the budget],because that's part of my agreement," she said.

Still, she says, "I wanted more."

Like Dixon, White says the budget lacks ambition.

"We're coming out of COVID. Here's an opportunity to reinvent what we thought was normal, here's an opportunity to lay out, like, a brand new vision of things that we're going to do and that's not what it was," she said.

More money needed to addressopioid crisis, NDP says

White wants to see more money put toward tackling the territory's opioid crisis. The government has budgeted$5.5 million this year to respond to the substance use health emergency declared in January, and White thinks that's not enough.

She wants to see more money for harm reduction programs, including safe supply initiatives for rural communities.

White is also disappointed with the government's spending on climate change initiatives. More money is going toward highway maintenance than the government's climate change strategy, according to the NDP.

"[The government]declared a climate emergency just over two years ago. We're not talking about how we're going to change that,we're not talking about active transportation in a real, meaningful way."

Meanwhile, Dixon says the budget fails to address what he sees as a major concern the cost of living in Yukon.

"You look at the gas pumps today, the gas priceis at a record high in the territory. There's no plan to address that. There's no plan to address the housing affordability issue," he said.

Dixon also says the government is "resting on its laurels" when it comes to the economy. The big picture may look rosy, he says, but things look different up close. Many businesses are still struggling, he says.

"They point to the macro-level figures like the GDP growth, and indicate that all is fine. But when we talk to small business owners, when we talk to folks with small and medium enterprises, that's not what we hear," Dixon said.

"We think that this government's out of touch with the private sector, for sure."