Ahead of this fall sitting of the Yukon Legislative Assembly, Premier Currie Dixon says the Yukon government will be showing its work to get the budget on track.
Dixon doubles as the territory’s finance minister. He says Yukoners can expect a mini capital budget, the fiscal and economic outlook, and a supplementary budget when MLAs return to the legislature this fall.
Dixon says those public documents will demonstrate how the territory’s nearly $82-million deficit is coming down since the spring. According to Dixon, more restrained spending combined with unforeseen revenues from the federal government helped reduce that number.
“We’ve begun to make some changes,” he said.
“We launched the Responsible Spending Initiative, which is aimed at reducing expenditures for the Yukon government. We’ve set new targets for spending that are much more constrained than previous governments.”
Finance department officials didn’t provide the official budget documents or lay out any numbers during a technical briefing with reporters Monday. Dixon also kept that information under wraps.
But officials say the three key items the government meant to address with the upcoming budgetary process are the territory’s deficit, debt limit and capital planning.
Compared to the last couple of budgets he put forward since the Yukon Party was elected to form a majority government, Dixon says his government is starting to deliver on his election platform commitments.
For example, he says Yukoners will see a territorial firearms act outlined in the legislature. He said to watch for more details to come when that legislation is tabled.
When asked what might increase the confidence residents have in the Yukon’s isolated electricity grid and its supply and demand issue, Dixon deferred to his counterparts in Ottawa. His energy minister, Ted Laking, has been repeatedly reminding people that the territory’s capital city narrowly avoided rolling blackouts last winter.
“Whatever solution that comes is going to have to come from the federal government because the Yukon is just too small,” Dixon said. “Our budget is just too small to respond to this.”
The Yukon government has requested that the federal government increase its borrowing limit from $1.2 billion to $3 billion. Officials say the territory is doing positive work with the feds, but they don’t yet have a clear timeline for a decision.
Budget-related documents provided to reporters say the territorial government’s new debt management policy is intended to guide choices it makes around borrowing and spending.
Dixon says his goal is to shift away from what he calls a “reliance on fall supplementary budgets as a way to deal with additional spending.”
The supplementary budget looks at progress made on this year’s main budget plans, while Dixon says the capital budget identifies projects that need to go out to tender before the building season. The latter document will include less-flashy projects such as modular additions at schools and road work.
“When you deal only with capital coming in the spring, it means that we aren’t able to table some of our capital projects until midway through the summer or even late into the summer. And often that means that we miss critical parts of our building season here in the Yukon,” he said.
“By allowing us to table an earlier capital budget, it’ll position us well to have projects tabled earlier in the year.”
Dixon says that change from previous years is something the construction industry called for.
Members of the Legislative Assembly are expected to debate the capital and supplementary budgets before they go to a vote.
A full capital budget will come out with the main budget this spring.
The Yukon Legislative Assembly reconvenes Oct. 5.
Related stories from around the North:
Canada: Experts say virtual health care could fill gaps in the Dehcho. Some residents aren’t so sure, Radio-Canada
Finland: Wildfires continue to burn across Lapland, Yle News
Norway: Smoke from Canadian wildfires forecast to reach Norway, The Associated Press
United States: Senators, including Alaska’s, sound alarm on cuts impacting Indigenous health care agency, Eye on the Arctic
