Yukon Party fails to topple Liberal gov't, as NDP rejects partnership

Yukon's Official Opposition has failed in its attempt to topple Sandy Silver's Liberal minority government, as the NDP pointedly refused to play along.

Currie Dixon's opposition Yukon Party tabled a motion of non-confidence against Silver's government, seven months after Yukoners reduced the Liberals to a minority government in the last general election.

The motion was defeated in a vote in the Legislature late Wednesday afternoon, with only the Yukon Party's eight MLAs voting in favour.

For the motion to carry, Currie Dixon's Yukon Party would have needed at least two other MLAs to back it. That led him this week to court the NDP.

NDP Leader Kate White, however, was having none of it. In an emotional speech in the Legislature on Wednesday, she described how she felt she was being manipulated, and she questioned the sincerity of the Yukon Party's stated rationale for the motion.

"What we don't need right now is political games. We don't need a party leveraging the use of children for their own political gain," she said, referring to the Hidden Valley school sexual abuse case which has dominated political debate for months, and served as backdrop to Wednesday's drama in the Legislature.  

"I know that not everyone will agree with the position that we're taking today. The government has failed to act on and address many issues, and Hidden Valley is the primary one," White said, just before voting against the non-confidence motion.

Speaking before the vote on Wednesday, Dixon described how he felt duty-bound to introduce the non-confidence motion. He said Silver's government was failing on a number of fronts, but that his primary concern was the Hidden Valley case.

The Yukon Party has repeatedly hammered the government and the former education minister to speak about when they knew about the sexual abuse case, and what they did or did not do about it.

Several independent investigations are now underway into the Hidden Valley case, including one called by the government itself.

Dixon said he wants more — namely, a public inquiry. He said that's what he'd do if his party were to replace the Liberals in power, and it's why he forced a confidence vote.

"It was after hours and hours of difficult conversations, letters, emails and correspondence from families and others. It was with the interests of the parents and children in mind," Dixon said.

"I wish that we weren't here today being forced to discuss this, but we have to."

Dixon argued that an election would not be necessary even if his motion carried, because he was willing to work out a deal with the NDP — a party typically at the opposite end of the political spectrum — to prop up his own minority government.