The 34th Yukon Legislative Assembly commenced on November 8, 2016, after Yukon voters defeated the

Yukon Party The Yukon Party (french: Parti du Yukon) is a conservative political party in Yukon, Canada. It is the successor to the Yukon Progressive Conservative Party. Formation With Prime Minister Brian Mulroney's Progressive Conservative federal go ...

government under the leadership of

Darrell Pasloski Darrell Thomas Pasloski (born December 2, 1960) is a territorial politician from Yukon, Canada, who was leader of the Yukon Party, and served as the eighth premier of Yukon from 2011 to 2016. His party was defeated in the general election of No ...

and returned a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

majority government under the leadership of

Sandy Silver Sidney Alexander "Sandy" Silver (born October 15, 1969) is a Canadians, Canadian politician, the ninth and current premier of Yukon since 2016. He was first elected to the Yukon Legislative Assembly in the 2011 Yukon general election, 2011 electio ...

. The Yukon Party was reduced to Official Opposition status and the

New Democrats New Democrats, also known as centrist Democrats, Clinton Democrats, or moderate Democrats, are a centrist ideological faction within the Democratic Party in the United States. As the Third Way faction of the party, they are seen as culturall ...

were reduced to Third Party status. It is the second Liberal government in Yukon history.

First Session

The first session of the 34th Legislative Assembly was convened on January 12, 2017. The single-day session was called by the Premier in order to allow the legislature to elect a new Speaker (Nils Clarke) and establish committee membership from among the MLAs. In a rarity, there was no indication from the government as to what its legislative agenda would look like in its term, as the government signaled its preference to use a late spring sitting for its Speech from the Throne. The short one-day session drew criticism from the Opposition, which claimed that the government had denied them the opportunity to hold the government to account through either debate or Question Periods. The Premier later called a second sitting of the Legislative Assembly for April 20; five months since the government was sworn into office. According to the ''Whitehorse Star'', since the beginning of party politics in the Yukon in 1978, no government had gone so long between an election and its first Question Period. The decision drew fire from the Opposition, who labeled it a "profound lack of respect for the legislature." Premier Silver also drew criticism for authorizing nearly $30 million in Special Warrant spending - money approved without legislative oversight - a practice he decried while in Opposition himself. Weeks later, Silver authorized an even larger Special Warrant - this time worth up to $427 million, with $334 million related to operation and maintenance funds and $93 million to capital plans up to June 30, 2017. This new Special Warrant, the largest in Yukon history by more than double, drew severe criticism from the Opposition, who labeled Silver's actions as hypocritical.

Executive Council

The new Executive Council of the Yukon (Cabinet) was sworn in on December 3, 2016.

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

Silver appointed six ministers; a Cabinet that was smaller than his predecessors. The Cabinet was the second gender-balanced Cabinet in Yukon history, following in the footsteps of the previous

Premier

Pat Duncan Pat Duncan (born April 8, 1960) is a Canadian politician from Yukon. Duncan served as leader of the Yukon Liberal Party from 1998 to 2005 and as the sixth premier of Yukon from 2000 until 2002. Duncan was the first Liberal premier of the Yukon ...

. The Executive Council was made up of members of the

Yukon Liberal Party The Yukon Liberal Party (french: Parti libéral du Yukon) is a political party in the territory of Yukon, Canada. The party is not organizationally linked to the federal Liberal Party of Canada in any official manner. Sandy Silver, MLA for Klond ...

Leadership changes

was defeated in his riding of Mountainview on election night and was unable to return to the

Yukon Legislative Assembly The Yukon Legislative Assembly (french: Assemblée législative du Yukon) is the legislative assembly for Yukon, Canada. Unique among Canada's Provinces and territories of Canada, three territories, the Yukon Legislative Assembly is the only terri ...

to lead the

. After losing government status and falling to six seats, the Yukon Party appointed

Stacey Hassard Stacey Hassard is a Canadian politician, who was elected to in the Yukon Legislative Assembly in the 2011 election. He represents the electoral district of Pelly-Nisutlin as a member of the Yukon Party caucus. He is a former leader of the Yuk ...

as interim leader. He is also interim Leader of the Official Opposition until the Yukon Party chooses a permanent replacement in the spring of 2017.Stacey Hassard named Yukon Party's interim leader
''Yukon News'' (Maura Forrest), November 18, 2016. Retrieved January 25, 2017.

Seating plan

Members

''Italicized text'' indicates a member of cabinet. Bold text indicates a party leader. ''Both'' indicates the Premier of Yukon

References

External links

Yukon Legislature
{{Yukon politics Yukon Legislative Assemblies Lists of people from Yukon 2016 in Yukon 2017 in Yukon 2018 in Yukon 2019 in Yukon 2020 in Yukon 2016 establishments in Yukon 2016 in Canadian politics 2017 in Canadian politics 2018 in Canadian politics 2019 in Canadian politics 2020 in Canadian politics Yukon politics-related lists