Liberal Leader Sandy Silver and Pauline Frost, the party’s Vuntut Gwitchin candidate in the Nov. 7 election, have vowed their party would create a more fair, equitable approach to dealing with all communities.

“A Yukon Liberal government recognizes that rural Yukon is a key partner in shaping the future of the territory,” Silver told a news conference. “People in rural Yukon are also best-placed to identify their own concerns and priorities.

“We will work collaboratively with municipalities and First Nation government to build sustainable, diverse economies and support local solutions for local problems to improve our collective way of life.”

He noted his work as the Klondike MLA over the last five years, stressing he was shown just how important rural Yukon is.

“I have always seen the job of a rural MLA as being a community’s representative in Whitehorse, and not the other way around,” he said.

The two candidates noted that funding infrastructure opportunities are often limited to incorporated communities.

That often leaves First Nation communities without the infrastructure dollars to provide the services their citizens need, Frost pointed out.

“We believe all communities matter,” she said.

The Liberals said they would:

• Support municipalities in developing community plans, then use those plans to inform community development;

• Assist communities in coming up with policies around mining within the community boundaries. The policies would respect the needs of residents and offer certainty to land users and potential compensation (where appropriate) for miners;

• Expand on campground infrastructure;

• Support investments in basic infrastructure “that is needed to support communities and industry”; and

• Reduce the reliance of communities on diesel energy.

The party went on to highlight the importance of predictable funding for communities and cite plans to work with the Association of Yukon Communities and local governments.

It would work on long-term infrastructure investment programs that would provide predictable funding for five to 10 years, and establish a five-year funding plan for the Comprehensive Municipal Grant.

It would also implement “appropriate” funding levels for structural fire protection and create a five-year funding formula for the municipal matching rental construction program.

The party did not have details on exactly what projects or funding arrangements might come from the initiatives, stressing that any such decisions will be community-led.

As Silver and Frost emphasized, the communities (municipal, First Nations and others) know best what they need and each community is unique.

“We believe all communities matter,” Frost said, later commenting that these initiatives would give communities a voice.

While the announcement stressed the important role rural Yukon has in the territory, the party presented it in the capital city. As Silver pointed out, that was done to make it easy to the get the message out through local media.