Premier Darrell Pasloski is accusing the NDP and Liberals of trying to stifle the territory’s oil and gas industry even before a final determination on fracking has been made.

Both opposition parties have stated their outright opposition to hydraulic fracturing, Pasloski points out in a press release issued Wednesday.

The premier said the Yukon Party will take the time to thoroughly assess Monday’s report to the legislature on hydraulic fracking before taking a position.

“(Liberal Leader) Sandy Silver and the NDP are once again siding together to stifle yet another industry in Yukon,” Pasloski said.

He pointed out NDP MLAs were front and centre at anti-fracking demonstrations while the all-party Select Committee Regarding the Risks and Benefits of Hydraulic Fracturing was still doing its work.

“As for Sandy Silver, as usual, he changes his tune depending on who he thinks is listening,” Pasloski said in his release.

The all-party fracking committee – three Yukon Party members, two NDP and Silver – were unable to agree on two fundamental questions: whether fracking should be allowed in the Yukon, and whether it can be done safely.

The committee did make 21 recommendations largely aimed at gathering additional information to learn more about the benefits and risks of hydraulic fracturing.

Since the report was delivered Monday, the NDP committee members and lone Liberal have said there are just too many unknowns to permit fracking at this time.

It’s also abundantly clear the vast majority of Yukoners don’t want to see it here, they argue.

Division on the fundamental questions was along party lines, NDP committee members indicated this week.

Pasloski is also accusing the NDP of twisting the facts around an anti-fracking petition to the legislature last November.

The press release notes a preliminary review by researchers indicates the petition falls far short of the 7,400 signatures the New Democrats were claiming – to about half – and also contains duplicate signatures.

Once again, the Yukon Party is having to check the facts the NDP is presenting to the public, the premier said.

“As a sitting government, we know that Yukoners deserve more – a government that does its homework and clarifies the facts.”

NDP spokesman Mike Fancie said late this morning it is the premier who is doing the twisting.

The NDP delivered the petition to the legislature in two parts on behalf of Yukoners Concerned About Oil and Gas Exploration/Development, equalling 7,400 signatures, he explained.

Fancie said the wording for each part was slightly different, though both clearly called for a ban on fracking.

Because the wording was different, the clerk of the assembly only registered one of the petitions, he explained.

Fancie said Pasloski’s accusations wreak of desperation, and the bottom line is that more than 7,000 Yukoners have signed a petition against fracking.

“The government can try and undermine these facts all it wants, but it doesn’t change the fact that Yukoners do not want fracking,” he said.

Yukoners Concerned maintain they’re up to more than 8,000 signatures – all collected within ridings held by the Yukon Party.

The government has not said how long it will take to review the committee’s report and its 21 recommendations.