With the premier and six ministers, the new Yukon Liberal government cabinet is relatively small, but it is also rather diverse, with equal numbers men and women, two First Nations ministers and one-third rural ministers.

The previous Yukon Party government, for example, had eight cabinet ministers, one of whom, Elaine Taylor, is a woman.

On Saturday afternoon, Premier Sandy Silver unveiled his cabinet to a packed house at the swearing-in ceremony in the lobby of the Yukon Government Main Administration Building.

In addition to being premier, Silver is minister of finance and the minister responsible for the Executive Council Office (ECO).

The deputy premier is Ranj Pillai (Porter Creek South). He is also minister of Energy, Mines and Resources, minister of Economic Development, and the minister responsible for the Yukon Energy and Yukon Development Corporations.

Tracy McPhee (Riverdale South) is the minister of Justice and Education.

Pauline Frost (Vuntut Gwitchin) is the minister of Health and Social Services, minister of Environment, and the minister responsible for the Yukon Housing Corp.

The minister of Community Services is John Streicker (Mount Lorne-Southern Lakes). He is also the minister responsible for the French Language Services Directorate, the Yukon Liquor Corp. and the Yukon Lottery Commission.

Richard Mostyn (Whitehorse West) is the minister of Highways and Public Works and minister responsible for the Public Service Commission.

Jeanie Dendys (Mountainview) is the minister of Tourism and Culture, and the minister responsible for the Women’s Directorate and the Yukon Workers’ Compensation Health and Safety Board.

Nils Clarke (Riverdale North) will be the Speaker of the House after MLAs formally vote on his nomination when the legislature has a short sitting next month.

“I am very, very proud of the team that has taken their oath today,” Silver said in a speech following the ceremony.

“Each member of the team brings their own unique skills and experiences, and together we will work collaboratively and tirelessly for the benefit of Yukoners.”

To media after the ceremony, Silver said cabinet positions were assigned based on MLAs’ experience and skills.

The Liberal party caucus was inaugurated earlier Saturday.

“I’m thrilled to death with the team that we have in general,” said Silver.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a point of assembling a cabinet that “looks like Canada”: one that is culturally diverse and has gender parity.

Silver’s cabinet seems crafted in that spirit.

The Yukon’s Liberal MP, Larry Bagnell, praised Silver’s selection of a cabinet that is reflective of “various groups in society.”

“When you’ve got this broad spectrum of society and this good gender balance, good First Nation input, right at the cabinet level, then you avoid some of these problems that you might not have been aware of and you bring things from the perspectives of the people,” he said.

“That’s a very wise way to select cabinet.”

On Twitter, Currie Dixon, a former Yukon Party cabinet minister, commended the Liberals for its tight cabinet.

“Pretty well put together cabinet. A few, like Frost have heavy loads, but keeping it small to start is wise,” he said.

Like the previous Yukon Party cabinet under former premier Darrell Pasloski, there is no cabinet member expressly designated to Aboriginal Affairs, a file that typically falls within the purview of the ECO.

During the election campaign, Silver said he wanted to bring First Nations culture into the legislative assembly.

After the Yukon Party announced that Geraldine Van Bibber would be the official Opposition’s Aboriginal Affairs critic, there was speculation Silver might make Aboriginal Affairs a named cabinet post. He did not.

When asked who would be in charge of Aboriginal Affairs, Silver said, “The team.”

“If you take a look at the team, we have folks that are married into First Nations families, we have First Nations individuals, and we have, behind the scenes, communities and communities and communities that are all working to bridge gaps with that,” he said.

As for how First Nations culture will be integrated into the workings of government, Silver said it’s too early to say right now. He added he plans to discuss it with the opposition parties, First Nations governments and municipalities, and to do so right away.

Grand Chief Peter Johnston of the Council of Yukon First Nations (CYFN), was encouraged to see The Dakhká Khwáan Dancers involved in the ceremony. He said he’s hopeful that First Nations culture will be better represented in the formal aspects of government.

“We need to put a First Nations spin onto it, we need to have it reflective of who we are and our culture and tradition,” Johnston said after the ceremony.

“Today’s the first step of many, I believe, so I’m looking forward to where things are going from here.”

Already, said Johnston, the Liberal government has made a “180-degree turn around” from the previous Yukon Party government.

“Premier Silver has already committed a lot of time and energy to dealing with me directly, which is great, because he needs our help just as much as we need his,” said Johnston.

“He’s taken that approach that we can all be successful if we have good, honest dialogue, that we not go into situations that need to be adversarial.”

On the campaign trail, Silver vowed to hold the Yukon Forum – the meeting of First Nations government and territorial government leaders – four times a year, or as often as the chiefs desire.

At the next Yukon Forum, building relationships will be the number-one priority, said Johnston.

Silver also promised to meet with all Yukon First Nations chiefs in his first 30 days as premier. As of day one, Silver said he had met with nearly all of the chiefs “informally.”

Silver recently had meetings at the CYFN offices, with members of the both White River First Nation and the Ross River Dena Council, two First Nations without land claim agreements, he said. Johnston was instrumental in arranging those meetings.

“The clock is ticking right now,” said Silver. “Thirty days and we will get that done.”

In a meeting with Chief Jack Caesar and another member of the Ross River Dena Council, the leaders discussed ways to address the community’s housing crisis, said Silver.

“The good news is they have so many solutions that they want to work on,” he said.

The new premier said he would get emergency shelters to the community right away, and also look at a “longer-term solution that works with the Truth and Reconciliation calls to action as well.”

The Liberals promised during the campaign to allocate money for housing in Ross River even though technically, the federal government is responsible for housing in the First Nation community.

“We made a commitment that this is an emergency situation, and we will definitely work with that community to solve that problem on a short-term and on a long-term basis,” said Silver.

He called the meeting with Caesar “fantastic,” and said the ministers of Community Services and Health and Social Services will visit Ross River “as soon as possible.”

This week, Silver will fly out to Ottawa for a meetings with Canada’s premiers, indigenous leaders and the prime minister.

The Yukon is currently chair of the Council of the Federation, the collective of Canadian premiers, and Silver will assume that post after less than a week as premier.

Climate change and Canada’s shift toward a low-carbon economy will be on the agenda at those talks, said Silver.

Pasloski was adamantly opposed to carbon pricing in the Yukon, and made that known to Canada’s premiers at the Council of the Federation summit in July in Whitehorse.

Silver’s Liberals promised to implement a carbon pricing scheme that ensures all the revenues stay in the Yukon.

At this gathering of government leaders, Silver said, he wants to “refocus Yukon’s approach to climate change and carbon pricing.”

Key to this, said Silver, will be discussions he has with his counterparts in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.

He said northern circumstances should be acknowledged in the development of a carbon pricing policy.

“All of my life, it’s always worked really well to work with people, as opposed to try to polarize,” said Silver.

“Nothing’s going to change now that we’re in government. We’re going to work with our territorial partners to come up with a plan for the North.”

In words of advice for the new, mostly green Liberal cabinet, Bagnell encouraged the ministers to “go to the people, don’t wait for them to come to you.”

“You don’t have to cover everything in the world. Do a good job in what you actually have a say in, and what you’re responsible for, and go out and keep in touch with the people.”

The Liberals took 11 seats in the election held four weeks ago today, with the Yukon Party taking six and the New Democrats two.

See related story and NDP statement.