Recent data from the Yukon Bureau of Statistics confirm the territorial Liberals’ response to rising everyday costs is failing, the Yukon Party said Monday.

The bureau has announced the December year-over-year Consumer Price Index (CPI) for Whitehorse was “a staggering 8.1 per cent – the highest in Canada,” the Yukon Party noted.

“Even more concerning, from November to December 2022, Whitehorse was the only jurisdiction in the country where CPI rose, while the number in every other jurisdiction fell,” the party said.

“The Yukon Party official Opposition has been sounding the alarm over rising inflation and the cost of living since the spring of 2022, as well as offering numerous suggestions to help offset the cost of groceries, fuel, and housing.

“Instead, the out-of-touch Liberals introduced a suite of measures that were too little, too late, especially for seniors and elders on fixed incomes.”

The Liberals also continue to support tax increases, the party added, “including an increase to the carbon tax, and charging GST on that tax.”

“We continue to hear how Yukoners are being crunched by the rising cost of living,” added Finance critic Brad Cathers.

“The Liberals have been focused on implementing NDP policies such as a rent cap, which both landlords and tenants are telling us is actually hurting the housing market and driving up housing costs. It is concerning the new premier, who says he wants to hear ideas from all sides, is pursuing a new Confidence and Supply Agreement (CASA) that will only increase costs.”

Last fall, the legislative assembly passed a motion from the Yukon Party to have the carbon tax exempted from home heating fuel.

The party has also proposed suspending the territorial fuel tax, doubling the Pioneer Utility Grant, and increasing the amount claimed by the Home Owners Grant, as well as pushing to reduce the red tape on fuel wood harvesting, which “would then reduce costs to consumers,” the YP added.

In addition to the cost of living, items in the CASA agreement have been tied to the CPI, in particular increases to minimum wage, the party pointed out.

“The territorial Liberal government has yet to inform Yukon businesses how much the minimum wage will increase on April 1, 2023, affecting operating costs and potentially further increasing consumer prices,” the official Opposition said.

On April 1, 2022, the Yukon’s minimum wage rose to $15.70 per hour.

Asked about the Yukon Party’s comments, cabinet communications staff acknowledged in a statement today that “inflation is a real concern here in the Yukon, across the country, and around the world.

“On an annual average basis, the Consumer Price Index in Whitehorse increased by 6.8 per cent in 2022, the same amount as Canada, and less than several other Canadian jurisdictions,” the statement added.

“For the past six years, the Yukon Liberal government has pursued policies and investments to make life more affordable for Yukoners, including cutting taxes, raising the minimum wage, and developing a carbon pricing rebate system to ensure all revenues collected by the federal government are returned to Yukoners.”

The Yukon Party and the NDP supported updates to the carbon pricing rebate system in the fall of 2022, the statement noted.

“This year, Yukoners are receiving more, on average, than they pay in carbon pricing. In 2021, the Yukon Liberal government introduced the territory’s first-ever universal, affordable childcare program, saving Yukon families up to $700 per child, per month.

“Not only has this put more money in the pockets of Yukon families, the Yukon is now recognized as a national leader in early learning and childcare.”

Additionally, in 2022, the government provided nearly $5 million worth of inflation relief, including higher payments to Yukoners receiving social assistance and seniors, more funding for Food Network Yukon, a 10-per-cent top-up to the Pioneer Utility Grant, and rebates on the purchase of firewood, the statement pointed out

As well, the Inflation Relief Rebate program also provided $300 in rebates to help all residential and commercial customers in the territory afford their electrical bills.

“This had a broad impact, helping those on fixed incomes and in rural communities.

“Despite the Yukon Party’s mismanagement of rate applications in the past, electricity rates in the Yukon remain the lowest in the North.

“The Yukon government remains focused on making life more affordable for Yukon families through strategic investments.”