Premier Ranj Pillai has hailed elements of federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s update on Canada’s finances and economy in her 2023 Fall Economic Statement.

However, the lack of new funding for major infrastructure initiatives and disaster mitigation strategies has disappointed him.

Freeland delivered her update to the House of Commons on Tuesday.

“Our government welcomes the federal government’s focus on affordability measures,” Pillai said Wednesday.

“In particular, new funding to increase housing supply, help first-time home buyers and encourage the construction of new rental units.

“These are important investments that can help tackle the growing challenges faced by Yukoners,” the premier added.

“We will work with our federal counterparts to ensure that these investments can target our unique market and address the distinct needs of northern, rural and remote communities.”

The federal initiatives, he said, “build on actions by the Government of Yukon to provide inflation relief and increase support payments to Yukoners in need.

“However, we were disappointed by the absence of new funding for infrastructure priorities. We continue to call on the federal government to support the critical infrastructure that our communities require and that can support long-term economic growth,” Pillai said.

“In the coming months, we hope to see the launch of a new national infrastructure program that reflects territorial priorities and offers secure, adequate and flexible funding to meet our needs.”

After a record-breaking year of wildfires across the country, Pillai added, “we also see opportunity for the federal government to invest in disaster mitigation and emergency preparedness.

“Western premiers have been united in calling on the federal government to support our jurisdictions in this area, and I am disappointed to see this was not reflected in the Fall Economic Statement.

“Now is the time to prepare, in order to ensure our communities are more resilient and better-positioned to respond in the future to natural disasters that are increasingly frequent and severe due to climate change,” the premier said.

He said his government “looks forward to our ongoing engagements with the federal government and to bilateral conversations with federal ministers when cabinet goes to Ottawa in December.

“There, we will be discussing Yukoners’ priorities as well as how our territory can take advantage of the new measures announced in this statement to the benefit of all Yukoners.”