Making Life More Affordable

You face tough decisions every time you reach for something on the grocery store shelf and think twice about placing it in your cart. Or after a long day, you must be creative about how to make dinner because the power is out yet again.

Making ends meet every month has become increasingly and inexcusably challenging for Yukoners.

Affordability issues are affecting Yukoners from Watson Lake to Watson River and Beaver Creek to Wolf Creek.

The Yukon Party recognizes the global forces beyond the Yukon’s control and a national agenda that so often overlooks the North. However, our own deteriorating public finances and what we can achieve right here at home has to be addressed now.

Yukoners need and deserve a safe, affordable home, reliable energy, the opportunity for their business to be allowed to succeed and to not worry quite so much.

The Yukon Party has achievable actions to address some of your cost-of-living challenges and improve your daily lives and livelihoods whether you live in Whitehorse or in a community by:

• Decreasing Your Electricity Costs
  We will roll back the proposed 34 per cent increase to power rates by collaborating with Yukon Energy to restructure the corporation’s capital funding request in its Yukon Utilities Board submission.
   
• Reducing the Costs of Homes
  We will remove all land transfer fees, work with municipalities to waive all development cost charges and permit fees for four years and cut the average housing construction application timeline by 50 per cent by collaborating with the City of Whitehorse and removing delays for builders from the initial sale of a lot to the final sale of a home.
   
• Increasing the Supply of Rental Housing
  We will introduce incentives for builders to construct affordable rental units by creating a new Affordable Rental Credit to spur the construction of rental units; increasing supply and placing downward pressure on rent costs.
   
• Pausing the EPR Program
  We will pause and reassess the Extender Producer Responsibility (EPR) program currently imposing increasing costs and burdens on small businesses which are being passed along to consumers.
   
• Supporting Local Food
  We will use territorial government procurement to support the sector to grow and thrive and in doing so, increase opportunities for export while helping to address high food costs here at home.
   
• Ensuring Nutrition in Yukon Schools
  We will work with the Government of Canada to implement the federally funded National School Food Program in the territory.
   
• Supporting Lower Child Care Costs
  We will maintain the current Universal Child Care Program with funding support from the Government of Canada.
   
• Providing Realistic Medical Travel Rates
  We will review medical travel rates and work to develop medical lodging options for rural Yukoners in Whitehorse and all Yukoners in southern medical destinations such as Vancouver.
   
• Helping Heat and Build Homes
  We will ensure the forest resource sector and log home builders have sufficient access to timber.
   
• Lowering Home Insurance in Whistle Bend and Porter Creek
  We will work with the City of Whitehorse to construct a new firehall in Whistle Bend to improve access to services and safety for the north end of Whitehorse, while also driving down insurance costs for residents within that service area.
   
• Making Life More Affordable for Communities
  We will modernize the Comprehensive Municipal Grant to ensure communities are adequately resourced to deliver essential services and mitigate property tax increases.

The Yukon Party is personified by a diverse team with a wealth and breadth of experiences to see these actions through and help with your cost of living.

On Monday, November 3, vote for the Yukon Party. Vote for change.