The following is an open letter written by Yukon NDP Health and Social Services Critic Jan Stick:

I was disappointed, yet not surprised, to read Dr. David Storey’s repeated concerns about the critical shortage of beds at Whitehorse General Hospital in Friday’s Yukon News. Last week, Dr. Storey was forced to cancel two scheduled operations because there were no beds available for his patients. At present, chronic and palliative care patients occupy the majority of the hospital’s 17 acute and post-surgical care beds.

The Yukon NDP Official Opposition caucus has raised issues on behalf of Yukoners that show a widespread desire for change in Yukon as the territory heads into an election year.

The Yukon NDP Official Opposition has blasted the Yukon Party government for holding “information sessions” on its planned Whistle Bend facility instead of meaningful consultations about the future of continuing care in Yukon. 

This session, the Yukon NDP caucus is focused on echoing the vision for a fairer, more sustainable Yukon shared by people across the territory. Whether it's Bill S-6 or a 300-bed continuing care facility in Whistle Bend, a lack of consultation has left the Yukon Party government in the dark about what Yukoners see as priorities for our territory.

As the Yukon Party government doubles down on its controversial plan to build a now-150-bed continuing care facility in Whistle Bend, the Yukon NDP is inviting the public to a town hall meeting on continuing care on September 16th in Whitehorse. The complex, dubbed a “nightmare” by the Yukon government’s assistant deputy minister for continuing care for being located in “an empty field with no community”, was developed without any consultation with Yukoners, Yukon seniors’ groups or health care professionals.

Internal government documents published this morning by the CBC confirm the Yukon NDP’s long-standing concerns about the political motivations behind the Yukon Party government’s planned 300-bed continuing care megaplex in Whitehorse’s Whistle Bend subdivision. The plans for a complex, which were discovered after being accidentally shared on the Yukon government’s website early in 2014, have also come under fire for not including any consultation with Yukon seniors, Elders and the health care community.

This spring, my Yukon NDP colleagues and I heard from hundreds of Yukoners about their priorities and concerns during our 17-stop Sustainable and Prosperous Communities Tour.

What we heard, loud and clear, was that Yukoners want their seniors and Elders to remain a part of their community for as long as possible.

Last week, Yukon government health minister Mike Nixon spoke at length to the media in a bid to sell Yukoners his government’s controversial $330 million 300-bed long-term care complex in Whistle Bend. Nixon had a lot to say about the project – and about questions Yukoners are raising about the government’s sudden announcement of the project.

Liz Hanson, MLA Whitehorse Centre

In my capacity as the member of the Legislative Assembly for Whitehorse Centre, here are a number of insights that I’d like to add to the discussion about the plan to build an outdoor sports complex in Whistle Bend.