Fentie weighs options following minister's resignation

Yukon Premier Dennis Fentie is contemplating his next move this week in the wake of the surprise departure of one of his key cabinet ministers.

Fentie has yet to respond to Brad Cathers's resignation from the Yukon Party caucus, which theLakeLaberge MLA and former minister of energy, mines and resources announced on Friday. He will sit as an Independent MLA when the legislature resumes sitting this fall.

Cabinet spokeswoman Roxanne Vallevand told CBC News on Monday that Fentie will be meeting with his remaining cabinet and caucus members and with Yukon Party officials before making any public statements.

Neither Vallevand, who is also the party's vice-president, nor party president Linda Hillier would comment on Cathers's resignation.

In announcing his decision, Cathers said he could no longer work with Fentie, who he has saidhas not been totally honest on a number of issues and has "a tendency to resort to bullying behaviour."

Minority situation

The departure of Cathersleaves the Yukon Party with nine seats in the legislature and a total of nine seats on the opposition benches, which include fiveLiberals,two New Democrats and two Independents.

Becausehouse Speaker Ted Staffen does not vote except to break a tie, assembly clerk Floyd McCormick said the government side could be outnumbered when MLAs hold a vote in the house.

"Without making any presumption about how people are going to vote, it does effectively place the government in a minority situation when the speaker is in the chair," McCormick said Friday.

A similar defection seven years ago forced Pat Duncan's Liberal government into an election.

Premier 'cornered':NDP leader

Liberal Opposition Leader Arthur Mitchell said he can wina no-confidence vote, triggering an election,because he believes Cathers would vote with the Opposition.

"The wheels are beginning to fall off, and what should occur is we should have an election so that Yukoners will have an opportunity to choose a government that they can trust," Mitchell said.

NDP Leader Todd Hardy said he is also considering a no-confidence vote, saying Cathers's resignation shows that he's probably not the only one dissatisfied with the premier.

"He has a lot of support, and that's why he feels he has the strength right now to be able to make the statements that he has made in regards to Mr. Fentie's leadership and conduct," Hardy said.

Fentie has not yet announced when the fall legislative session will begin.

Alternatively, the Yukon Party could hold on to power and possibly bring Cathers back into the fold if Fentie resigns as leader. Cathers said Friday thathe still supports the party, but he does not support Fentie.

Hardy said Fentie should resign in order to save face.

"When you corner a wild animal, they fight back. And Mr. Fentie is cornered right now," he said.

Premier 'lied' about ATCO talks: Cathers

Cathers was first elected as the Yukon Party MLA for Lake Laberge in 2002 and was first appointed to Fentie's cabinet in 2005.

He was most recently the territory's minister of energy, mines and resources, as well as the government house leader. Before that, he was health and social services minister.

In his decision to quit the caucus, Cathers cited the "ATCO scandal," which involved secret government talks about merging Yukon Energy Corp. with Alberta company ATCO.

Those talks only became public when former Yukon Energy board members leaked discussion documents from the meetings to the media. Fentie has denied allegations that he was working on privatizing the public power utility's assets.

"As many have suspected, the premier lied to the public and to MLAs about his involvement in discussions with ATCO and about what was on the table," Cathers said during Friday's announcement.

"The premier was a lot more involved in the discussions with ATCO than he has indicated, and the government did, in fact, consider [the] sale of public hydro assets and privatization."

Cathers also accused Fentie of a "lack of honesty with the public and with his own caucus" and cited an increased centralization of power in the premier's office "to the extent of the premier giving directions to the departments behind ministers' backs."

Pay cut

Now that he's no longer a cabinet minister, Cathers will lose $36,557 from his annual salary, said Helen Fitzsimmons, who handles finances for the legislative assembly.

But Fitzsimmons added that he will get his own research funding, with that money taken out of the Yukon Party's research budget.

"The Yukon Party will also lose his portion of the budget that's attributed to the whole party, so that will be prorated and pulled out of their current budget and given to him as well," she said.

Legislative assembly staff are still deciding where to move Cathers' office, but Fitzsimmons said he will likely join McIntyre-Takhini MLA John Edzerza, who left the NDP to sit as an Independent earlier this year, in one of the vacant offices in the basement.