Are Yukon's Liberals on a 'march of folly' with the Public Airports Act?

Three weeks into the fall sitting of the Yukon legislature, and nearly a year afterthey were elected, Sandy Silver's Liberal government encountered the first real test of its mettle.

It revolves around Bill 6 the Public Airports Actdesigned to bring the territory into the 21st century. Right now, there's no existinglegislation governing the administration of airports and airport lands in Yukon.

Ottawa transferred responsibility ofWhitehorse and Watson Lake airports two decades ago, and since then airports have been governed by a mish-mash of laws.

So there's little question of the need for Bill 6.

The problem is what the Liberals came up with, and how they went about itunwittingly stumblinginto a hornet's nest.

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Consultation is key

If there's anything the Liberals should have learned from watching the previous Yukon Party government lurch awkwardly from dispute to dispute, it's that consultation is key.

But the primary complaint about Bill 6 from the aviation industry, and some municipalities, is that they weren't adequately consulted. Few, if any, saw theactual draft legislation until just a few weeks before the bill was introduced in the house.

Glenn Priestly of the Northern Air Transport Assocation(NATA) recalled a "brief" phone callhe had last summerwith a government official, but said a "chit-chat" on the phone is not consultation.

NATA says the government official did not indicate that legislation was going forward in the fall, and Priestly says he took pains to point out to the official that similar legislation in the N.W.T. suffered from a lack of consultation with industry.

"I warned him... don't make that mistake," Priestly said.

What's in a word?

"The issue is what constitutes 'consultation,'" Public Works Minister Richard Mostynsaid, inresponse to NATA'sconcerns. He conceded that perhaps that phone call was too informal.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines "consult" this way: to "take counsel with; seek information or advice from; take into consideration or do one's best for... the interests of."

The aviation industry's message is loud and clear: thegovernment did notseek its advice, or doits best for the industry's interests.

Many in the industry are now urging the government to start over on Bill 6, with full, formalconsultations.

"Listening to Yukoners"was a key campaignpromise for the Liberals, with the slogan"Be Heard" on every candidate's sign.

Liberals, Silver pledged, "will ensure that your voice is going to be heard, and that your concerns are going to be acted upon."

So what happened with the Public Airports Act?

The bill was introduced in the legislature on Oct.4, with questions beginning the next week. Silver's government could have acted swiftly thento address the industry's concerns, and put the bill on hold pending further consultations with stakeholders.

That may haveprompted derisivecomments from the oppositionabout the Liberals' inexperience, but the sting would've passed quickly.

The government also would have had a great comeback: "look, we promised to listen, we heard your concerns,andwe're following through on our promises."

Instead, Mostynfaced strenuous opposition and insisted"this bill willpass."

It's not a signature piece of legislation for the Liberals, and the governmentmay have now alienatedan influentialelement of Yukon'sprivate sector.

Why?

Mental standstill

It might be helpful to turn to the prominent American historian, Barbara Tuchman, who tackled the issue of government bullheadedness ("the pursuit of policy contrary to the self-interest of the constituency or state") in her influential 1984 book The March of Folly.

Tuchman identifiedthree stages of folly shown by rulers and policy makers:

1. A mental standstill, which "fixes the principles and boundaries governing a political problem";
2. A rigidifying of initial principles, at a point when government could still use wisdom to re-examine, re-think, and change course.Suchwisdom is "rare as rubies in a backyard,"in the face of a need to protect egos, she argues. "The greater the investment and the more involved in it the sponsor's ego, the more unacceptable is disengagement";
3. Failures enlarge and damage grows until the folly isirreparable.

The way government can avoid such folly, Tuchmansays, is with moral courage a quality she believes governments typically lack.

"To recognize error, to cut losses, to alter course, is the most repugnant option in government," she writes.

There's no danger that the Yukon government will fall on the issue of Bill 6,but it may well have a larger effect other sectors may be watching closely to see if they can trust the Liberal pledge that they'll"Be Heard."