Potential Parks Canada workforce cuts are worrying Yukon communities after an internal October announcement that thousands of employees nationwide received affected letters. Reporting cited by Yukon News said 58 of 137 territorial Parks Canada staff got notices that their positions may change or disappear. Kluane MLA Wade Istchenko said job losses would hit his riding hard and could weaken enforcement and community roles at Kluane National Park and Reserve. Kluane First Nation said it was told only a day before the staff call and wants clarity on shared stewardship duties. Parks Canada had not commented to the paper by publication.
The Yukon's few family lawyers are swamped, leaving about 70 per cent of family law litigants to represent themselves, compared with 58 per cent nationally. The Law Society of Yukon lists only 12 family lawyers, and half live outside the territory. Retired chief justice Ron Veale said people facing separation, divorce or custody disputes need help quickly but are often left carrying the burden alone. Caroline Grady of Yukon University said lawyers from outside cost more and lack local expertise. The university plans to launch its first law cohort next September with the University of Calgary, possibly enrolling 25 students.
The Yukon government says its primary care waitlist has shrunk by 60 per cent since January, from 4,606 people to 1,827 in September. But records obtained by CBC News through an access to information request show that, of 5,304 people who registered, nearly 400 were removed because they had left the territory and three because they had died. Health Minister Brad Cathers said most people came off the list after being matched with a doctor or nurse practitioner. He credited the recent recruitment of 12 physicians and new nursing services, including a clinic set up at Dawson City's Yukon Spa.
