Over the past eight years Yukoners have seen the perils of leadership without vision.

Rather than being driven by any policy objectives for the territory, the political leadership at the Government of Yukon during this period has shown that its policy agenda is driven by headlines, crisis management, or worse, Question Period.

Effective leadership doesn’t come from reacting to every headline. It comes from having clear priorities, staying focused on them and delivering on those promises. Instead, we have seen an ever-expanding list of promises in response to various issues, many of them self-inflicted, which have only served to distract from or delay previous promises. When everything is a priority, nothing is a priority—and ultimately, nothing gets done.

Take for example the real-world example of regulating the profession of psychology in the Yukon. For quick reference in the territory psychology is not regulated.

This means that any regular Joe could open shop today and call themselves a psychologist. This is a serious gap in government regulation of the health profession that could potentially lead to serious harm for those in need of mental health support.

Over three years ago, the Liberal government committed to regulating the profession of psychology. Yet, despite multiple years and many missed deadlines, the regulations have never materialized. The Liberal government and the Minister have failed to prioritize this task, instead becoming distracted by other issues, leaving the public vulnerable.

In contrast, when political leadership is focused on results, action can be achieved much quicker. For example, in 2013 while I was a senior political advisor to Canada’s Health Minister, serious gaps in Canada’s Food and Drugs Act were identified. By rolling up our sleeves we were able to draft a brand-new piece of legislation and have it passed through Parliament by the following year.

In less than two years we were able to rewrite a massive piece of legislation that had implications for the entire health profession down to every hospital, health clinic, and pharmacy across Canada. In the Yukon however, the Liberal government has been so paralyzed and unable to govern that they cannot even meet a self-imposed timeline to consult on a relatively simple regulation after 3 years of inaction.

Just recently, a similar issue to psychology arose regarding the lack of regulation in the social work profession—an oversight that is potentially putting Yukoners at risk. True to form, the Liberal government quickly reacted to the embarrassing media headlines, vowing to introduce regulations for social workers without delay. Yet, with the Liberal government’s record of inaction and inability to deliver, how can the public take the government seriously? In 8 years of the Liberals this is only one example of their inability to do the hard work of governing.

Leadership is about recognizing what’s most important and working tirelessly to make it a reality. To do that effectively, a leader must be willing to do more than to just promise or complain about something, they must be willing to do the work to get the job done. The alternative is what we have now: a pile of press releases wearing a trench coat pretending to be a government.

When a government can no longer effectively govern or achieve results to protect the health and safety of its citizens, it’s time for change. Yukoners both want and deserve an election now so that they can start seeing this change.