The Yukon government has brought forward legislation to pause the implementation of the proposed health authority.

Health Minister Brad Cathers told reporters that if the proposed amendments to the Health Authority Act, introduced in the legislative assembly on Monday, are passed, it will give time for the territory to consult other levels of government about what happens next.

“We will consider everything that we hear from other governments in between now and next steps on this,” he said.

Cathers said more details about the proposed pause will be released in the legislature.

A news release on Monday elaborates on the amendments the Yukon government is seeking to the Health Authority Act. For example, the proposed changes would take away certain transition steps currently required by the territory, the initial health authority board and the Yukon Hospital Corporation.

Creating the authority, named Shäw Kwä’ą, was recommended in Putting People First, a 2020 report on the state of the Yukon’s health-care system. It’s intended to be an arm’s-length organization that will carry out front-line care.

The former Liberal government launched plans for the authority in 2024 with the support of First Nations. The authority has a board and chair, with more than $17 million already spent on it.

Backers of the plan said it would help root out systemic racism in the health-care system and improve outcomes for Indigenous patients.

Premier Currie Dixon campaigned last fall on a promise to “reassess” plans for the health authority. He’s also previously said there are aspects of the plan that can be kept, such as a cultural safety and humility strategy.

According to Monday’s news release, pausing the work to implement health authority will allow resources to be directed to front-line care and health worker recruitment efforts. It will also increase the money available for hospitals, the release says.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Official Opposition Leader Kate White said she hadn’t seen the proposed amendments to the Health Authority Act since they were just tabled that day.

White expressed concern about the speed at which the new government is seeking to reverse the previous government’s work. She had expected it sometime in the future, not this quick.

White said after she’s studied the new legislation, she will reach out to the Yukon First Nations’ Chiefs Committee on Health which has come out against the new government’s plan.

“I think there’s going to be a lot of concerns,” White said.

In February, the government said it would consider repealing the health authority act sometime this fall.

Stephen Mills, who was appointed health authority board chair last year, has called the decision to press the brakes on implementing health authority “uninformed.” He said it would be a lost opportunity to transform the health system.