Legislative reports: Yukon.

• Author: McCormick, Floyd

Yukoners went to the polls in a general election on November 4, 2002 to select Members to the 31st wholly elected legislature. To the surprise of most observers the Yukon Party won a resounding victory, capturing 12 of the Assembly's 18 seats. The New Democratic Party won five seats, while the governing Liberals won only one seat, that of leader and out-going Premier Pat Duncan. When the Assembly was dissolved on October 2 the Liberals held eight seats, the NDP four, the Yukon Party two, and three seats were held by independent members.

The Yukon Party victory marks the fourth consecutive general election where the sitting government has failed to win re-election. The Yukon Party was last in government from 1992-1996.

The 12 seats won on election night represents the most ever held by a party in the Yukon Legislative Assembly. The previous high was 11 seats achieved by the Progressive Conservative Party in the 1978 election and by the NDP in 1996. The Liberals reached a high of 11 in November 2000 when they added a by-election win in Faro to the 10 seats won in the general election on April 17, 2000.

Ms. Duncan called the election on October 4. As mentioned in the autumn 2002 edition of this journal the Liberal government had lapsed from a majority to a minority when, on the eve of the 2002 Spring Sitting, three government private members crossed the floor to sit in opposition as independents. The Premier, believing her government would not survive the 2002 Fall Sitting (scheduled to begin on October 17), decided to call an election to restore "certainty" and to acquire a "clear mandate."

The Yukon Party candidates elected to the Assembly include Premier-designate Dennis Fentie (Watson Lake); Peter Jenkins (Klondike); Haakon Arntzen (Copperbelt); Brad Cathers (Lake Laberge); John Edzerza (McIntyre-Takhini), Dean Hassard (Pelly-Nisutlin); Archie Lang (Porter Creek Centre); Jim Kenyon (Porter Creek North); Ted Staffen (Riverdale North); Glenn Hart (Riverdale South); Patrick Rouble (Southern Lakes); and Elaine Taylor (Whitehorse West). Only Mr. Fentie and Mr. Jenkins have experience in the legislature, having both been elected in the general election of September 30, 1996.

The New Democrats elected include party leader Todd Hardy (Whitehorse Centre), Gary McRobb (Kluane), Eric Fairclough (Mayo-Tatchun), Lorraine Peter (Vuntut Gwitchin), and Steve Cardiff (Mount Lorne). Mr. Cardiff is the only true rookie among them. Mr. McRobb and Mr...