Yukon New Democratic Party
Encyclopedia
The Yukon New Democratic Party (NDP) is a social-democratic
political party
in the Yukon
territory of Canada
.
The Yukon NDP first formed the government of the territory under the leadership of Tony Penikett
from 1985 to 1992, and under the leadership of Piers McDonald
from 1996 to 2000. The party's current leader is Elizabeth Hanson
. The NDP sat as official opposition
to the current Yukon Party
government in the Yukon Legislative Assembly
until May 2006. In the 2006 Yukon election
later that year, the three incumbent New Democrat Members of the Legislative Assembly
were reelected, but the party failed to win any additional seats and remained in third place behind the five members of the Yukon Liberal Party
and the ten member Yukon Party majority government
.
In January 2009 the NDP were reduced to two seats: Todd Hardy
(Whitehorse Centre) and Steve Cardiff
(Mount Lorne), after the Party's third member, John Edzerza
, resigned to sit as an independent. Edzerza later rejoined the Yukon Party, for which he had originally been elected in 2002.
Hardy died in July 2010, reducing the NDP to a single seat. On November 12, a by-election was called for his riding of Whitehorse Centre on December 13, which was won by the Party leader Hanson. Cardiff was killed in a car crash on July 7, 2011, again reducing the party to one seat in the legislature entering the 2011 election.
The Yukon NDP is a section of the New Democratic Party
of Canada.
(Note - Party politics only began in the Yukon in 1978)
Social democracy
Social democracy is a political ideology of the center-left on the political spectrum. Social democracy is officially a form of evolutionary reformist socialism. It supports class collaboration as the course to achieve socialism...
political party
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
in the Yukon
Yukon
Yukon is the westernmost and smallest of Canada's three federal territories. It was named after the Yukon River. The word Yukon means "Great River" in Gwich’in....
territory of Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
The Yukon NDP first formed the government of the territory under the leadership of Tony Penikett
Tony Penikett
Antony David John Penikett is a mediator and negotiator and former politician in Yukon, Canada.-Life and work:An activist with the New Democratic Party , Penikett was campaign manager in 1972 for Wally Firth, the first indigenous northern MP ever elected to the House of Commons...
from 1985 to 1992, and under the leadership of Piers McDonald
Piers McDonald
Piers McDonald, OC is a Yukon politician and trade unionist.Born in Kingston, Ontario, McDonald, a miner by profession, was vice-president of the Yukon Federation of Labour from 1981-1982...
from 1996 to 2000. The party's current leader is Elizabeth Hanson
Elizabeth Hanson
Elizabeth Hanson is a territorial politician from the Yukon, Canada. She is the leader of the Yukon New Democratic Party and has held the position since September 26, 2009. On December 13, 2010 she was elected MLA for Whitehorse Centre.-Early life:...
. The NDP sat as official opposition
Official Opposition (Canada)
In Canada, Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition , commonly known as the Official Opposition, is usually the largest parliamentary opposition party in the House of Commons or a provincial legislative assembly that is not in government, either on its own or as part of a governing coalition...
to the current Yukon Party
Yukon Party
The Yukon Party , is a conservative political party in the Yukon Territory of Canada. It was previously known as the Yukon Progressive Conservative Party.-Declining fortunes:...
government in the Yukon Legislative Assembly
Yukon Legislative Assembly
-History:From 1900 to 1978, the elected legislative body in the Yukon was the Yukon Territorial Council, a ten-member body which did not act as the primary government, but was a non-partisan advisory body to the Commissioner of the Yukon...
until May 2006. In the 2006 Yukon election
Yukon general election, 2006
The 36th Yukon general election was held on October 10, 2006, in Yukon, Canada, to elect members of the Yukon Legislative Assembly. The Premier of Yukon asked the territorial Commissioner for a dissolution of the Assembly on September 8, 2006...
later that year, the three incumbent New Democrat Members of the Legislative Assembly
Member of the Legislative Assembly
A Member of the Legislative Assembly or a Member of the Legislature , is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to the legislature or legislative assembly of a sub-national jurisdiction....
were reelected, but the party failed to win any additional seats and remained in third place behind the five members of the Yukon Liberal Party
Yukon Liberal Party
The Yukon Liberal Party is a political party in the Yukon Territory in Canada.Arthur Mitchell is the Leader of the Yukon Liberal Party.-History:...
and the ten member Yukon Party majority government
Majority government
A majority government is when the governing party has an absolute majority of seats in the legislature or parliament in a parliamentary system. This is as opposed to a minority government, where even the largest party wins only a plurality of seats and thus must constantly bargain for support from...
.
In January 2009 the NDP were reduced to two seats: Todd Hardy
Todd Hardy
Todd Hardy was a Canadian politician, and former Leader of the Yukon New Democratic Party. He has also served as Leader of the Opposition in the Yukon Legislative Assembly from 2002 to 2006....
(Whitehorse Centre) and Steve Cardiff
Steve Cardiff
Steve Cardiff was a Canadian politician. He represented the electoral district of Mount Lorne in the Yukon Legislative Assembly.-Political career:He was first elected to the Yukon legislature in the 2002 general election and re-elected in 2006...
(Mount Lorne), after the Party's third member, John Edzerza
John Edzerza
John Edzerza was a Canadian politician. He represented the electoral district of McIntyre-Takhini in the Yukon Legislative Assembly.-Political career:...
, resigned to sit as an independent. Edzerza later rejoined the Yukon Party, for which he had originally been elected in 2002.
Hardy died in July 2010, reducing the NDP to a single seat. On November 12, a by-election was called for his riding of Whitehorse Centre on December 13, which was won by the Party leader Hanson. Cardiff was killed in a car crash on July 7, 2011, again reducing the party to one seat in the legislature entering the 2011 election.
The Yukon NDP is a section of the New Democratic Party
New Democratic Party
The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...
of Canada.
Election results
| Year | Yukon New Democratic Party Leader | No. Seats | % Popular Vote | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 Yukon general election, 1978 The 1978 Yukon general election, held on November 20, 1978, was the first conventional legislative election in the history of Canada's Yukon Territory. Prior elections were held to elect representatives to the Yukon Legislative Council, a non-partisan body that acted in an advisory role to the... |
Fred Berger Fred Berger (politician) Fred Berger was a Canadian politician. First elected to the non-partisan Yukon Territorial Council in the 1974 territorial election, he became the first leader of the Yukon New Democratic Party when the territory adopted political parties for the first time in the 1978 election... |
1 | 20.3% | Third Party |
| 1982 Yukon general election, 1982 The 1982 Yukon general election was held on June 7, 1982 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the territory of Yukon, Canada. It was won by the Progressive Conservatives.-Results:-Results by riding:... |
Tony Penikett Tony Penikett Antony David John Penikett is a mediator and negotiator and former politician in Yukon, Canada.-Life and work:An activist with the New Democratic Party , Penikett was campaign manager in 1972 for Wally Firth, the first indigenous northern MP ever elected to the House of Commons... |
6 | 46.9% | Official Opposition |
| 1985 Yukon general election, 1985 The 1985 Yukon general election was held on May 13, 1985 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the territory of Yukon, Canada. It was won by the New Democratic Party.-Results:-Results by riding:... |
Tony Penikett Tony Penikett Antony David John Penikett is a mediator and negotiator and former politician in Yukon, Canada.-Life and work:An activist with the New Democratic Party , Penikett was campaign manager in 1972 for Wally Firth, the first indigenous northern MP ever elected to the House of Commons... |
8 | 41.1% | Minority Government |
| 1989 Yukon general election, 1989 The 1989 Yukon general election was held on 20 February 1989 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the territory of Yukon, Canada. It was won by the New Democratic Party.-Results:-Results by riding:... |
Tony Penikett Tony Penikett Antony David John Penikett is a mediator and negotiator and former politician in Yukon, Canada.-Life and work:An activist with the New Democratic Party , Penikett was campaign manager in 1972 for Wally Firth, the first indigenous northern MP ever elected to the House of Commons... |
9 | 45.0% | Majority Government |
| 1992 Yukon general election, 1992 The 1992 Yukon general election was held on October 19, 1992 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the territory of Yukon, Canada. It was won by the Yukon Party.-Results by party:-Yukon Votes 1992:... |
Tony Penikett Tony Penikett Antony David John Penikett is a mediator and negotiator and former politician in Yukon, Canada.-Life and work:An activist with the New Democratic Party , Penikett was campaign manager in 1972 for Wally Firth, the first indigenous northern MP ever elected to the House of Commons... |
6 | 35.1% | Official Opposition |
| 1996 Yukon general election, 1996 The 1996 Yukon general election was held on September 30, 1996 to elect the seventeen members of the Yukon Legislative Assembly in Yukon Territory, Canada. The governing Yukon Party, a conservative party, was defeated by the social democratic Yukon New Democratic Party . The NDP formed the... |
Piers McDonald Piers McDonald Piers McDonald, OC is a Yukon politician and trade unionist.Born in Kingston, Ontario, McDonald, a miner by profession, was vice-president of the Yukon Federation of Labour from 1981-1982... |
11 | 39.9% | Majority Government |
| 2000 Yukon general election, 2000 The Yukon general election of 2000 was held on April 17, 2000 to elect members of the Yukon Legislative Assembly in the Yukon Territory in Canada... |
Piers McDonald Piers McDonald Piers McDonald, OC is a Yukon politician and trade unionist.Born in Kingston, Ontario, McDonald, a miner by profession, was vice-president of the Yukon Federation of Labour from 1981-1982... |
6 | 32.8% | Official Opposition |
| 2002 | Todd Hardy Todd Hardy Todd Hardy was a Canadian politician, and former Leader of the Yukon New Democratic Party. He has also served as Leader of the Opposition in the Yukon Legislative Assembly from 2002 to 2006.... |
5 | 26.9% | Official Opposition |
| 2006 Yukon general election, 2006 The 36th Yukon general election was held on October 10, 2006, in Yukon, Canada, to elect members of the Yukon Legislative Assembly. The Premier of Yukon asked the territorial Commissioner for a dissolution of the Assembly on September 8, 2006... |
Todd Hardy Todd Hardy Todd Hardy was a Canadian politician, and former Leader of the Yukon New Democratic Party. He has also served as Leader of the Opposition in the Yukon Legislative Assembly from 2002 to 2006.... |
3 | 23.6% | Third Party |
| 2011 | Elizabeth Hanson Elizabeth Hanson Elizabeth Hanson is a territorial politician from the Yukon, Canada. She is the leader of the Yukon New Democratic Party and has held the position since September 26, 2009. On December 13, 2010 she was elected MLA for Whitehorse Centre.-Early life:... |
6 | 32.6% | Official Opposition |
Leaders
- Fred BergerFred Berger (politician)Fred Berger was a Canadian politician. First elected to the non-partisan Yukon Territorial Council in the 1974 territorial election, he became the first leader of the Yukon New Democratic Party when the territory adopted political parties for the first time in the 1978 election...
1978-1981 - Tony PenikettTony PenikettAntony David John Penikett is a mediator and negotiator and former politician in Yukon, Canada.-Life and work:An activist with the New Democratic Party , Penikett was campaign manager in 1972 for Wally Firth, the first indigenous northern MP ever elected to the House of Commons...
1981-1995 - Piers McDonaldPiers McDonaldPiers McDonald, OC is a Yukon politician and trade unionist.Born in Kingston, Ontario, McDonald, a miner by profession, was vice-president of the Yukon Federation of Labour from 1981-1982...
1995-2000 - Trevor HardingTrevor Harding (politician)Trevor Harding is a Canadian politician, who represented the electoral district of Faro in the Yukon Legislative Assembly from 1992 to 2001.A member of the Yukon New Democratic Party, he served as the party's interim leader in 2000 following the resignation of Piers McDonald...
2000 - Eric FaircloughEric FaircloughEric Fairclough is a Canadian politician, who represented the electoral district of Mayo-Tatchun in the Yukon Legislative Assembly from 1996 to 2011....
2001-2002 - Todd HardyTodd HardyTodd Hardy was a Canadian politician, and former Leader of the Yukon New Democratic Party. He has also served as Leader of the Opposition in the Yukon Legislative Assembly from 2002 to 2006....
2002-2009 - Elizabeth HansonElizabeth HansonElizabeth Hanson is a territorial politician from the Yukon, Canada. She is the leader of the Yukon New Democratic Party and has held the position since September 26, 2009. On December 13, 2010 she was elected MLA for Whitehorse Centre.-Early life:...
2009-present
(Note - Party politics only began in the Yukon in 1978)
See also
- List of articles about Yukon NDP members
- List of Yukon political parties
- List of premiers of Yukon
- List of Yukon Leaders of Opposition