Change Starts Now: Yukon Party sweeps to majority, ending nearly a decade of Liberal rule

The territory’s conservative-leaning Yukon Party won 14 of the territory’s 21 seats, securing a majority government while also breaking nearly a decade of Liberal rule on Monday night. “What a night, and what a result,” Premier-designate Currie Dixon told a crowd of supporters at the party’s election night watch event in Whitehorse. “Tonight, Yukoners chose to move on from the status quo. They chose a new path. They chose change.” Dixon will be the Yukon’s 12th premier. He previously held various cabinet positions with the party before 2016. He’s also the first premier to be born and raised in the territory. Dixon told reporters he was grateful for the opportunity. “I feel an immense amount of gratitude for the trust that Yukoners have placed in me and our team, and I’m eager. I’m eager to get to work,” he said. Dixon said his party is ready to begin tackling issues from its campaign, including the housing crisis, healthcare access and community safety. “Yukoners have told us that they want to see this change, and the good news is that change is here,” he said. He also noted the party had six Indigenous candidates running, the most of any of the territory’s three parties. According to Dixon, it’s the highest number of Indigenous candidates to ever run in a territorial election. “I think that we made a concerted effort to try to develop a strong, diverse team and that included reaching out to people of a variety of backgrounds, including First Nations. And so, we did that, and I think we did that successfully,” he said. NDP moves to official opposition, Liberals shrink to one seat While the Yukon NDP didn’t get the chance to form government, it still made gains. The party increased its number of seats from three to six, propelling it from third party to the official opposition. But for the Liberals, whose seven sitting cabinet ministers declined to seek re-election, the results are a brutal defeat. The party’s eight seats shrank to just one in the remote riding of Vuntut Gwitchin where a seven-vote margin has triggered an automatic recount. Former premier Mike Pemberton, who became party leader in June and didn’t previously hold a seat, also failed to win in his own riding of Whitehorse West. He said he’ll stay on as party leader, at least for the time being. Voters say ‘yes’ to electoral reform – though Yukon Party unlikely to follow through The election also included a plebiscite asking Yukoners if they wanted electoral reform, changing the current voting system from first-past-the-post to a ranked ballot. The majority of voters, about 10,000, said yes – though the result is ultimately non-binding. Dixon said his party is unlikely to advance the issue. “We made our position throughout the election clear that we had concerns with the process that led us to the plebiscite. We had concerns with the plebiscite itself, the wording of it,” he said. “We’ll look at the results and take them seriously, but we’re not particularly keen to change away from first-past-the-post.” Voter turnout was also down this year. Unofficial Elections Yukon results show turnout was 53 per cent – a decrease from 65.6 per cent in 2021. Continue Reading