2011 Yukon general election

The 2011 general election in Yukon, Canada, took place on October 11, 2011, to return members to the 33rd Yukon Legislative Assembly.

2011 Yukon general election

← 2006October 11, 20112016 →

All 19 seats to the Legislative Assembly
10 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Turnout74.3%[1]
 Majority partyMinority partyThird party
 
LIB
LeaderDarrell PasloskiElizabeth HansonArthur Mitchell
PartyYukon PartyNew DemocraticLiberal
Leader sinceMay 28, 2011September 26, 2009June 2005
Leader's seatMountainviewWhitehorse CentreRan in
Copperbelt North
[n 1]
(Lost)
Last election10 seats, 40.6%3 seats, 23.6%5 seats, 34.7%
Seats before1115
Seats won1162
Seat changeSteady0Increase5Decrease3
Popular vote6,4005,1543,979
Percentage40.44%32.57%25.33%
SwingDecrease0.1%Increase9.0%Decrease9.5%

Popular vote by riding. As this is a First-Past-The-Post election, seat totals are not determined by popular vote, but instead via results by each riding. Riding names are listed at the bottom of the map.

Premier before election

Darrell Pasloski
Yukon Party

Premier after election

Darrell Pasloski
Yukon Party

The incumbent government was led by Darrell Pasloski, who was elected as leader of the Yukon Party at a convention on May 28, 2011, replacing former Premier Dennis Fentie. The Yukon Party won its third majority government, with Elizabeth Hanson's NDP becoming the Official Opposition, replacing the Liberal Party, whose leader Arthur Mitchell was unable to return to the Assembly.

Pre-writ period

Redistribution

In 2008, the Yukon Assembly struck a committee to review the electoral district boundaries for this election. The committee decided to increase the number of seats in the territory to 19. Yukon now matches the other territorial assemblies in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut in terms of the number of seats.

The rural districts outside of the capital city of Whitehorse remained unchanged with the exception of Mount Lorne and Southern Lakes which were merged into a single district. The total number of rural districts dropped from 9 to 8.[2]

The urban ridings in Whitehorse were increased to 11 from 9. Only three districts in Whitehorse had no boundary changes, Whitehorse Centre, Riverdale North and Riverdale South. The riding that received the most significant alteration was Copperbelt. That district was split into four ridings, primarily Copperbelt North and Copperbelt South, while McIntyre-Takhini was significantly expanded in western uninhabited part of Copperbelt and renamed Takhini-Kopper King. An entirely new riding was also created out of Copperbelt called Mountainview.[2] The remaining urban districts all received minor boundary adjustments.[2]

The boundary changes were adopted by the Yukon Legislative Assembly in 2009.

Lake Laberge dispute

In the fall of 2009, Yukon Party MLA Brad Cathers had a falling out with Premier Dennis Fentie, and ended up sitting as an independent on the opposition side.

Cathers remained a party member despite his public criticism of Fentie. On May 19, 2010, the Yukon Party riding executive of Lake Laberge nominated Brad Cathers as a delegate to the party's 2010 convention. The meeting lasted three hours and saw the riding executive loyal to Fentie, including the President, walk out on the 60 members who attended. Former MLA Al Falle defended Cathers at the meeting. The meeting ended with a board of directors loyal to Cathers being elected.[3]

Summary of results

Official results.[4]

Summary of Results
PartyVotes%Seats
2006DissolutionElectedChange
Yukon Party6,40040.44101111+1
New Democratic5,15432.57316+3
Liberal4,00825.33552-3
Green1040.66NewNew0New
First Nations Party810.51NewNew0New
Independents790.50000±0
Vacant1
Total15,826100.00181819+1
Popular vote
Yukon Party
40.44%
New Democratic
32.57%
Liberal
25.33%
Green
0.56%
Others
1.10%
Seats summary
Yukon Party
57.89%
New Democratic
31.58%
Liberal
10.53%

Candidates running

Bold incumbents indicates cabinet members and party leaders and the speaker of the assembly are italicized.[5]

Rural Yukon

Electoral districtCandidatesIncumbent
YukonNDPLiberalOther
KlondikeSteve Nordick
404 (37.4%)
Jorn Meier
147 (13.6%)
Sandy Silver
530 (49.0%)
Steve Nordick
KluaneWade Istchenko
287 (37.9%)
Eric Stinson
220 (29.0%)
Timothy Cant
219 (28.9%)
Gerald Dickson (FNP)
32 (4.2%)
Gary McRobb
Lake LabergeBrad Cathers
528 (51.9%)
Frank Turner
330 (32.4%)
Mike Simon
159 (15.6%)
Brad Cathers
Mayo-TatchunElaine Wyatt
214 (31.6%)
Jim Tredger
282 (41.7%)
Eric Fairclough
181 (26.7%)
Eric Fairclough
Mount Lorne-Southern LakesDeborah Fulmer
395 (37.9%)
Kevin Barr
488 (46.8%)
Ted Adel
111 (10.6%)
Stanley James (FNP)
49 (4.7%)
Vacant
Mount Lorne
Merged district
Patrick Rouble
Southern Lakes
Pelly-NisutlinStacey Hassard
275 (49.4%)
Carol Geddes
178 (32.0%)
Carl Sidney
73 (13.1%)
Elvis Presley (Ind.)
31 (5.6%)
Marian Horne
Vuntut GwitchinGarry Njootli
52 (35.9%)
Darius Elias
93 (64.1%)
Darius Elias
Watson LakePatti McLeod
276 (37.8%)
Liard McMillan
242 (33.1%)
Thomas Slager
165 (22.6%)
Patricia Gilhooly (Ind.)
48 (6.6%)
Dennis Fentie

Whitehorse

Electoral districtCandidatesIncumbent
YukonNDPLiberalOther
Copperbelt NorthCurrie Dixon
520 (47.9%)
Skeeter Miller-Wright
159 (14.6%)
Arthur Mitchell
407 (37.5%)


Split district
Arthur Mitchell
Copperbelt
Copperbelt SouthValerie Boxall
394 (40.4%)
Lois Moorcroft
397 (40.7%)
Colleen Wirth
184 (18.9%)


Split district
MountainviewDarrell Pasloski
480 (44.8%)
Stephen Dunbar-Edge
376 (35.1%)
Dave Sloan
216 (20.1%)
New district
Porter Creek CentreDavid Laxton
298 (38.6%)
Jean-François Des Lauriers
230 (29.8%)
Kerry Huff
245 (31.7%)
Archie Lang
Porter Creek NorthDoug Graham
400 (49.8%)
Mike Tribes
253 (31.5%)
Dawn Beauchemin
82 (10.2%)
Mike Ivens (Green)
69 (8.6%)
Jim Kenyon
Porter Creek SouthMike Nixon
257 (42.9%)
John Carney
99 (16.5%)
Don Inverarity
243 (40.6%)
Don Inverarity
Riverdale NorthScott Kent
366 (37.1%)
Peter Lesniak
296 (30.0%)
Christie Richardson
289 (29.3%)
Kristina Calhoun (Green)
35 (3.5%)
Ted Staffen
Riverdale SouthGlenn Hart
314 (32.4%)
Jan Stick
380 (39.3%)
Dan Curtis
274 (28.3%)
Glenn Hart
Takhini-Kopper KingSamson Hartland
316 (31.7%)
Kate White
458 (45.9%)
Cherish Clarke
224 (22.4%)
John Edzerza
McIntyre-Takhini
Whitehorse CentreMarian Horne
202 (24.3%)
Elizabeth (Liz) Hanson
525 (63.2%)
Patrick Singh
104 (12.5%)
Elizabeth (Liz) Hanson
Whitehorse WestElaine Taylor
422 (58.2%)
Louis R. Gagnon
94 (13.0%)
Cully Robinson
209 (28.8%)
Elaine Taylor

Timeline

Retiring MLAs

MemberDistrictPartyReason
[16]John EdzerzaMcIntyre-TakhiniYukon PartySerious health issues
[25]Dennis FentieWatson LakeYukon PartyRetire as Premier and from politics and will live full-time in Watson Lake
[26]Jim KenyonPorter Creek NorthYukon PartyDefeated in party nomination.
[27]Archie LangPorter Creek CentreYukon PartyRetired for undisclosed reasons.
[28]Gary McRobbKluaneLiberalHe'd been working too long as an MLA.
[29]Patrick RoubleSouthern LakesYukon PartyAttending the University of Calgary to attain a doctorate degree.
[30]Ted StaffenRiverdale NorthYukon PartyInterested in returning to business in the private sector

Opinion polls

Polling FirmDate of PollingLinkYukon PartyNew DemocraticLiberalGreen
DataPath SystemsOctober 2–6, 2011[1]3535262
DataPath SystemsJuly 17–25, 2011[2]4035157
DataPath SystemsJuly 2010[3]222639

Notes

References