List of premiers of Yukon

The Canadian territory of Yukon has had a responsible government since 1978. In the 19th century, Yukon was a segment of the Hudson's Bay Company-administered North-Western Territory and then the Canadian-administered Northwest Territories. The territory only obtained a recognizable local government in 1895 when it became a separate district of the Northwest Territories.[1] In 1898, Yukon was made a separate territory with its own commissioner and appointed Territorial Council.[2] Prior to 1978, the territory had a legislature with a largely advisory role and no political parties or government leader. Instead, powers were invested in a governing Commissioner appointed by the federal government.[3]

Yukon has had nine Premiers since 1978, of which five were from the Yukon Party and its predecessor the Yukon Progressive Conservative Party, two were from the Yukon Liberal Party, and two were from the Yukon New Democratic Party. Yukon is the only province or territory in Canada that has never had a native-born premier. The Government of Yukon does not publish an official list of premiers, listed here are the terms of serve as provided by the Parliament of Canada.[4]

Premiers of Yukon

  Yukon Liberal Party   Yukon New Democratic Party   Yukon Progressive Conservative Party   Yukon Party

Premier (party)			Incumbency	Period[4]	Assemblies	Elections
	1st	Chris Pearson[N 1] (Progressive Conservative) (1931-2014)	6 years, 122 days	November 20, 1978 March 22, 1985	24th 25th	Elected November 20, 1978 Re-elected June 7, 1982 Resigned March 1985
	2nd	Willard Phelps[N 1] (Progressive Conservative) (b. 1941)	66 days	March 23, 1985 May 28, 1985	25th	Designated March 1985
	3rd	Tony Penikett (NDP) (b. 1945)	7 years, 161 days	May 29, 1985 November 6, 1992	26th 27th	Elected May 13, 1985 Re-elected February 20, 1989
	4th	John Ostashek[N 1] (Yukon Party)[N 2](1936-2007)	3 years, 346 days	November 7, 1992 October 18, 1996	28th	Elected October 19, 1992
	5th	Piers McDonald (NDP) (b. 1955)	3 years, 199 days	October 19, 1996 May 5, 2000	29th	Elected September 30, 1996
	6th	Pat Duncan (Liberal) (b. 1960)	2 years, 181 days	May 6, 2000 November 30, 2002	30th	Elected April 17, 2000
	7th	Dennis Fentie (Yukon Party) (1950-2019)	8 years, 192 days	November 30, 2002 June 10, 2011	31st 32nd	Elected November 4, 2002 Re-elected October 10, 2006 Resigned April 27, 2011
	8th	Darrell Pasloski (Yukon Party) (b. 1960)	5 years, 175 days	June 11, 2011 December 3, 2016	32nd 33rd	Designated May 28, 2011 Re-elected October 11, 2011
	9th	Sandy Silver (Liberal) (b. 1969)	4 years, 63 days	December 3, 2016 present	34th	Elected November 7, 2016

Living former premiers

As of August 2019, five former premiers are alive, the oldest being Willard Phelps (1985, born 1941). The most recent former premier to die was Dennis Fentie (2002–2011), on August 30, 2019. He was also the most recently serving premier to die.

Name	Term	Date of birth
Willard Phelps	1985	October 23, 1941
Tony Penikett	1985–1992	February 11, 1945
Piers McDonald	1996–2000	August 4, 1955
Pat Duncan	2000–2002	April 8, 1960
Darrell Pasloski	2011–2016	December 7, 1960

See also

• List of Yukon commissioners
• List of Yukon Leaders of Opposition

Footnotes

1. Used the title Government Leader instead of Premier
2. In 1992, the Yukon Progressive Conservative Party changed its name to the Yukon Party.

Notes

1. Coates 1988, p. 74
2. Coates 1988, p. 103
3. "Territorial Battles: Yukon Elections, 1978-2006". CBC. November 22, 1978. Retrieved November 10, 2008.
4. "Territory File - Premiers - Yukon". Parliament of Canada. Retrieved October 30, 2012.

References

• "General Elections". Elections Yukon. Retrieved November 10, 2008.
• Coates, Kenneth; Morrison, William Robert (1988). Land of the Midnight Sun. Hurtig Publishers. ISBN 978-0-88830-331-8.

External links

• Premier of Yukon