Christopher "Chris" William Pearson (April 29, 1931 – February 14, 2014) was the second leader of the

Yukon Progressive Conservative Party The Yukon Progressive Conservative Party (french: Parti progressiste-conservateur du Yukon) was a conservative political party in Yukon, Canada. It was succeeded by the Yukon Party. History The Yukon Progressive Conservative Party was founded in ...

and the first

premier of the Yukon The premier of Yukon is the first minister and head of government for the Canadian territory of Yukon. The post is the territory's head of government, although its powers are considerably more limited than that of a provincial premier. The office ...

in the

Yukon Yukon (; ; formerly called Yukon Territory and also referred to as the Yukon) is the smallest and westernmost of Canada's three territories. It also is the second-least populated province or territory in Canada, with a population of 43,964 as ...

. Born in

Lethbridge Lethbridge ( ) is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. With a population of 101,482 in its 2019 Alberta municipal censuses, 2019 municipal census, Lethbridge became the fourth Alberta city to surpass 100,000 people. The nearby Canadian ...

, Alberta, Pearson moved to the Yukon in 1957 and worked for the government from 1960 until 1973 when he entered private business. Prior to 1978, the

territory A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...

had a

non-partisan Nonpartisanism is a lack of affiliation with, and a lack of bias towards, a political party. While an Oxford English Dictionary definition of ''partisan'' includes adherents of a party, cause, person, etc., in most cases, nonpartisan refers sp ...

legislature A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its p ...

with no individual acting as leader of the government or

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

Career

Pearson was first elected to the

Yukon Legislative Assembly The Yukon Legislative Assembly (french: Assemblée législative du Yukon) is the legislative assembly for Yukon, Canada. Unique among Canada's Provinces and territories of Canada, three territories, the Yukon Legislative Assembly is the only terri ...

in the 1978 election. He was not the party's leader going into the election campaign, but was chosen as government leader because of the defeat of leader

Hilda Watson Hilda Pauline Watson (January 13, 1922 – July 14, 1997) was a Canadian schoolteacher and politician from the Yukon Territory. She was the first woman in Canadian history to lead a political party which was successful in having its members elec ...

in her own riding. He became the leader of the Yukon Territory Progressive Conservative Party on December 8, 1978, when Watson resigned as leader. Pearson led the Yukon's first party government until his resignation in 1985. Pearson's government opposed transboundary native land claims and argued that the territory should be a party to the

Yukon land claims The Yukon Land Claims refer to the process of negotiating and settling Indigenous land claim agreements in Yukon, Canada between First Nations and the federal government. Based on historic occupancy and use, the First Nations claim basic rights t ...

negotiations. The government also fought for greater

responsible government Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability, the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy. Governments (the equivalent of the executive bran ...

in the territory, for granting the territory more say over its natural resources, and for the territory to be a full participant in federal-provincial conferences rather than just an observer. The government successfully obtained the transfer of a number of powers from the federally appointed

commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...

of the territory to the government. In 1982 the Pearson government was re-elected with a

majority A majority, also called a simple majority or absolute majority to distinguish it from #Related terms, related terms, is more than half of the total.Dictionary definitions of ''majority'' aMerriam-Webster recession In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction when there is a general decline in economic activity. Recessions generally occur when there is a widespread drop in spending (an adverse demand shock). This may be triggered by various ...

on the territory which was exacerbated by the collapse of the hard mining industry and the closure of the Faro Mine. Pearson left politics in 1985 but his successor,

Willard Phelps Willard Leroy Phelps (born October 23, 1941) is a former Yukon politician, who briefly served as the second premier of Yukon in 1985. Background Born in 1941, he was the grandson of Willard "Deacon" Phelps and the son of John Phelps, both form ...

, was not able to turn the government's fortunes around. The

Yukon New Democratic Party The Yukon New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique du Yukon) is a Social democracy, social-democratic List of political parties in Yukon, political party in the Yukon territory of Canada. The Yukon NDP first formed the gover ...

won that year's

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

and formed government.

After politics

Pearson served as deputy consul general at the Canadian Consulate in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

, before moving to the

New River Valley The New River Valley is a region along the New River in Southwest Virginia in the United States. It is usually defined as the counties of Montgomery (including the towns of Blacksburg and Christiansburg), Pulaski, Floyd, and Giles and the ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

in 1990. He died on February 14, 2014, in

Claytor Lake Claytor Lake in Pulaski County, Virginia, is a , reservoir on the New River (Kanawha River), New River, created for an Appalachian Power, Appalachian Power Company hydroelectric project. It is named for W. Graham Claytor, W. Graham Claytor, Sr. (1 ...

References

Bibliography

External links

The Second Yukon Party Government, 1982-1985
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pearson, Chris 1931 births 2014 deaths Politicians from Lethbridge Politicians from Whitehorse Premiers of Yukon Yukon Party MLAs University of Alberta alumni Members of the Executive Council of Yukon Yukon political party leaders