Gary Douglas McRobb is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

politician, who represented the rural Yukon

electoral district An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity ...

Kluane Kluane is an electoral district which returns a member (known as an MLA) to the Legislative Assembly of the Canadian territory of Yukon. It is named after Kluane National Park, which is within the riding. It is one of the Yukon's eight rural dis ...

in 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 ...

from 1996 to 2011.

Political career

McRobb entered public life to protect Aishihik Lake from further hydroelectric projects. He was elected as a member of the incoming

New Democrat New Democrats, also known as centrist Democrats, Clinton Democrats, or moderate Democrats, are a centrist ideological faction within the Democratic Party in the United States. As the Third Way faction of the party, they are seen as culturall ...

government of

Piers McDonald Piers McDonald, OC (born August 4, 1955) is a Yukon politician and businessman. Born in Kingston, Ontario, McDonald, originally a miner by profession, is a long-time MLA, Cabinet minister, and the fifth premier of Yukon. He was leader of the Y ...

in the 1996 Yukon election. Though McRobb was not appointed to Cabinet, he was appointed Cabinet Commissioner for Energy, Mines and Resources in the McDonald administration. He also served as Deputy Speaker of the Yukon Legislative Assembly. McRobb was re-elected as a member of the New Democrats in the

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

and

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

Yukon elections, and served as Opposition House Leader and New Democrat caucus critic for Tourism, Energy, Mines and Resources, Transportation, Information, and Communications, the Yukon Development Corporation, and the Yukon Energy Corporation. In 2006, McRobb was expelled from the New Democrat caucus by then-leader

Todd Hardy Todd Hardy (May 17, 1957 – July 28, 2010) was a Canadian carpenter, trade union activist, and politician who served as Leader of the Yukon New Democratic Party. He has also served as Leader of the Opposition in the Yukon Legislative Assembly f ...

when it was discovered that McRobb and his colleague,

Mayo-Tatchun Mayo-Tatchun is an electoral district which returns an MLA to the Legislative Assembly of the Yukon Territory in Canada. It is an amalgamation of the former Mayo and Tatchun electoral districts. Mayo-Tatchun is currently one of the Yukon's e ...

MLA

Eric Fairclough Eric Fairclough is a Canadian politician, who was a Cabinet minister and Leader of the Official Opposition in the Yukon Legislative Assembly. He represented the rural Yukon electoral district of Mayo-Tatchun in the Yukon Legislative Assembly f ...

, had been publicly consulting constituents about considering quitting the New Democrats for the Liberals due to Hardy's isolated decision-making and a lack of faith in his leadership. McRobb and Fairclough soon moved to the Liberal caucus, reducing Hardy's New Democrats to third party status and elevating the

Yukon Liberal Party The Yukon Liberal Party (french: Parti libéral du Yukon) is a political party in the territory of Yukon, Canada. The party is not organizationally linked to the federal Liberal Party of Canada in any official manner. Sandy Silver, MLA for Klond ...

to Official Opposition. The move prompted the New Democrats to table legislation preventing MLAs from crossing the floor without an ensuing election, but the legislation was never adopted. McRobb and Fairclough were elected comfortably as Liberals in the 2006 election later that same year and the Liberals retained their Official Opposition status. Hardy's New Democrats remained the third party. During the 32nd Assembly, McRobb served as the Opposition House Leader, as well as the Liberal critic for Energy, Mines and Resources, Highways and Public Works, and the Yukon Energy Corporation and the Yukon Development Corporation. As energy critic, he was outspoken against the governing

Yukon Party The Yukon Party (french: Parti du Yukon) is a conservative political party in Yukon, Canada. It is the successor to the Yukon Progressive Conservative Party. Formation With Prime Minister Brian Mulroney's Progressive Conservative federal go ...

's secretive efforts to privatize Yukon Energy in a sale to

ATCO Electric ATCO Electric is an electric utility company. Based in Edmonton, Alberta, ATCO Electric transmits and distributes electricity to two thirds of Alberta, namely in north and east-central Alberta, as well as communities in Yukon and the Northwest Terr ...

. During his tenure in office, McRobb had developed a reputation of a political attack dog, who the media noted would "occasionally... over-reach, with accusations never quite substantiated in fact." McRobb announced his decision to retire from politics prior to the 2011 election, citing that he had served enough time in elected office.A fighter hands up his gloves
''Yukon News'' (John Thompson), August 3, 2011.

Electoral record

Yukon general election, 2006

, - ,

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

, Gary McRobb , align="right", 317 , align="right", 53.3 , align="right", +37.2 , - , - ,

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * t ...

, Lillian Grubach-Hambrook , align="right", 82 , align="right", 13.8 , align="right", -51.3 , - ,

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

, Freddy Hutter , align="right", 19 , align="right", 3.2 , align="right", +3.2 , - ! align=left colspan=3, Total ! align= 598 ! align= 100 ! align= –

Yukon general election, 2002

, - ,

, Gary McRobb , align="right", 442 , align="right", 65.1 , align="right", +11.1 , - , - ,

, Paul Birkckel , align="right", 109 , align="right", 16.1 , align="right", +0.7 , - ! align=left colspan=3, Total ! align= 679 ! align= 100 ! align= –

Yukon general election, 2000

, - ,

, Gary McRobb , align="right", 405 , align="right", 55.0 , align="right", +6.5 , - , - ,

, Gerald Brown , align="right", 113 , align="right", 15.4 , align="right", -8.2 , - ! align=left colspan=3, Total ! align= 736 ! align= 100 ! align= –

Yukon general election, 1996

, - ,

, Gary McRobb , align="right", 364 , align="right", 48.5 , align="right", +8.4 , - ,

, John Farynowski , align="right", 177 , align="right", 23.6 , align="right", +23.6 , - , - ,

, Bonnie Lock , align="right", 66 , align="right", 8.8 , align="right", +8.8 , - ! align=left colspan=3, Total ! align= 751 ! align= 100 ! align= –

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McRobb, Gary Yukon New Democratic Party MLAs Yukon Liberal Party MLAs Living people 1956 births 21st-century Canadian politicians