Pat Duncan (born April 8, 1960) is a Canadian politician from
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 ...
. Duncan served as leader of 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 ...
from 1998 to 2005 and as the sixth
premier of 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 ...
from 2000 until 2002. Duncan was the first Liberal premier of the Yukon and the first
female premier in the Yukon, the second woman in Canadian history to win the premiership of a province or territory through a general election, the first to do so by defeating an incumbent premier, and the first to do so by defeating a male opponent.
Duncan was appointed to the
Senate of Canada on December 12, 2018.
Life before politics
Duncan was born in
Edmonton
Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...
, Alberta in 1960, and moved with her family to
Whitehorse, Yukon
Whitehorse () is the capital of Yukon, and the largest city in Northern Canada. It was incorporated in 1950 and is located at kilometre 1426 (Historic Mile 918) on the Alaska Highway in southern Yukon. Whitehorse's downtown and Riverdale areas ...
in 1964. She graduated from
Carleton University
Carleton University is an English-language public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to serve returning Wo ...
with a Bachelor of Arts in political science.
Professional background
Prior to entering politics, Duncan was a small business owner. She also served as executive director of the Whitehorse Chamber of Commerce. In the mid-1980s, Duncan served as a special assistant to
Progressive Conservative Deputy Prime Minister
Erik Nielsen
Erik Hersholt Nielsen (February 24, 1924 – September 4, 2008) was a Canadian lawyer and politician. He served as the longtime Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament for Yukon, and was Leader of the Opposition and the third deputy pr ...
. Duncan remained in this position until Nielsen's retirement in 1987.
Yukon politics
Duncan was first elected to the Yukon Legislative Assembly in the 1996 general election. Duncan was elected as a Liberal to represent the Porter Creek South riding, a riding located in
Whitehorse
Whitehorse () is the capital of Yukon, and the largest city in Northern Canada. It was incorporated in 1950 and is located at kilometre 1426 (Historic Mile 918) on the Alaska Highway in southern Yukon. Whitehorse's downtown and Riverdale areas ...
. In the 1996 general election,
Piers McDonald (
New Democratic Party) won a majority government. Duncan was one of three Liberals elected. Liberal leader at the time, Ken Taylor, was unsuccessful in winning his Mount Lorne riding.
In 1998, Duncan was elected leader of 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 ...
. From 1998-2000, Duncan served as the Leader of the Official Opposition in the legislature. In the 2000 general election Duncan led the Yukon Liberal Party to a majority government, defeating New Democratic incumbent
Piers McDonald. The Liberals were elected in 10 ridings and received 42.7% of the popular vote. Early in 2002, the Liberal majority was reduced to a minority after the defection of three Liberal MLAs,
Mike McLarnon
Mike McLarnon is a Canadian former politician, who represented the electoral district of Whitehorse Centre in the Yukon Legislative Assembly from 2000 to 2002.
McLarnon was born and raised in Whitehorse, Yukon and operated several businesses ...
,
Don Roberts and
Wayne Jim. The catalyst for the defections was reported to be Duncan's allegedly heavy-handed and secretive leadership style.
On October 4, 2002, only two years into Duncan's five-year term, she called a general election for November 4, 2002. The rationale for the election was to achieve certainty in the legislature, however many Yukoners were angered at the quick election.
The Yukon Liberals were reduced to only one seat after the election - Duncan's own riding of Porter Creek South.
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 ...
leader
Dennis Fentie
Dennis G. Fentie (November 8, 1950 – August 30, 2019) was a Canadian politician. He was the seventh premier of Yukon and leader of the Yukon Party, serving from 2002 to 2011, as well as the MLA for Watson Lake.
Before entering politics, Fe ...
, a former NDP MLA, led his new party to victory. The Liberals were reduced to third party status with Duncan as the sole Liberal MLA.
At the 2005
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 ...
leadership convention, Duncan was defeated by
Arthur Mitchell by a margin of 357 votes to 303. Citing health concerns, she did not seek re-election in the 2006 general election.
Electoral record
Yukon general election, 2002
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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 ...
, Pat Duncan
, align="right", 408
, align="right", 51.7%
, align="right", -12.5%
,
NDP
NDP may stand for:
Computing
* Neighbor Discovery Protocol, an Internet protocol
* Nortel Discovery Protocol, a layer two Internet protocol, also called SONMP
* Nondeterministic programming, a type of computer language
Government
* National ...
, Paul Warner
, align="right", 80
, align="right", 10.1%
, align="right", -0.7%
, - bgcolor="white"
!align="left" colspan=3, Total
!align="right", 789
!align="right", 100.0%
!align="right", –
Yukon general election, 2000
, -
, style="width: 130px" ,
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 ...
, Pat Duncan
, align="right", 607
, align="right", 64.2%
, align="right", +21.3%
,
NDP
NDP may stand for:
Computing
* Neighbor Discovery Protocol, an Internet protocol
* Nortel Discovery Protocol, a layer two Internet protocol, also called SONMP
* Nondeterministic programming, a type of computer language
Government
* National ...
, Mark Dupuis
, align="right", 103
, align="right", 10.8%
, align="right", -7.0%
, - bgcolor="white"
!align="left" colspan=3, Total
!align="right", 945
!align="right", 100.0%
!align="right", –
Yukon general election, 1996
, -
, style="width: 130px" ,
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 ...
, Pat Duncan
, align="right", 435
, align="right", 42.9%
, align="right", +15.0%
,
NDP
NDP may stand for:
Computing
* Neighbor Discovery Protocol, an Internet protocol
* Nortel Discovery Protocol, a layer two Internet protocol, also called SONMP
* Nondeterministic programming, a type of computer language
Government
* National ...
, Mark Dupuis
, align="right", 181
, align="right", 17.8%
, align="right", -7.8%
, - bgcolor="white"
!align="left" colspan=3, Total
!align="right", 1013
!align="right", 100.0%
!align="right", –
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duncan, Pat
Yukon Liberal Party MLAs
Premiers of Yukon
1960 births
Living people
Women MLAs in Yukon
University of Ottawa alumni
Canadian female first ministers
Politicians from Whitehorse
Politicians from Edmonton
Yukon Liberal Party leaders
Members of the Executive Council of Yukon
Women members of the Senate of Canada
20th-century Canadian politicians
21st-century Canadian politicians
Independent Canadian senators
Canadian senators from Yukon
20th-century Canadian women politicians
21st-century Canadian women politicians