Paul Thériault 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 ...

former politician, who was 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 ...

in 1992."Yukon Party upsets NDP: Three former Tories win as Independents". ''

Vancouver Sun The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. Published s ...

'', October 20, 1992. A school principal 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 ...

,David Leyton-Brown, ''Canadian Annual Review of Politics and Public Affairs 1992''.

University of Toronto Press The University of Toronto Press is a Canadian university press founded in 1901. Although it was founded in 1901, the press did not actually publish any books until 1911. The press originally printed only examination books and the university cale ...

, 1992. . p. 267. Thériault had resided in

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 ...

for just eighteen months when he sought the leadership. Prior to moving to Yukon, he had been a

Saskatchewan Liberal Party The Saskatchewan Liberal Party is a liberal political party in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The party was the provincial affiliate of the Liberal Party of Canada until 2009. It was previously one of the two largest parties in the provi ...

candidate in the 1986 provincial election in

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dak ...

. He became leader at a time when the party was moribund, as it was entirely shut out of the

Legislative Assembly of Yukon The Yukon Legislative Assembly (french: Assemblée législative du Yukon) is the legislative assembly for Yukon, Canada. Unique among Canada's three territories, the Yukon Legislative Assembly is the only territorial legislature which is organiz ...

in the

1989 election The following elections occurred in the year 1989. Africa * 1989 Beninese parliamentary election * 1989 Botswana general election * 1989 Equatorial Guinean presidential election * 1989 People's Republic of the Congo parliamentary election * 19 ...

and had been effectively leaderless since the resignation of Jim McLachlan following that defeat. In the hopes of uniting to defeat the incumbent

Yukon New Democratic Party The Yukon New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique du Yukon) is a social-democratic political party in the Yukon territory of Canada. The Yukon NDP first formed the government of the territory under the leadership of Tony P ...

government in the 1992 election, Thériault entered coalition negotiations with

John Ostashek John Ostashek (May 10, 1936 – June 10, 2007) was a Yukon politician. An entrepreneur, he was elected leader of the Yukon Party in June 1992 and led it to victory in the fall 1992 election in which he also won a seat in the legislature for the ...

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 ...

, but the negotiations failed. In the election campaign, Thériault's Liberal platform included $22 million in spending cuts, the creation of a new government department of mines and energy, the splitting of the Yukon Development and Yukon Energy corporations, and a $30 million plan to improve sewage treatment. During the campaign, Thériault faced controversy when it was revealed that he had once unsuccessfully sought a

Progressive Conservative Party of Canada The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (PC; french: Parti progressiste-conservateur du Canada) was a centre-right federal political party in Canada that existed from 1942 to 2003. From Canadian Confederation in 1867 until 1942, the ...

nomination, and had run for the presidency of the federal New Democratic Party. The party won just one seat in the 1992 election, that of Jack Cable in the electoral district of

Riverside Riverside may refer to: Places Australia * Riverside, Tasmania, a suburb of Launceston, Tasmania Canada * Riverside (electoral district), in the Yukon * Riverside, Calgary, a neighbourhood in Alberta * Riverside, Manitoba, a former rural m ...

. Thériault himself was defeated in

Riverdale South Riverdale South is an electoral district which elects a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) to the Legislative Assembly of the Yukon Territory in Canada. Along with Riverdale North, it makes up the subdivision of Whitehorse called Riverdale ...

Bea Firth Beatrice Ann Firth (January 27, 1946 – June 20, 2008) was a Canadian politician, who represented the electoral district of Riverdale South in the Yukon Legislative Assembly from 1982 to 1996. She was a member of the Yukon Progressive Conserv ...

."YUKON ELECTION: Voters return minority government". ''

Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as ''The Bytown Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris, it was renamed the ''Citizen'' in 1851. The new ...

'', October 20, 1992. He announced his resignation as party leader in his concession speech, and was succeeded by Cable.

References

Living people Yukon Liberal Party leaders Franco-Yukonnais people Saskatchewan Liberal Party politicians Candidates in Saskatchewan provincial elections Year of birth missing (living people) {{Yukon-politician-stub