Sidney Alexander "Sandy" Silver (born October 15, 1969) is a

Canadian Canadians () 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 their being ''C ...

politician, who served as the ninth premier of Yukon from 2016 to 2023. He was first elected to the

Yukon Legislative Assembly The Yukon Legislative Assembly () is the legislative assembly for Yukon, Canada. Unique among Canada's three territories, the Yukon Legislative Assembly is the only territorial legislature which is organized along political party lines. In contr ...

in the 2011 election, and was re-elected in

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

. He represents the electoral district of Klondike and previously served as Leader of the Yukon Liberal Party.

Political career

33rd Assembly

Silver was first elected on October 11, 2011, defeating incumbent Yukon Party Cabinet minister Steve Nordick in the rural Yukon riding of Klondike. It was the only gain for the Yukon Liberal Party that election, which saw its caucus reduced to two seats (Silver and Darius Elias) and its leader, Arthur Mitchell defeated. As a member of the assembly, Sandy Silver sat on the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, the Standing Committee on Appointments to Major Government Board and Committees, and the Members’ Services Board. He also served on the Select Committee on Whistle-blower Protection and the Select Committee Regarding the Risks and Benefits of Hydraulic Fracturing.Sandy Silver
Yukon Legislative Assembly. Retrieved January 26, 2017. On August 17, 2012, Silver became interim leader of the Yukon Liberal Party following the resignation of Darius Elias, who quit the Liberals to sit as an

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

and leaving Silver as the lone Liberal MLA in the legislative assembly. Elias would later

cross the floor In some parliamentary systems (e.g., in Canada and the United Kingdom), politicians are said to cross the floor if they formally change their political affiliation to a political party different from the one they were initially elected under. I ...

to sit with the governing Yukon Party. Silver became the permanent leader of the Yukon Liberal Party by acclamation in February 2014.

34th Assembly

Silver led the Liberals to a majority government in the 2016 election, taking his party from his single seat in the legislature to 11 of 19. It was also the party's strongest-ever showing in rural Yukon, where the Liberals took four of eight seats. Silver himself won the most votes and the highest share of support than any other candidate on election night. His party had campaigned on a platform that advocated for economic diversification, environmental protection, and improving First Nations relations. Silver and his Cabinet was sworn in on December 3, 2016. His seven-member cabinet consisted of four men and three women. Silver himself assumed the portfolios of Minister of Finance and Minister of the Executive Council Office, in addition to

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 govern ...

. He is currently also a member of the Members' Services Board.

35th Assembly

Silver led the Liberals into the 2021 territorial election. The party won 8 seats, an exact tie with the Yukon Party. The Liberals lost the popular vote overall to the Yukon Party. Silver was personally elected in the district of Klondike. Silver announced his intent to form a

minority government A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in ...

despite the tie. On April 23, the Liberals were sworn in with a

. On April 28, the NDP announced that they had entered into a formal agreement with the Liberals. On September 9, 2022, Silver announced his intention to resign as premier and party leader, staying on until the party elected a successor. He also announced he would not be running for re-election to his riding of Klondike in the next election. He was succeeded by

Ranj Pillai Ranj Pillai (born January 1974) is a Canadian politician, who has been the tenth premier of Yukon since January 14, 2023, and leader of the Yukon Liberal Party since January 9, 2023. He represents the electoral district of Porter Creek South i ...

. He currently serves as Minister of Finance in the Pillai ministry.

Personal life

Originally from Antigonish,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

, Silver has lived in

Dawson City Dawson City is a town in the Canadian territory of Yukon. It is inseparably linked to the Klondike Gold Rush (1896–1899). Its population was 1,577 as of the 2021 census, making it the second-largest municipality in Yukon. History Prior t ...

since 1998. Before his election to the Legislative Assembly, he was a high school math teacher at Robert Service School in Dawson. He holds degrees in math and psychology from

St. Francis Xavier University St. Francis Xavier University is a public undergraduate liberal arts university located in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is a member of the Maple League, a group of primarily undergraduate universities in Eastern Canada. History St. Fran ...

and a Bachelor of Education from the

University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Orono, Maine, United States. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the Flagship universitie ...

.Sandy Silver, Liberal Leader
Yukon Liberal Party. Retrieved January 26, 2017.

Electoral record

Yukon general election, 2016

, - , Liberal , Sandy Silver , align="right", 687 , align="right", 59.1% , align="right", +10.3% , - , - , NDP , Jay Farr , align="right", 111 , align="right", 9.5% , align="right", -4.0% , - ! align=left colspan=3, Total ! align= 1,163 ! align= 100.0% ! align= –

Yukon general election, 2011

, - , Liberal , Sandy Silver , align="right", 530 , align="right", 48.8% , align="right", +34.1% , - , - , NDP , Jorn Meir , align="right", 147 , align="right", 13.5% , align="right", -19.6% , - ! align=left colspan=3, Total ! align= 1,085 ! align= 100.0% ! align= –

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Silver, Sandy Yukon Liberal Party MLAs 1969 births Living people Yukon Liberal Party leaders People from Antigonish, Nova Scotia Politicians from Dawson City St. Francis Xavier University alumni University of Maine alumni 21st-century members of the Yukon Legislative Assembly Premiers of Yukon Members of the Executive Council of Yukon Canadian schoolteachers