The Yukon Territorial Council was a political body in the Canadian territory of

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 ...

, prior to the creation of 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 ...

. Although not a full

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 ...

, the council acted as an advisory body to the

Commissioner of Yukon The commissioner of Yukon (french: Commissaire du Yukon) is the representative of the Government of Canada in the Canadian federal territory of Yukon. The commissioner is appointed by the federal government and, in contrast to the governor gene ...

, and had the power to pass non-binding motions of legislation which would be forwarded to the commissioner for consideration. Unlike the federal

Governor General of Canada The governor general of Canada (french: gouverneure générale du Canada) is the federal viceregal representative of the . The is head of state of Canada and the 14 other Commonwealth realms, but resides in oldest and most populous realm, t ...

and the provincial

Lieutenant Governors A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

, who officially retain the power to approve or reject legislation from parliament or a provincial legislative assembly but in practice are bound by the will of the legislature with their powers of

disallowance and reservation Disallowance and reservation are historical constitutional powers that were instituted in several territories throughout the British Empire as a mechanism to delay or overrule legislation. Originally created to preserve the Crown's authority over ...

restricted to extraordinary circumstances, a territorial commissioner retains much stronger power over the territory's political affairs.Kenneth Coates and Judith Powell, ''The Modern North: People, Politics and the Rejection of Colonialism''. Lorimer, 1999. . p. 63. The council was, thus, not a fully

democratic government Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation ("direct democracy"), or to choose gover ...

; although an elected body, its powers were significantly more constrained than those of a provincial legislative assembly.

History

First established in 1898 as an appointed body, the first election to the council took place in 1900 to elect two at-large members alongside the already-appointed ones. Until 1909, the council retained a mix of appointed and elected members, with the 1909 election being the first one to elect the entire body. Elections to the council officially took place on 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 s ...

basis, and no political parties were incorporated at the territorial level, although the

electoral district association An electoral district association (french: association de circonscription enregistrée), commonly known as a riding association (french: association de comté) or constituency association, is the basic unit of a political party at the level of the ...

s of the federal Progressive Conservative, Liberal and New Democratic parties sometimes put forward unofficial

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

s of candidates. Many other candidates were actively involved in the federal political parties, and effectively served as representatives of their federal party even if they had not been part of an organized slate. The number of seats on the council varied throughout its history, from as few as three to as many as twelve. The council met in

Dawson City Dawson City, officially the City of Dawson, is a town in the Canadian territory of Yukon. It is inseparably linked to the Klondike Gold Rush (1896–99). Its population was 1,577 as of the 2021 census, making it the second-largest town in Yuko ...

until 1953, when the territory's capital was moved to

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 ...

."Mayor Gordon Armstrong – 1950"
Hougen Group of Companies.

Evolution toward democratic government

In 1966, the territorial council passed a motion calling for an elected council of 15 members, the upgrading of Yukon's status from a territory to a full province within 12 years, and the creation of an executive committee with full

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

powers. Although the motion was disallowed, it did lead to the negotiation of a series of reforms in the 1970s which ultimately led to the establishment of the fully democratic

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 1978. Beginning in 1970 an executive committee was created, consisting of the commissioner, two civil servants from the commissioner's administration, and two members of the territorial council."Dissension racks council in Yukon". ''

Montreal Gazette The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of th ...

'', April 4, 1972. The two councillors on the executive committee were also given ministerial responsibilities over certain aspects of territorial governance; one minister would be responsible for education, while the other would be responsible for health and welfare, effectively making them much more powerful than their other colleagues on the council. The first two executive councillors,

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 ...

and

Norman Chamberlist Norman (Norm) Chamberlist (1918–2001) was a Canadian politician, who served on Whitehorse City Council and the Yukon Territorial Council. First elected in the 1961 election, he was forced to resign the seat within a few months after a firm i ...

, were able to convince two other non-executive councillors to support them in an electoral bloc which gave them disproportionate control over all council business on the seven-member council. Council business during this era regularly passed or failed on a consistent 4-3 split, based solely on whether Watson and Chamberlist supported or opposed the motion — thus effectively transforming the body from the consensus government model on which it had been based into a quasi-partisan majority government. The new structure proved controversial, and led to a period of internal dissension within the council and widespread dissatisfaction with its work among the general public. Noted political conflicts during this era included a jurisdictional dispute with

Whitehorse City Council The Whitehorse City Council is the governing body of the city of Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada. The council consists of a mayor plus six councillors elected at large. The current mayor of Whitehorse is Dan Curtis, since 2012. Governance of the city wa ...

in 1973 which led five of the six city councillors to resign their seats in protest,"Five out of six Whitehorse aldermen resign over harassment, court battle with Yukon". ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', July 11, 1973. and dissension over the introduction of medicare in 1974 which resulted in 4,000 of the territory's 6,651 registered voters signing a petition demanding the council's dissolution. For the subsequent 1974 election, federal

Indian and Northern Affairs Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

minister

Jean Chrétien Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien (; born January 11, 1934) is a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 20th prime minister of Canada from 1993 to 2003. Born and raised in Shawinigan Falls, Quebec, Chrétien is a law graduate from Uni ...

introduced legislation increasing the number of seats on the council from seven to 12, and the number of executive councillors from two to three. In 1977, a fourth executive councillor was added, giving the territorial council the majority of the seats on the executive committee for the first time. The 1974 election was the last election of members to the territorial council. After a change in the territory's election law formally established the Legislative Assembly and the political party structure that now prevails in Yukon politics, the body was dissolved, and the 1978 election was the first one contested under the new fully democratic structure.

Original members

Appointed

Appointments to the council were chosen by the Government of Canada.

Elected

The first election held on October 18, 1900 elected two members at large. The council would divide the territory into districts for the second general election held on January 13, 1903. Appointed members during this period did not have to be reappointed, although vacancies in appointed seats were filled with new appointments, and only seats held by elected members were vacated during elections. The elections were called by the Yukon Commissioner, while electoral district boundaries were controlled by an act of legislation from the council. Alfred Thompson resigned his seat on November 3, 1904 after being elected as Yukon's federal

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

, but no by-election was held to succeed him.

Numbered assemblies

For the 1909 election, the appointed seats were removed from the council, and the body became fully elected for the first time. Under the current conventions of the

References

{{Yukon politics Legislature of Yukon 1898 establishments in Yukon 1978 disestablishments in Canada * Defunct advisory councils in Canada