Pelly-Nisutlin is an electoral district which returns a member (known as an MLA) to the Legislative Assembly of the

Yukon Territory 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 ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. It was created in 2002 out of the districts of Faro and Ross River-Southern Lakes. The riding includes the communities of Teslin, Faro, Ross River, Little Salmon, and Johnsons Crossing. It encompasses the traditional territory of the

Teslin Tlingit Council The Teslin Tlingit Council (TTC) is a First Nation band government in the central Yukon in Canada, located in Teslin, Yukon along the Alaska Highway and Teslin Lake. The language originally spoken by the Teslin Tlingit or Deisleen Ḵwáan (″Big ...

and the

Ross River Dena Council The Ross River Dena Council is a First Nation in the eastern Yukon Territory in Canada. Its main centre is in Ross River, Yukon at the junction of the Campbell Highway and the Canol Road, near the confluence of the Pelly River and the Ross River. ...

of the Kaska Dena. Pelly-Nisutlin is bordered by the rural ridings of

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 ...

Lake Laberge Lake Laberge is a widening of the Yukon River north of Whitehorse, Yukon in Canada. It is fifty kilometres long and ranges from two to five kilometres wide. Its water is always very cold, and its weather often harsh and suddenly variable. Names ...

, Mount Lorne-Southern Lakes, and Watson Lake.

Boundary Commission Controversy

Yukon electoral boundaries are examined by a commission every ten years to determine whether they should be adjusted. When Pelly-Nisutlin was created, it drew criticism from the Village of Teslin and the

, which argued that it should not be part of the same riding as Ross River and Faro, but rather

Carcross Carcross, originally known as Caribou Crossing, ( tli, Nadashaa Héeni) is an unincorporated community in Yukon, Canada, on Bennett Lake and Nares Lake. It is home to the Carcross/Tagish First Nation. It is south-southeast by the Alaska Highway ...

and

Tagish The Tagish or Tagish Khwáan ( Tagish: ; tli, Taagish ḵwáan) are a First Nations people of the Athabaskan-speaking ethnolinguistic group that lived around Tagish Lake and Marsh Lake, in Yukon of Canada. The Tagish intermarried heavily with ...

. There was concern not only that the MLA representing the district would face challenges representing and travelling to the communities of such a vast area (Faro is better accessed through

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 ...

), but also because there were greater commonalities between the Teslin Tlingit Council and the

Carcross/Tagish First Nation The Carcross/Tagish First Nation (C/TFN or CTFN) is a First Nation native to the Canadian territory of Yukon. Its original population centres were Carcross and Tagish, and Squanga, although many of its citizens also live in Whitehorse. The lang ...

. Accordingly, the commission considered dismantling the electoral district and redistributing it into neighbouring districts, but rejected the option as it would create a greater imbalance between rural and urban seats in the Yukon. It also rejected the suggestion that Teslin form its own riding, since it was seen as too small in population. The report concluded: "while we acknowledge that the relationship of the Teslin area to the remainder of the electoral district is somewhat of an anomaly, we are unable to propose a justifiable solution other than to retain the district within its current boundaries."Yukon Electoral Boundaries Commission Final Report (2008)
Elections Yukon, p. 16-17.

Members of the Legislative Assembly

Election results

2021 general election

2016 general election

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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 ...

, Ken Hodgins , align="right", 207 , align="right", 31.2% , align="right", -0.8% , - , 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 ...

, Carl Sidney , align="right", 152 , align="right", 23.0% , align="right", +9.9% , - , - , - bgcolor="white" !align="left" colspan=3, Total !align="right", 661 !align="right", 100.0% !align="right", –

2011 general election

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, Carol Geddes , align="right", 178 , align="right", 32.0% , align="right", +6.5% , - , style="width: 130px" ,

, Carl Sidney , align="right", 73 , align="right", 13.1% , align="right", -12.3% , - , style="width: 130px" ,

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 ...

, Elvis Presley , align="right", 31 , align="right", 5.5% , align="right", -1.5% , - bgcolor="white" !align="left" colspan=3, Total !align="right", 557 !align="right", 100.0% !align="right", –

2006 general election

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, Gwen Wally , align="right", 146 , align="right", 25.5% , align="right", +0.2% , - , style="width: 130px" ,

, Hammond Dick , align="right", 145 , align="right", 25.4% , align="right", -2.9% , - , style="width: 130px" ,

, Elvis Aaron Presley ("Tagish" Elvis) , align="right", 40 , align="right", 7.0% , align="right", +7.0% , - bgcolor="white" !align="left" colspan=3, Total !align="right", 572 !align="right", 100.0% !align="right", –

2002 general election

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, Jim McLachlan , align="right", 181 , align="right", 28.3% , align="right", – , - ,

, Buzz Burgess , align="right", 162 , align="right", 25.3% , align="right", – , - bgcolor="white" !align="left" colspan=3, Total !align="right", 640 !align="right", 100.0% !align="right", –

References

{{reflist, 2 Yukon territorial electoral districts