Esau Albert Schafer (born January 16, 1952) 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 ...

politician, who represented the

electoral district An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity ...

of Vuntut Gwitchin in 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 ...

in 1996.Yukon Votes 2006: Vuntut Gwitchin
cbc.ca. He was a member of 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 ...

. Schafer was elected to represent the district in a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

in early 1996, following the death of

Johnny Abel Johnny W. Abel (January 1, 1947 – October 13, 1995) was a Canadian politician, who represented the electoral district of Vuntut Gwitchin in the Yukon Legislative Assembly from 1992 until his death in 1995. He was a member of the Yukon Pa ...

in 1995. In the

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

later that year, however, Schafer and his

New Democrat New Democrats, also known as centrist Democrats, Clinton Democrats, or moderate Democrats, are a centrist ideological faction within the Democratic Party in the United States. As the Third Way faction of the party, they are seen as culturall ...

opponent

Robert Bruce Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (Scottish Gaelic: ''Raibeart an Bruis''), was King of Scots from 1306 to his death in 1329. One of the most renowned warriors of his generation, Robert eventuall ...

ended up tied with exactly 69 votes each, and Bruce was ultimately declared the winner by means of his name being drawn from a hat. Schafer challenged the results in court, and was successful in having the election overturned, but Bruce won the resulting by-election with a clear margin. Schafer is currently on the council of the

Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation The Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation (VGFN) is a First Nation in the northern Yukon in Canada. Its main population centre is Old Crow. The language originally spoken by the people is Gwichʼin. Gwich'in Nation Vuntut Gwich'in refers specifically to t ...

, having served on that body since 2003.

References

Living people 1952 births 20th-century First Nations people 21st-century First Nations people First Nations politicians Vuntut Gwitchin people Yukon Party MLAs {{Yukon-politician-stub