John Devries (born March 20, 1945) is a former political figure in the

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 ...

, Canada. He represented Watson Lake 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 ...

from 1989 to 1996 as 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 ...

. He was born in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, the son of Wiebe Devries and Geeskje Lenos, came to Canada with his parents in 1947 and was educated in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

. In 1976, he married Henriette Gwendyke Dryer. He served in the Yukon cabinet as Minister of Economic Development, Mines, Small Business and Minister of Government Services from 1992 to 1994. Devries was Speaker for the assembly from 1994 to 1996. Before entering politics, he was a mechanic,

taxidermist Taxidermy is the art of preserving an animal's body via mounting (over an armature) or stuffing, for the purpose of display or study. Animals are often, but not always, portrayed in a lifelike state. The word ''taxidermy'' describes the proce ...

and guide. He was defeated by

Dennis Fentie Dennis G. Fentie (November 8, 1950 – August 30, 2019) was a Canadian politician. He was the seventh premier of Yukon and leader of the Yukon Party, serving from 2002 to 2011, as well as the MLA for Watson Lake. Before entering politics, Fe ...

when he ran for reelection in 1996.

References

Living people 1945 births Yukon Party MLAs Speakers of the Yukon Legislative Assembly {{Yukon-politician-stub