1996 Yukon general election

The 1996 Yukon general election was held on September 30, 1996 to elect the seventeen members of the 29th Yukon Legislative Assembly in Yukon Territory, Canada. The governing Yukon Party, a conservative party, was defeated by the social democratic New Democratic Party (NDP). The NDP formed a new majority government of the territory with 11 seats. Party leader Piers McDonald became Government Leader. The Yukon Party and the centrist Yukon Liberal Party each won three seats, although Liberal leader Ken Taylor failed to be elected.

1996 Yukon general election

← 1992 September 30, 1996 2000 →
17 seats of the Yukon Legislative Assembly 9 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	79.58%[1] ( 2.04pp)
First party Second party Third party   YP YLP Leader Piers McDonald John Ostashek Ken Taylor Party New Democratic Yukon Party Liberal Leader since 1995 1992 1995 Leader's seat McIntyre-Takhini Porter Creek North Ran in Mount Lorne (lost) Last election 6 7 1 Seats won 11 3 3 Seat change 5 4 2 Popular vote 5,760 4,392 3,464 Percentage 39.81% 30.36% 23.94% Swing 4.73pp 5.52pp 7.84pp
Popular vote by riding. As this is an FPTP election, seat totals are not determined by popular vote, but instead by the result in each riding. Riding names are listed at the bottom.
Government Leader before election John Ostashek Yukon Party Premier after election Piers McDonald New Democratic

Results by party

Summary of the 1996 Legislative Assembly of Yukon election results^[2]

Party		Party leader	Candidates	Seats				Popular vote
				1992	Dissol.	1996	Change	#	%	Change
	New Democratic	Piers McDonald	16	6	6	11	+5	5,760	39.81%	+4.73%
	Yukon Party	John Ostashek	15	7	7	3	-4	4,392	30.36%	-5.52%
	Liberal	Ken Taylor	16	1	1	3	+2	3,464	23.94%	+7.84%
	Independent		7	3	3	0	-3	852	5.89%	N/A
Total			54	17	17	17		14,468	100.00%

Popular vote New Democratic   39.81% Yukon Party   30.36% Liberal   23.94% Independent   5.89%

Seats summary New Democratic   64.70% Yukon Party   17.65% Liberal   17.65%

Member Changes from Previous Election

Changes in seats held (1992-1996)

Seat	Before				Change
	Date	Member	Party	Reason	Date	Member	Party
Whitehorse West	September 27, 1995	Tony Penikett	█ New Democratic	Resignation	February 5, 1996	David Sloan	█ New Democratic
Vuntut Gwitchin	October 13, 1995	Johnny Abel	█ Yukon Party	Death	February 5, 1996	Esau Schafer	█ Yukon Party

The Yukon Legislature after the 1996 election.

Incumbents not Running for Reelection

The following MLAs had announced that they would not be running in the 1996 election:

Independent

• Bea Firth (Riverdale South)

New Democratic Party

• Danny Joe (Mayo-Tatchun)
• Margaret Commodore (Whitehorse Centre)

Yukon Party

• Bill Brewster (Kluane)
• David Millar (Klondike)
• John Devries (Watson Lake)

Riding Results

Bold indicates party leaders
† - denotes a retiring incumbent MLA

Electoral district	Candidates								Incumbent
	NDP		Yukon		Liberal		Independent
Faro		Trevor Harding 530				Ed Peake 29				Trevor Harding
Klondike		Tim Gerberding 372		Peter Jenkins 603		Glen Everitt 96		John Cramp 21		David Millar†
Kluane		Gary McRobb 377		Olli Wirth 144		John Farynowski 177		Bonnie Lock 66		Bill Brewster†
Lake Laberge		Doug Livingston 328		Mickey Fisher 325		Linda Biensch 242		Mark Bain 221		Mickey Fisher
McIntyre-Takhini		Piers McDonald 441		Scott Howell 251		Rosemary Couch 182		Clinton Fraser 21		Piers McDonald
Mayo-Tatchun		Eric Fairclough 454		Michael McGinnis 180						Danny Joe†
Mount Lorne		Lois Moorcroft 484		Allan Doherty 247		Ken Taylor 299		Allen Luheck 166		Lois Moorcroft
Porter Creek North		Luigi Zanasi 191		John Ostashek 403		Don Roberts 384				John Ostashek
Porter Creek South		Mark Dupuis 181		Alan Nordling 397		Pat Duncan 435				Alan Nordling
Riverdale North		Dave Stockdale 347		Doug Phillips 450		Flo Leblanc-Hutchinson 146				Doug Phillips
Riverdale South				Barbara Toombs 349		Sue Edelman 476				Bea Firth†
Riverside		Gary Umbrich 260		Ed Henderson 160		Jack Cable 267				Jack Cable
Ross River-Southern Lakes		Dave Keenan 484				Bill Munroe 49		Willard Phelps 317		Willard Phelps
Vuntut Gwitchin		Robert Bruce 69 *		Esau Schafer 69		Shirlee Frost 27				Esau Schafer
Watson Lake		Dennis Fentie 442		Barrie Ravenhill 249		Dave Kalles 106		Mickey Thomas 40		John Devries†
Whitehorse Centre		Todd Hardy 328		Linda Dixon 216		Jon Breen 188				Margaret Commodore†
Whitehorse West		David Sloan 486		Shelda Hutton 323		Larry Bagnell 383				David Sloan

• Because of the tie vote, Robert Bruce was declared elected after his name was drawn from a hat. He was later re-elected after a 1997 by-election after irregularities led to a court order invalidating the election.