For the first time, Yukon's Legislative Assembly will have more women than men

Cali McTavish · CBC News

· Posted: Nov 07, 2025 6:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 11 hours ago

For the archetypal clip successful the Yukon’s history, much women than men person been elected to the territory’s Legislative Assembly.

According to Elections Yukon, 11 women and 1 non-binary MLA were elected successful this week’s ballot — making up 57 per cent of the legislature.

Lindsay Brumwell, interim enforcement manager of Equal Voice — a foundation dedicated to improving sex practice successful Canadian authorities — said the effect came arsenic “a pleasant surprise.”

“This is an astonishing result,” she said. “We’re truly blessed to spot Yukon starring the mode successful Canada.”

Brumwell said the milestone reflects however bluish communities worth section enactment careless of gender.

“It’s a testament to radical knowing their neighbours, picking the champion assemblage leaders for them, and supporting the radical that are going to champion service them successful these roles.”

Brumwell said akin advancement has been made successful different jurisdictions, including British Columbia, wherever women surpassed 50 per cent practice successful the 2024 provincial election, and the  Northwest Territories, which reached sex parity aft its 2019 election.

During the campaign, the Yukon besides saw the astir women moving successful a run successful astatine slightest a decade. Twenty-seven women and 1 sex divers idiosyncratic ran to correspond their electoral districts totalling 46 per cent.

Brumwell added that much women successful bureau tin pb to stronger policy.

“Having women astir the decision-making array is captious to making definite that policies bespeak everyone.” 

NGOs advocating for women request much funding, MLAs say

Yvonne Clarke was re-elected Monday night, arsenic a Yukon Party MLA this clip for the caller riding of Whistle Bend North. She said she’s arrogant to beryllium portion of the territory’s archetypal female-majority legislature.

“It feels truly good,” she said. “I’m conscionable truthful blessed that I’m capable to proceed my enactment — and that it’s a majority. That’s icing connected the cake.”

Clarke, who has chaired the Yukon Advisory Council connected Women’s Issues and served connected the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians steering committee, said she hopes to support advancing sex equality present that she is portion of government. She noted legislatures successful different provinces and territories connection child-care enactment for MLAs. 

She besides called for much backing for the NGOs nether the Yukon Women’s Coalition — a radical of organizations advocating for amended women’s wellness attraction and different policies that enactment women and combat poorness and unit against women. 

Linda Moen, NDP MLA-elect for Mountainview, utilized to enactment with the conjugation and with the RCMP Together for Safety radical — a collaboration betwixt Whitehorse women’s groups and Whitehorse RCMP. She agrees that backing is needed.

“I cognize that each twelvemonth they conflict to get capable backing to proceed that conjugation group,” Moen said. 

Women inactive little apt to run

Brumwell says probe shows women are inactive much apt than men to judge they aren’t qualified for elected office. As a result, they necessitate much enactment and encouragement from leaders and their ain communities to instrumentality connected the challenge. 

She says the territory’s predetermination results are a testament to the enactment and encouragement candidates received from each Yukoners. 

“It is the hard enactment of galore radical successful the Yukon that proceed to champion women, asking women to run, and recognition to the women and sex divers radical for being consenting to enactment their names forward,” Brumwell said. 

Clarke hailed the enactment she received from enactment person Currie Dixon, and encouraged different leaders to bash the same. 

“When there's a pistillate wanting to run, you spell implicit to that pistillate and speech to them, they mightiness accidental nary 3 times. And truthful you person to beryllium patient, and you conscionable person to support going and asking them,” said Clarke.

Yvonne Clarke, MLA for Whistle Bend North, was elected connected Monday to a 2nd word successful the Yukon legislature. (Crystal Schick/Yukon Party)

She said she’d similar to spot leaders and MLAs contiguous to precocious schoolhouse students astir what they bash and what it means to tally for nationalist office.

“Please see running. It’s fun, and you tin marque a difference,” Clarke said. 

Moen, besides a Kwanlin Dün First Nation councillor earlier she was elected, said she was profoundly supported by her assemblage and her enactment during the campaign. 

“I had a batch of encouragement from my household and friends,” she said. “And I cannot accidental capable astir Kate White and the Yukon NDP, and each the volunteers and canvassers that came retired and helped out. It was conscionable a truly large journey.”

'We person each close to travel into these spaces'

Moen said the results besides nonstop a beardown connection to Indigenous women crossed the country.

“Myself being Indigenous sends a wide connection crossed Canada that we person each close to travel into these spaces.”

She said Indigenous women person agelong held enactment roles successful their communities.

“We are a matriarchal nine successful our First Nations,” she said. “Women often are the leaders, the backbone of the communities.”

On predetermination night, astatine the NDP headquarters, Moen recalled Margaret Commodore, a four-time Yukon MLA, telling her astir however Moen’s grandmother, a assemblage person successful her ain right, supported Commodore. 

“She asked, ‘Where’s Sophie Smarch's granddaughter?’ And I said, ‘That’s me.’ She said, ‘Your grandma was 1 of the archetypal radical that supported me.’ It was a truly beauteous moment,” Moen said. “It shows however Indigenous women enactment different Indigenous women successful leadership.”

Moen says she hopes it inspires the adjacent procreation to spot enactment arsenic thing wrong their reach.