While the Yukon Territory has existed since the turn of the 20th century, it was not until 1978 that we got our first premier of the territory.
Previously, there was a Yukon Territorial Council that acted as in an advisory role to the Commissioner of the Yukon. After the passage of the Yukon Elections Act in 1977, a territorial election was held in 1978 allowing voters for the first time to elect representatives to the Yukon Legislative Assembly in an election that was along party lines.
And the first premier after that election would be Chris Pearson.
Chris Pearson was born on April 29, 1931 in Lethbridge.
In 1957, Pearson moved to the Yukon and began working for the government in 1960 as a public servant, remaining in that position until 1973. Pearson stated that he came to the Yukon after hearing the Northern Vision of John Diefenbaker. He said,
“Many others went as well, and we hope we have contributed something valid to this country.”
In 1973, he went into private business.
In the 1978 provincial election, Pearson was elected to the Legislative Assembly. In the election, Hilda Watson was leading the Conservatives. In the election, the Conservatives won 11 seats, while the Liberals took two seats and the NDP won one seat.
In his riding of Riverdale North, he collected 358 votes, compared to 194 for Liberal Richard Rotondo and 59 for the NDP’s Dave Dornian.
Watson did not win her riding, and did not become premier. Instead, Chris Pearson, the brand new MLA, was chosen as to be the first premier of the territory.
As premier, Pearson opposed transboundary native land claims. He also argued that the territory should be party to Yukon land claims negotiations.
Pearson pushed for more responsible government in the territory. It was thanks to Pearson’s urging that on Oct. 9, 1979, responsible government was achieved with the issuance of the Epp Letter by Northern Affairs Minister Jake Epp. Epp made a promise to amend the Yukon Act to give the territory full executive authority.
In the letter, Pearson divested Ione Christensen, the Yukon Commissioner, of her authority over the elected executive committee and gave that committee the power to govern independently of Ottawa’s representative. The letter also enabled the government leader to adopt the title as premier.
Pearson stated that he did not want to be called premier until the territory was a province. He said,
“It is partly a personal thing. I want very much that the territory have the luxury of electing their first premier when provincial status is obtained. I don’t want it to be seen that we are forcing provincial status on everyone. I think it would be pretentious to call myself premier.”
At a meeting of the premiers in November 1979, Pearson announced that he was going to represent the people of the Yukon.
He was corrected by the prime minister’s office when it was stated he would only be an observer.
He also wanted to give the territory a say over its natural resources. He also wanted the Yukon to be a full participant in federal-provincial conferences rather than just an observer.
As the 1982 election approached, when asked about why he was running again, Pearson said,
“Because I like the job and I think I still have something to offer. I have a lot of territorial responsibilities I didn’t have last time, but I hope I still have time to knock on every door. I enjoy getting around and finding out concerns they have.”
Going into his first election as premier on June 7, 1982, Pearson won a majority government with 10 seats. The NDP won six seats and the Liberals lost both their seats.
After he won his first election as premier, Pearson went through his first leadership vote. He easily won it, but many felt it was because he faced no real competition. The Whitehorse Daily Star wrote,
“Pearson win wasn’t rooted in undying devotion for him, nor universal back-slapping confidence in his political abilities. There will be no leadership convention because there are no clear-cut alternatives to Pearson. No one to splinter away Pearson’s platform of supporters from beneath him, to beckon them away from the status quo.”
As a leader, he was described as someone who preferred to lead by consensus, but if a decision had to be made he was willing to be the person to make that decision.
At the time, the Yukon, like much of Canada, was going through an economic recession. It was made worse by the collapse of the mining industry and the closure of Faro Mine in 1982. This brought an end to the White Pass and Yukon Railway connection between Skagway and Whitehorse. That same year, the Whitehorse Copper Mine closed.
That same year, he implemented what became know as the Nine-Day Fortnight. This meant that the government closed down every second Friday to save money.
He said,
“Yukon is in an economic crisis. One in seven Yukoners is unemployed.”
During this time, the government could barely afford to pay its employees.
To help, he asked the federal government for $10 million to create 454 Yukon government public work jobs through the winter of 1982-83.
Pearson later jokingly said,
“With the salary this government pays me, Mr. Speaker, I can’t afford to drive my own car.”
In April 1982, his government introduced the Children’s Act, a 108-page bill, which made changes to many areas including abortion rights, adoptions and also raised the age a juvenile could be tried for a criminal offence from 16 to 18.
It was quickly withdrawn with many criticizing that it gave too much power to the Director of Child Welfare in child custody matters. Some members of his own party called it socialist legislation drawn up by socialists. The Council for Yukon Indians also criticized the bill, stating it did not protect the rights of First Nations children.
The Act was quickly pulled to be debated on later.
In 1983, Pearson and his cabinet made their only tour of the territory. They did this to promote the $10 million that was being put into projects. It did not go well, with Pearson getting into an angry argument with Margaret Thomson, an alcohol abuse counsellor over the alcoholism problems in Ross River. Throughout his time as premier, Pearson blamed tourists for alcohol problems in the territory.
His government also tabled a bill that would have put the candidate with the governing party at the top of the ballot in an election. They later backed away from this plan. Pearson also fought against the People’s Entitlement Agreement land claims settlement, which gave First Nations in the western Arctic a 10 per cent bidding advantage on federal government contracts. This clause was later removed.
When his government passed an Access to Information Act, it was pointed out by some that there were 14 information exemptions that allowed the government to refuse to divulge anything it liked.
In 1984, Pearson criticized the federal government for imposing official bilingualism over the territory’s governmental institutions. Pearson was generally reluctance to implement anything related to Francophones, including resisting having a French-language school built in Whitehorse.
That year, Pearson stated the imposing of official bilingualism was the worst case of colonialism so far that century. He said,
“I think it is just a political ploy on the part of the federal Liberals, and I don’t think it is a very good one. Buying votes in public. This is, in all of the provinces, a provincial issue, a provincial prerogative, and in fact, has been a territorial prerogative for the last 80 years. There is absolutely no doubt about it. This is a direct intrusion.”
His government also suffered from various scandals. One MLA was caught illegally hunting in the Kluane Game Sanctuary, while anther was charged with assault following an incident when a cab driver delivered beer to his home at 6 a.m. That same year, the government was criticized for spending $26,000 on a phone poll of 400 Yukon residents. The government had used taxpayer money to pay for it, and then refused to make the results public.
By 1984, Pearson was only narrowly passing a leadership review that he easily passed earlier.
His government was also killed for its plans to start shooting wolves from airplanes, stating the wolves were killing moose calves.
On March 23, 1985, he resigned as premier and did not stand for election in the May 13, 1985 election. His decision to resign came just in time. Only two months later on May 13, 1985, his party lost the territorial election, winning six seats, compared to the eight seats won by the NDP. The party would not return to power in the territory again until 1992.
Pearson later became the deputy consul general at the Canadian Consulate in Dallas.
In 1990, he moved to New River Valley in Virginia.
Pearson died on Feb. 14, 2014 in Claytor Lake, Virginia.
Premier Darrell Pasloski wrote,
“He admirably led the Yukon government through a time of great change and transition. His leadership helped establish a strong foundation of good governance that continues to this day.”
Senator Dan Lang, who served in the cabinet of Pearson, stated,
“Chris Pearson was a very calming individual. He was not easily rattled, so to speak. That was one of his strengths as I saw it.”
Flags were flown at half-mast in the Yukon following Pearson’s death.
