The election for the 34th Yukon Legislative Assembly was held on November 7, 2016, across 19 electoral districts. Premier Darrell Pasloski called the election on October 7, triggering a 31-day campaign. The Yukon Party had governed the territory since 2002 — first under Dennis Fentie, then under Pasloski, who took the leadership in 2011 and won a majority that fall. Pasloski was seeking a fourth consecutive Yukon Party term, but the territory's economy had soured badly since the commodity boom years. By 2016, only one mine was still operating, unemployment stood at 7.8%, and the Conference Board of Canada described Yukon's economic outlook as the bleakest in the country. Turnout was 76.4% of registered voters.

Results

Sandy Silver's Liberals won 11 of 19 seats with approximately 39.4% of the popular vote — a historic surge from the 2 seats they had won in 2011. The Yukon Party fell from 11 seats to 6, capturing roughly 33.4% of the vote. Liz Hanson's NDP collapsed from 6 seats and Official Opposition status to just 2, with approximately 26.2%. The Green Party ran 5 candidates and won no seats. Silver was sworn in as the 9th premier on December 3, 2016 — the first premier from Dawson City, the territory's original capital.

The Liberal wave was overwhelmingly centred on Whitehorse, where they swept nearly every riding, but they also captured key rural seats: Klondike, Mayo-Tatchun, and Vuntut Gwitchin. The Yukon Party held its rural base — Kluane, Lake Laberge, Pelly-Nisutlin, Watson Lake, Porter Creek North, and Copperbelt South. The NDP survived only in Whitehorse Centre and Takhini-Kopper King. Several ridings went to the wire: Whitehorse West was decided by 22 votes, Riverdale South by 37, Mount Lorne — Southern Lakes by 14, and Vuntut Gwitchin by just 7.

Party Leaders

Sandy Silver (Liberal) was born on October 15, 1969 in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, where his parents operated a cleaning and laundry business for four decades. He studied at Saint Francis Xavier University and the University of Maine before moving to Yukon in 1996 to teach. After two years in Whitehorse, he settled in Dawson City in 1998 to teach mathematics at Robert Service School, where he led the math department and threw himself into community life — coaching school sports, volunteering with the fire department, serving as president of the Dawson City Music Festival, and performing with the Pointer Brothers band. He was elected to the Legislature in 2011 as one of only two Liberal MLAs. When the other Liberal, Darius Elias, left the party in August 2012, Silver became interim leader — the sole Liberal in the chamber. He was acclaimed permanent leader in February 2014. In Klondike, Silver won comfortably with 617 votes.

Darrell Pasloski (Yukon Party) was born on December 2, 1960 and earned a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy with distinction from the University of Saskatchewan in 1982. He moved to Whitehorse in 1991, owned and operated two pharmacies, and was named Business Person of the Year by the Yukon Chamber of Commerce in 2009. After an unsuccessful run for the federal Conservatives in Yukon in 2008, he won the Yukon Party leadership on May 28, 2011, defeating MLA Jim Kenyon, and was sworn in as premier in June, replacing Dennis Fentie. He won his first general election that October. In 2016, Pasloski finished third in Mountainview with 399 votes — behind Liberal Jeanie Dendys (439) and the NDP's Shaunagh Stikeman (433), a gap of just 7 votes between first and second. He resigned as party leader on election night and was succeeded by interim leader Stacey Hassard.

Liz Hanson (NDP) was born in 1951 and studied political science and social work at the University of Calgary. She became NDP leader in 2009 and won a by-election in Whitehorse Centre in December 2010 following the death of MLA Todd Hardy. She led the party from third-party status to Official Opposition in 2011 with 6 seats, but in 2016 the NDP was squeezed between the Liberal surge and Yukon Party incumbency, falling to just 2 seats. Hanson held Whitehorse Centre with 487 votes but announced her resignation as leader in November 2018. She was succeeded by Kate White in 2019 and did not seek re-election in 2021.

Campaign Issues

The faltering economy was the dominant issue, with voters questioning the Yukon Party's stewardship during the mining downturn. The Peel Watershed controversy loomed over the campaign — the Peel Watershed Planning Commission had recommended protecting roughly 80% of the 67,000 square kilometre pristine watershed in northern Yukon, but the Pasloski government rejected the plan and proposed opening more land to mining. Several First Nations launched legal challenges, and both the Liberals and NDP pledged to implement the original protection plan. The issue crystallized broader concerns about the Yukon Party's adversarial relationship with First Nations governments. Fracking was another dividing line, with the Liberals and NDP opposed and the Yukon Party more open to development. Healthcare access in a vast, sparsely populated territory and fiscal management rounded out the major issues.

Notable Outcomes

The result was the most dramatic realignment in modern Yukon politics. The Liberals surged from a single seat at dissolution to a commanding majority of 11 — a gain that tied for the largest in Yukon history. Four Yukon Party cabinet ministers went down to defeat: Pasloski in Mountainview, Deputy Premier Elaine Taylor in Whitehorse West by 22 votes, Mike Nixon in Porter Creek South, and Doug Graham in Whitehorse Centre. The NDP's collapse was equally striking — from 6 seats and Official Opposition to 2, with losses to the Liberals in ridings like Riverdale South (by 37 votes) and Mount Lorne — Southern Lakes (by 14 votes). The 2016 wave also brought in a generation of Liberal talent who would shape Yukon politics for the next decade, including Ranj Pillai in Porter Creek South, John Streicker in Mount Lorne — Southern Lakes, and Tracy McPhee in Riverdale South.