Liberal Brendan Hanley grateful to be re-elected MP in Yukon

Liberal Brendan Hanley says he felt relieved, excited, and a bit tired when he learned Yukoners had re-elected him as their MP – this time with more than 50 per cent of the vote – on Monday. 

"It is an incredible percentage and, and of course that gives me the … feeling of not only gratitude but responsibility," he told CBC's Yukon Morning. "That's a lot of Yukoners that have placed their trust and confidence in me." 

Hanley said his priorities once he returns to Ottawa will be to develop an economic plan for standing up to the United States, building housing and infrastructure, improving access to primary health care, and building resiliency to climate change. 

Asked about affordability, Hanley said it's something that would be helped by an economic plan. He acknowledged affordability was something the previous Liberal government he was part of "didn't talk about … or recognize it as, as well as we could have." 

"We need to find ways to manage an economy so that we can redistribute, redistribute income, look at food prices, look at how we can support the ongoing quest for the housing that we need. These are all interrelated factors."

As of 10:00 a.m. YST, it was still too close to say whether the Liberals would form a minority or majority government. Hanley said a majority would make it easier to get things done, but a minority would require collaboration and the "spirit of Canadian unity." 

"I'm not going to pretend that that will be easy," he said. "But I think we've all heard at the doors that Canadians don't want polarization anymore. Mark Carney did speak to the need for Canadian unity. I heard that reflected in other speeches. And, and this is, I think our challenge is to find ways to work together"