No election this summer, says Yukon's incoming premier

Yukon's premier-designate says he won't be calling a snap election in the coming weeks.

"Not this summer. No, absolutely not," said Mike Pemberton on Tuesday morning.

Pemberton was elected leader of the Yukon Liberal Party last week, to replace Premier Ranj Pillai who announced his resignation in May. Pemberton will be sworn in as the territory's 11th premier on Friday.

The Liberals are nearing the end of their current mandate, and Pemberton will be the third person to serve as premier since the last general election. Sandy Silver led the party in the 2021 vote, and Pillai took over in 2023 after Silver stepped down.

The next election must be held no later than Nov. 3. Pemberton says he'd prefer to wait until closer to that date.  

"Yukon summers are typically very short and there's no way that I would want to disrupt somebody's summer time with their family to have an election. And quite honestly, I don't think that people would really pay attention as much as they probably should."

Pemberton, who does not currently have a seat in the legislature, also said he has no immediate plans as premier to reassign cabinet portfolios.

"No cabinet shuffle. I have confidence in the MLAs that are in place and confidence in the jobs that the ministers are doing," he said.

"As we move forward, we need to build upon the good work that has already been done."

Pemberton cited the modernization of mining legislation as a priority even in the months leading to the election. The former businessman also spoke about the need to fast-track a community safety plan, saying crime targeting small businesses is a "major issue."

"I'm now working with people to see how quickly can we, you know, get this in place," he said. "I don't want it to be, you know, an unfinished process, but I think we need to move faster than what I'm hearing."

Pemberton said he's "starting to put together a team" for a fall election, and he's hopeful that his rival for the party leadership will be part of things. Pemberton defeated Doris Bill, the former chief of the Kwanlin Dün First Nation, by just 13 votes at last week's leadership convention.

"I think we need to give Doris some time and hopefully she can reach back to me and we can start a conversation about working together in the fall," he said.

Bill said in a statement to supporters last week that even if she didn't win the party leadership, she planned to "move forward and work just as hard to earn your vote in the next election."

In the meantime, Pemberton said he's got "an incredible learning curve" ahead of him as he takes on the reins of leadership.

"Not that I didn't expect it but you know, when you're there, you go like, wow, it really is a lot of work. But I'm prepared. I'm ready. I've got fuel in the tank, and I'm ready to go."