Q+A | Outgoing Yukon premier highlights renewed energy in Yukon Liberals with new leader

Mike Pemberton was elected the new leader of the Yukon Liberal Party Thursday and, once sworn in, will be the territory's next premier. 

Pemberton defeated candidate Doris Bill by 13 votes, with 873 people voting in the race.

Ranj Pillai, the outgoing premier, resigned in May. In an interview Friday morning with Yukon Morning host Elyn Jones, Pillai reflected on health care, public safety and balancing development with reconciliation as major territorial issues.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Before we look back at your time as premier, what was your reaction to Mike Pemberton being chosen last night?

Two really good folks put their names forward — two people that worked really hard. They brought different things to the table. Doris, of course, extraordinary leader in her community, extraordinary leader across the Yukon, had led many initiatives — tireless work. And Mike, business leader — Whitehorse Chamber of Commerce, Crime Stoppers — decades and decades of work. 

So I think either way, you were going to have a very unique voice. 

Mike will hit the ground running and part of our job will be to make sure we have a good transition with him, that he has all the information and support that's required and and he'll bring a really specific set of skills, I think, that are required. 

I think that we're at a time as well when we think about the business community, what people want to see in the Yukon. They want to see balance, but as well they're going to want to see a strong economic voice. And, when I'm listening here, his commitment around community safety, which we all know are really important to Yukoners.

Was this a missed opportunity, you know, for the first Indigenous premier of the Yukon?

No, I mean, look, that would have been an incredible opportunity for sure, but this is another incredible opportunity. I don't think anybody would ever look at a competition in that way. People bring a set of skills to the table, everybody's unique in what they do. When it comes to the Liberal Party, there's been a strong commitment to reconciliation. There's been more work done over the last eight and a half years on implementation, on commitment at the table. And you know, in those cases, whether it was Sandy [Silver] or myself, we're not Indigenous, but the collective set of values were there. 

I hope to see an Indigenous person in the premier's seat, just as Doris talked about. I think that's going to be something that Yukoners will want to see in the future, and I think it should happen.

You were one of the first people of South Asian heritage to serve as a premier in Canada. How important is diversity in politics, given the Yukon's increasing diversity as well?

I think it is important. It was one of the reasons that I made the decision to put my name forward. It's making sure that individuals see themselves in those roles.

Over the last two and a half years individuals, whether they were here in the Yukon that I didn't know, came up to me and said, thank you for doing that, or across the country. 

There were dozens and dozens of requests to come and speak throughout the country that we just didn't have an ability to do but it was all based on the fact that certain communities were saying, please come and talk to the youth in our community. 

So, yeah, I think it is important. And you're going to continue to see that diversity the same way you've seen it across Canada.

You've been in politics now for more than 15 years, starting as a city councillor in Whitehorse and then on to climbing to the role as premier. How does it feel now to be ending your time as premier?

I think most people think that, you wake up today and the job's done and you get to go fishing or something. That's not the day that we have. I have a full day ahead of me and we're going to be getting ready for transition and it'll be a very busy number of months until November. 

What are you most proud of in your time as premier of the Yukon?

Yesterday was a good day because it was symbolic of, collectively, what a group of people were really focused on — and that was really around balancing the values of Yukoners. 

Yesterday morning we sat with Selkirk First Nation as they announced that they were getting ready to complete the purchase of Minto mine. And I think it's going to be something that's going to garner a tremendous amount of attention across the country, especially in the conversations that are happening in Ottawa. People are trying to get this right — we need development because we're in a really difficult time from an economic standpoint because of what's happening with the U.S., but also how do you balance that with reconciliation? And I think the Yukon has been a place that's, you know, we've had our bumps, but I think we can get it right.

We always said you can do economy and environment. You can protect and conserve, you can balance. And I think the majority of Yukoners, that's how they feel. They want to make sure that we protect this pristine, beautiful place we live in. But they also know that it's important to have a strong economy.

Are there regrets or areas that fell short? Marks you didn't meet in your time as premier?

There's always things that you can reflect on and you would want to do better on something. There's certainly some areas that I would have wanted to spend more time on. 

And I think we're moving in the right way when it comes to health care recruitment and working very closely with Minister [Tracy-Anne] McPhee. She's done an exceptional job in bringing in and hiring a tremendous amount of nurses and looking to figure out how to be able to have more doctors in place. 

When I look at other jurisdictions, the challenge is so big. But here, if we can get a good recruiting run, I think people want to be in the Yukon.

Community safety is a challenge across the country. Of course, it gets highlighted, amplified and focused on here because we're all experiencing different aspects of that. But the crisis really around toxic drugs and around crime. I think the RCMP is doing a great job. I think community groups are doing a great job. There's a reality that people have to understand is happening across the country.

No political group's gonna have a solution overnight.

I look back and the job that I was tasked with in 2016, we were in a really difficult time with our economy and we walked in and, shortly after, we dropped to the lowest unemployment rate in the country and last month we were still there.

All of those things, I'm proud to have been a part of, but it really comes down to the group of people that you get to work with. In the end, I just was lucky to be part of a really good team of people and had an opportunity to do something incredibly special and something that of course is in honour of your life. 

You were really invested in your job and you're in all the meetings nationally and internationally, so once again, why are you leaving now? 

I think everything I do, I'm always that committed and I'm always going to be that committed until the day I'm not in the job. 

I looked at what the next five years would be and look, I'm 51 years old. I do have fuel left in the tank to do other things in life. I've been lucky enough that my family wants to spend time with me. I know there's a garden to dig on the weekend. And both of my sons, in five years, it's going to be a different story. They're 23 and 18. I want to spend time, really concentrated time with them and then figure out what's next.