Whitehorse businessman Mike Pemberton joins race to lead Yukon Liberals
Former businessman touts himself as a 'right of centre' candidate
Yukon Liberals will get a chance to vote for their new leader this time.
Businessman Mike Pemberton launched his campaign for the Liberal leadership in Whitehorse Tuesday, promising action on affordability, housing, health care and public safety. His candidacy means the first contested leadership race for the Liberals in two decades.
"I have immense respect for all citizens of Yukon," he said. "I want to be part of a solution and and not part of a problem. I want to be able to help."
Pemberton is the former owner of a furniture store in downtown Whitehorse. He's served on the Whitehorse and Yukon chambers of commerce, the Yukon Development Corporation and the board of Yukon Energy.
He said that experience makes him a "right of centre" candidate who will seek to ease environmental regulations and make things easier on the private sector.
"I want to see how we can work through that to make that easier for those corporations, those medium and those small businesses, how we can work with them to make things better and they can become more profitable because profit is not a dirty word," Pemberton said. "Profit makes the world go round."
The deadline for leadership candidate nominations is May 29. Each candidate will have to pay a non-refundable nomination fee of $7,000 to the Yukon Liberal Party.
The Liberal leadership convention will take place in Whitehorse June 19.
Former Kwanlin Dün First Nation Chief Doris Bill has already announced her candidacy for the party leadership. That means Liberals will vote for their leader for the first time since 2005, when Arthur Mitchell defeated former premier Pat Duncan. Current leader Ranj Pillai and former leader Sandy Silver were both acclaimed.
Neither Bill nor Pemberton have a seat in the legislature. The next territorial election must be called no later than Nov. 3.
With files from Gabrielle Plonka