Whitehorse West
Territorial electoral district in the Yukon, Canada
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Whitehorse West is a territorial electoral district of Yukon that has been represented in the Yukon Legislative Assembly since 1952.
 Yukon electoral district | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Interactive map of riding boundaries | |||
| Territorial electoral district | |||
| Legislature | Yukon Legislative Assembly | ||
| MLA |
Yukon Party | ||
| First contested | 1952 | ||
| Last contested | 2025 | ||
| Demographics | |||
| Electors (2021) | 1,577 | ||
| Census subdivision(s) | Arkell, Copper Ridge, Ingram, Logan | ||
Geography
Whitehorse West includes the subdivisions of Ingram, Arkell, and Logan; the north part of Copper Ridge bounded by Lazulite Drive to Tigereye Crescent, cutting across to the north of Ruby Lane, and extending to the boundary of the Porter Creek South electoral district. Besides Porter Creek South, Whitehorse West is bordered by the districts of Mountainview, and Copperbelt North. The Whitehorse district is the smallest riding, by size, in the Yukon.
History
Whitehorse West is the former seat of Yukon Premier Tony Penikett of the Yukon New Democratic Party, Deputy Premier Elaine Taylor of the Yukon Party, Dennis Schneider, 8th Speaker of the Yukon Legislative Assembly, and Ken McKinnon, former Commissioner of the Yukon.
Initially considered a New Democrat stronghold, the riding evolved into a largely Yukon Party stronghold, despite falling to the Liberals in 2016. However, Whitehorse West could also be viewed as a bellwether, as it has voted for the governing party in every territorial election since 1985, except 1992.
Members of the Legislative Assembly
| Assembly | Years | Member | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whitehorse West | ||||
| 24th | 1978–1982 | Tony Penikett | New Democratic | |
| 25th | 1982–1985 | |||
| 26th | 1985–1989 | |||
| 27th | 1989–1992 | |||
| 28th | 1992–1995 | |||
| 1995–1996 | Vacant | |||
| 1996–1996 | David Sloan | New Democratic | ||
| 29th | 1996–2000 | |||
| 30th | 2000–2002 | Dennis Schneider | Liberal | |
| 31st | 2002–2006 | Elaine Taylor | Yukon Party | |
| 32nd | 2006–2011 | |||
| 33rd | 2011–2016 | |||
| 34th | 2016–2021 | Richard Mostyn | Liberal | |
| 35th | 2021–2025 | |||
| 36th | 2025–Present | Laura Lang | Yukon Party | |
Electoral results
2025
| 2025 Yukon general election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Yukon Party | Laura Lang | 615 | 55.06 | +17.58 | ||||
| New Democratic | Katherine McCallum | 363 | 32.50 | +9.67 | ||||
| Liberal | Mike Pemberton | 139 | 12.44 | -27.24 | ||||
| Total valid votes | 1,117 | |||||||
| Total rejected ballots | ||||||||
| Turnout | 52.54 | |||||||
| Eligible voters | 2,126 | |||||||
| Yukon Party gain from Liberal | Swing | +22.41 | ||||||
Source(s) | ||||||||
| 2021 Yukon general election redistributed results[1] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Votes | % | |
| Liberal | 408 | 39 | |
| Yukon Party | 397 | 38 | |
| New Democratic | 241 | 23 | |
2021
| 2021 Yukon general election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Liberal | Richard Mostyn | 398 | 39.68 | -6.1% | ||||
| Yukon Party | Angela Drainville | 376 | 37.48 | -6.1% | ||||
| New Democratic | Ron Davis | 229 | 22.83 | +12.1% | ||||
| Total valid votes | 1,003 | |||||||
| Total rejected ballots | ||||||||
| Turnout | ||||||||
| Eligible voters | ||||||||
| Liberal hold | Swing | -7.33 | ||||||
Source(s) | ||||||||
2016
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | Richard Mostyn | 455 | 45.8% | +17.1% | |
| Yukon Party | Elaine Taylor | 433 | 43.6% | -14.3% | |
| NDP | Stu Clark | 106 | 10.7% | -2.2% | |
| Total | 994 | 100.0% | – | ||
2011
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yukon Party | Elaine Taylor | 422 | 57.9% | +4.8% | |
| Liberal | Cully Robinson | 209 | 28.7% | -9.9% | |
| NDP | Louis Gagnon | 94 | 12.9% | +5.1% | |
| Total | 729 | 100.0% | – | ||
2006
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yukon Party | Elaine Taylor | 511 | 53.1% | +5.7% | |
| Liberal | Mike Walton | 371 | 38.6% | +0.6% | |
| NDP | Rhoda Merkel | 75 | 7.8% | -6.1% | |
| Total | 963 | 100.0% | – | ||
2002
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yukon Party | Elaine Taylor | 398 | 47.4% | +19.7% | |
| Liberal | Dennis Schneider | 319 | 38.0% | -2.5% | |
| NDP | Rachel Grantham | 117 | 13.9% | -17.4% | |
| Total | 840 | 100.0% | – | ||
2000
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | Dennis Schneider | 621 | 40.5% | +8.4% | |
| NDP | Dave Sloan | 480 | 31.3% | -9.4% | |
| Yukon Party | Elaine Taylor | 425 | 27.7% | +0.7% | |
| Total | 1535 | 100.0% | – | ||
1996
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NDP | Dave Sloan | 486 | 40.7% | -1.6% | |
| Liberal | Larry Bagnell | 383 | 32.1% | +0.2% | |
| Yukon Party | Ken McKinnon | 323 | 27.0% | +2.3% | |
| Total | 1195 | 100.0% | – | ||
1996 by-election
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NDP | Dave Sloan | 433 | 42.3% | -3.3% | |
| Liberal | Larry Bagnell | 326 | 31.9% | +14.8% | |
| Yukon Party | Shelda Hutton | 253 | 24.7% | -10.1% | |
| Total | 1023 | 100.0% | – | ||
- On the resignation of Tony Penikett, 1995
1992
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NDP | Tony Penikett | 304 | 45.6% | -9.7% | |
| Yukon Party | Bob Bruneau | 232 | 34.8% | +1.3% | |
| Liberal | Shaun Patrick Dennehy | 114 | 17.1% | +6.2% | |
| Independent | Bernd Schmidt | 12 | 1.8% | +1.8% | |
| Total | 666 | 100.0% | – | ||
- The Yukon Progressive Conservative Party re-branded itself as the Yukon Party before the 1992 election.
1989
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NDP | Tony Penikett | 810 | 55.3% | -1.9% | |
| Progressive Conservative | Flora Evans | 491 | 33.5% | -8.9% | |
| Liberal | Joe Jack | 160 | 10.9% | +10.9% | |
| Total | 1465 | 100.0% | – | ||
1985
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NDP | Tony Penikett | 716 | 57.2% | +8.5% | |
| Progressive Conservative | Charlie Friday | 531 | 42.4% | -3.7% | |
| Total | 1251 | 100.0% | – | ||
1982
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NDP | Tony Penikett | 541 | 48.7% | +17.4% | |
| Progressive Conservative | Pat Harvey | 508 | 45.7% | +20.6% | |
| Liberal | Adam Skrutkowski | 59 | 5.3% | -21.9% | |
| Total | 1112 | 100.0% | – | ||
1978
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NDP | Tony Penikett | 230 | 31.3% | – | |
| Liberal | John Watt | 200 | 27.2% | – | |
| Progressive Conservative | Anthony Fekete | 185 | 25.1% | – | |
| Independent | Al Omatani | 81 | 11.0% | – | |
| Independent | Guy Julien | 37 | 5.0% | – | |
| Total | 736 | 100.0% | – | ||
- Partisan politics introduced into the territory
1974
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent | Flo Whyard | 252 | 42.3% | – | |
| Independent | John Watt | 227 | 38.1% | – | |
| Independent | Al Omatani | 116 | 19.5% | – | |
| Total | 596 | 100.0% | – | ||
1970
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent | Ken McKinnon | 444 | 23.4% | – | |
| Independent | John Watt | 294 | 28.7% | – | |
| Independent | John P. Hoyt | 281 | 27.5% | – | |
| Total | 1023 | 100.0% | – | ||