DAWSON CITY – Some local residents are decidedly opposed to combining the current Klondike electoral riding with Vuntut Gwitchin to form a new riding tentatively called Yukon North.
Seven people attended Monday evening’s public meeting of the Electoral District Boundaries Commission at the Downtown Hotel Conference Room.
Of those who spoke to the commissioners, no one was in favour of the commission’s proposed solution to rebalancing the population distribution of electors to elected representatives.
The ideal scenario would be to have each riding number 1,666 voters, which is certainly not the case in the rural Ridings.
The commission is working on the assumption that a variance of plus or minus 25 per cent would be acceptable. Its draft proposal, which will likely change as the numbers in the capital and elsewhere keep shifting, is intended to reach that balance.
No one denied the fact that there is an imbalance in the representation, largely created by the population increase in Whitehorse since the last time the boundaries were adjusted in 2008.
It’s obvious that Vuntut Gwitchin, in which Old Crow is located, is more over-represented than any other in the territory at -88.72 per cent of the standard variance. Klondike has the smallest variance +1.02 per cent, and combining the two would almost certainly mean that the MLA would be chosen by Klondike’s voters.
This was the case until 1978, when Eleanor Millard represented the north end of Klondike and Old Crow, before Vuntut Gwitchin became a riding on its own.
Locals here felt that most of the argument that drove that change still applies, and were more concerned in their comments about the effect on Old Crow than they were about Klondike.
There was a general concern about reducing the number of rural ridings from the current slate and about concentrating too much political power in the capital, where it was felt the rest of the Yukon is not well-appreciated in a deep way.
On the other hand, no one seemed to object to the notion of adding a seat or two in Whitehorse to account for the explosive growth of Whistle Bend. In its recommendations released in May, the commission proposes two new seats for the mushrooming subdivision.
A recommendation to a similar effect was made by the last such report in 2018, but it did not pass in the legislature.
Aside from these issues, several people argued Monday that simple population numbers should not be the sole deciding factor in determining boundaries.
The territory, it was pointed out, has a vast amount of land space and this, as well as the flora and fauna, should be considered when deciding how various areas are to be
represented.
Too much power and representation should not be further concentrated in the capital city at the expense of the rural ridings, commission members were told Monday.
