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Cameron wins Liberal nomination

Kirk Cameron won the Liberal nomination for Whitehorse Centre, beating newcomer Patrick Singh. With 69 voters it was a tight race between the two candidates. But scrutineers wouldn't say exactly how close.
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Kirk Cameron won the Liberal nomination for Whitehorse Centre, beating newcomer Patrick Singh.

With 69 voters it was a tight race between the two candidates.

But scrutineers wouldn’t say exactly how close.

“Let’s just say it was competitive,” said Liberal party leader Arthur Mitchell.

About 50 people packed into the MacBride Museum Thursday evening to hear both candidates speak before the vote.

Cameron promised to address the complex needs of downtown residents while Singh spoke to abolishing the “political class,” boosting the arts and helping out small business owners.

More than 80 new memberships were sold in advance of the vote. And many who filed in last minute to vote were below the age of 30, a demographic Singh wooed throughout his campaign.

Cameron was taken aback by his win.

“I was nervous about the close vote,” said Cameron.

“But this has been a very telling evening, it sets up my next career.”

At 50, Cameron has more than 20 years of experience working as a government bureaucrat in federal, provincial and territorial government.

But he is a relative newcomer to the political scene.

The downtown resident has worked as a policy analyst and deputy minister in the Yukon government as well as assisting in the territory’s land claim process.

“Kirk brings a wealth of inside government knowledge that I don’t have or anyone in the caucus has,” said Mitchell after he announced Cameron’s win.

Cameron has also worked at Gartner Lee (now AECOM) and most recently, opened his own consulting firm, northSense.

Two years ago he was elected president of the Yukon Liberal party.

However, he has plans to step back from the executive position at an upcoming AGM, he said Thursday night.

“I’ve always been an adviser and now I’m out on the front line,” he said. “It’s a very different feel.”

Cameron promises to address the issues of poverty and homelessness in downtown Whitehorse if elected.

He is involved with several community organizations including the Rotary Club, the Yukon Wildlife Preserve, the Whitehorse Elementary School Council and the Downtown Residents Association.

The Whitehorse-raised politician says he will continue knocking on doors and signing up Liberal party members until a byelection or election is called.

The Whitehorse Centre riding has been vacant since late July when NDP MLA Todd Hardy passed away.

NDP leader Elizabeth Hanson has also put her name in the ring to run in the downtown riding.

Premier Dennis Fentie has until the end of January 2011 to call a byelection in Whitehorse Centre and the end of October to call a general election.

Contact Vivian Belik at

vivianb@yukon-news.com