With the recent election of Darryl Pasloski as the new leader of the Yukon Party, the edification of the party must begin with the allaying of those party members who, by way of this process, now feel disenfranchised or maybe worse - betrayed.
While Pasloski won the race handily, one must acknowledge the excitement and diversity Rod Taylor and Jim Kenyon brought to the race.
While Taylor’s loss will, perhaps, be seen by some as the eschewing of a new order or simply the stalwart defence of the status quo, others will be disappointed and say that the Yukon Party in incapable of embracing new ideals or the dichotomy needed to fully explore and consider all positions or options with respect to the development of good government policy for the Yukon.
Dichotomy and diversity are healthy attributes of democracy and, while the fostering of the same within the confines of a political party might be difficult, it should be encouraged.
This can only improve the decision-making process of political parties and, ergo, governments.
With the recent and significant swelling of the Yukon Party ranks, there exists now a great opportunity for all of these folks (including those whose memberships were recently questioned by some) to participate at the party level with the development of ideas, policies and positions on any number of issues.
As well, these folks can have a say in the development of the election platform that will be the Yukon Party political road map for Yukon’s future.
I hope and encourage everyone to participate and be part of this process. After all, without strong grassroots direction, elected Yukon Party MLAs will not have a clear mandate with which to ply the turbulent waters of Yukon politics!
Rick Nielsen
Whitehorse