The Green Party has a returning candidate in the federal election, bringing the total number of contenders for Yukon MP to five.
Lenore Morris will run for a second time. Morris owns a law practise in Whitehorse and is an active all-season cyclist.
“I’m someone who looks at the governments that we have, and for myself, but also for a lot of people that I know, I don’t feel like it fully reflects my own values. I think that both the Liberals and the Conservatives are a bit more conventional than I am,” she said.
Morris said climate change and climate justice are key issues for her in this campaign.
“Our generation is sort of throwing future generations under the bus, what we’re doing to the planet in particular and the climate. But also we’ve also created an economic system that is very, very unequal,” she said.
Morris said housing is also a big priority – although the cost is high across the country, she said the Yukon has seen an “unbelievable” increase that is leaving many people behind.
In 2019 Morris ran under the Green banner, securing 2,201 votes, an increase of seven per cent over the last election in 2015.
She explains that if electoral reform had taken place – it was a Liberal campaign promise in 2015 – people would have more incentives to vote Green.
Morris noted that running as a fourth candidate in a busy southern riding might not earn her much attention, but she feels she has more of a platform as a Green candidate in the Yukon.
She also noted that this year – with two left-wing candidates and two conservative candidates running – strategic voting may play less of a role.
“I feel like this is a chance that Yukoners might be less worried about so-called splitting the vote,” she said. “People should vote for the person that they want to win. And I hope that, for a lot of people, that will be me.”
Contact Haley Ritchie at haley.ritchie@yukon-news.com