Mike Pemberton will stay centred on his new job upon being officially sworn in as the Yukon’s 11th premier to replace Ranj Pillai, who announced last month that he will be stepping down.
“I owe it to the citizens of Yukon to focus on being premier first,” he told reporters following a swearing-in ceremony at the Jim Smith Building on June 27.
Pemberton noted his government has “critical pieces” of work to do before it goes into caretaker mode for elections.
Pemberton's top priorities include completing the draft mining legislation alongside John Streicker, the mines minister, and getting a new health authority board in place.
He pledged to visit every Yukon community starting with Dawson City.
He will still pay attention to the Yukon Liberal Party that he was chosen to lead and on getting the right candidates in place to run in the next general elections.
Pemberton, a local businessman and Liberal party insider, squeezed by Doris Bill in a race for the Yukon Liberal Party leadership on June 19. Thirteen votes separated the two contenders in an election by Liberal party members.
Pemberton is the third Yukon premier in a row who is originally from Nova Scotia. During his first sit-down interview with the News since he got the top job, the 62-year-old husband and father identified Windsor, N.S., as his hometown.
He first came to the Yukon in 1987.
He said he's no longer involved with the businesses and boards he helped run, like Signature Home and the Yukon Energy Corporation. He’s just helping wrap up one final project with Crime Stoppers that involves translating signs into Indigenous languages.
The swearing-in ceremony was held at 11 a.m. in the foyer of the Jim Smith Building on June 27.
Commissioner of Yukon Adeline Webber conducted the ceremony.
Pemberton has expressed his appreciation for the outgoing premier and the Yukon Liberal Party members of the legislative assembly.
Cabinet communications told the News that cabinet ministers will only be sworn in if changes are made; no cabinet shuffle occurred. Seven of the eight Liberal MLAs maintained their cabinet seats. The eighth Liberal MLA, Jeremy Harper, is speaker of the legislature.
The only tweak is that the Executive Council Office (ECO) portfolio moved from the former premier to Pemberton since the ECO is the responsibility of the premier.
For now, Pemberton’s ministers will keep the mandate letters previously issued by Pillai, Pemberton told the News. These documents lay out the priorities of the cabinet as set out by the former premier. Pemberton said he will keep a close eye on critical files like the draft mining legislation.
Pemberton has pledged to seek election as MLA in the upcoming territorial elections that have yet to be declared.
He has indicated he won’t call elections right away. He confirmed to the News that elections will be held this fall, but didn’t say exactly when.
While Pemberton believes it’s important for the Yukon Legislative Assembly to sit before Christmas, he didn’t commit to reconvening the legislature prior to territorial elections being called. Elections must occur on or before Nov. 3. He has committed to calling elections before the legislated deadline.
“The sitting would be good to have, but you know, all parties will have to realize that it would have to be a short session,” he said.
As noted by Floyd McCormick, a former clerk of the Yukon Legislative Assembly, in a post on X, Pemberton is the third person in the Yukon’s political history to become premier without holding a seat as MLA at the time of their appointment as premier. Progressive Conservative Willard Phelps was the first in 1985. Darrell Pasloski of the Yukon Party was the second in 2011.
Contact Dana Hatherly at dana.hatherly@yukon-news.com
