After spending years listening to the goings-on in the legislative assembly from just outside the doors, a local security guard has decided he wants to enter the house.
Patrick Winstanley is seeking the NDP nomination in Lake Laberge during this year’s territorial election.
Winstanley has worked as a security guard stationed outside the assembly for the last six years. Part of his job, he said, is to listen to the recording of the legislative proceedings from his desk. That’s partly what inspired him to run for office.
He said he’d like to see the legislature become more civil. “They have a set of rules in there, but they’re always quite rude to each other. It’s nitpicking and a lot of backstabbing,” he said. “There’s a procedure for everything and you don’t have to resort to that kind of talk.”
Winstanley said he’s always been a social democrat, and he decided to throw his hat in the ring this time around because he believes the Yukon Party is flying “stale ideas.” He also wants to “rebuild trust” between the Yukon government and First Nations.
“Basically, I think it’s time for a change,” he said.
He said he’s interested in diversifying the Yukon’s economy by promoting tourism and developing alternative energy, including wind turbines and small-scale hydroelectric projects.
He also wants to improve roads and the water supply in Lake Laberge, his home riding.
Winstanley has previously volunteered for the provincial NDP when he lived in British Columbia. He moved to the Yukon about seven years ago, when he began working at the sawmill in Haines Junction.
Today, Winstanley works as a security guard at the Whitehorse General Hospital, as well as at the legislative assembly. He has also worked as a corrections officer.
Lake Laberge has been held by Yukon Party MLA Brad Cathers since 2002. Cathers won the 2011 election with 52 per cent of the vote, and has announced that he plans to run again.
Alan Young is the Liberal Party candidate for the riding.
Contact Maura Forrest at
maura.forrest@yukon-news.com