Former Whitehorse city councillor Ted Laking is stepping back from a bid for the Conservative Party of Canada candidacy for Yukon member of Parliament in order to pursue a Yukon legislature seat with the Yukon Party.
The announcement came via a Nov. 7 press release. Laking announced that he would not seek another term as either Whitehorse councillor or president of the Association of Yukon Communities (AYC) earlier this year and confirmed that he would seek the Conservative nomination in July. Now, he is pivoting to territorial politics in a move he says was prompted by the kind of issues he encountered while seeking the federal role.
“Over the past six months of federal campaigning, the issues that continue to come up at the doorstep are the growing Yukon crime wave, the inability of families to get doctors, an education system that is failing students and a lack of support for communities," Laking said, quoted in the press release.
“With my own family being directly impacted by increasing crime and a disintegrating health care system, it is now clear to me that in order to build a community that families can feel safe and prosper in - everything must be done to end the disastrous eight years of Yukon Liberal Party governance.”
Speaking with the News on Nov. 7, he said the Yukon’s violent crime rate exceeded three times the national average and that he had spoken with families with young children who waited a year for a family doctor.
The release details Laking’s past experience. Besides his council and AYC terms, he has been Yukon Party chief of staff and communications director for former federal environment and climate change minister Leona Aglukkaq.
“No matter who wins the next federal election, unless there is a strong common-sense territorial government in place to address the issues created by the Yukon Liberals then our children will be unable to succeed and our communities unable to grow,” added Laking in the announcement.
The release notes it is too early to say which electoral district Laking will seek the nomination in as boundary changes are being considered by the legislative assembly ahead of the next election, set for 2025. There is nothing in the election regulations requiring a prospective candidate to live in the electoral district they are seeking nomination in but Laking tells the News he will be confining his efforts to the districts in Whitehorse. He noted his familiarity with the whole of the Yukon capital and while he says he also knows the communities well from AYC work and federal campaigning, he sees it as very important for the rural electoral districts to have a representative that lives locally.
Once he had decided on a territorial government run, Laking said discussions with the Yukon Party and its leader Currie Dixon went well.
“I only ever got into this because I really believe in public service. I believe in solving problems, I believe in helping people. And it became clear to me that, you know, working with Currie Dixon and the Yukon Party would be the best way in which I could help improve the lives of Yukoners and give, you know, the next generation of Yukoners an opportunity, the same opportunities that I had growing up in Dawson City,” Laking said.
For his part, Dixon called Laking “an extremely high-calibre candidate,” when speaking to reporters at the legislature on Nov. 7 and called the announcement exciting.
Dixon has announced plans to seek re-election as has MLA Scott Kent but the remaining opposition MLAs have not made their intentions known. The Yukon Party holds its annual convention and leadership review in the spring.
-With files from Dana Hatherly
Contact Jim Elliot at jim.elliot@yukon-news.com
