Melanie Brais is the new president of the Yukon Party.
Brais was named during the party’s virtual annual general meeting, held over Zoom video call on Aug. 22. Almost 100 people tuned in to the meeting, according to the party.
“It was really well attended. There was a lot of interest from people and a lot of engagement,” said party leader Currie Dixon.
Dixon said he spent the summer traveling across the territory, visiting every community in the territory except for Old Crow. He said priorities include holding the Liberal government to account, tracking COVID-19 finances, the return to school plan and health care reform.
“You can be assured that we’ll be asking tough questions about what the government has been doing over the past nine months. Yukoners want to hear why they’ve made decisions and they want to see the government explain some of those decisions,” he said.
The Yukon legislature is set to resume on Oct. 1. A territorial election is expected to take place prior to November 2021.
Dixon said he also had the opportunity to discuss northern priorities with newly elected Conservative Party leader Erin O’Toole on Aug. 25.
“More than any other candidate to my knowledge, he really put forward a vision for the north and commitments to Yukoners that I think are fantastic,” said Dixon.
O’Toole’s platform includes expanding Canada’s military presence in the North and allowing territories to keep 100 per cent of resource revenues. It also references that the Trudeau cabinet currently has no northern MPs.
Contact Haley Ritchie at haley.ritchie@yukon-news.com