The Yukon Green Party will not be running any candidates in the 2021 territorial election.
Nominations closed on March 22, 2021. In total, 57 candidates are registered. There are 19 NDP, 18 Yukon Party, 19 Liberal and one independent candidate.
The Yukon Party will not run a candidate this year in Vuntut Gwitchin.
In order to be a registered political party with Elections Yukon, a party must run at least two candidates. Because of that rule, the Green Party will be removed from the list and any special ballots received for the party will be rejected, said Elections Yukon.
In 2011 the party ran two candidates and received 104 votes total, led by Kristina Calhoun. In 2016 the party ran five candidates and received 145 votes, led by Frank De Jong.
In a press release, Green Party spokesperson Kristina Calhoun said the decision not to run candidates came down to the party having no paid staff and complications with the pandemic. She said small parties suffer under the current electoral system.
“If our government would commit to electoral reform, the votes of all Yukoners would be more fairly represented in the Legislature; voters would feel more inclined to support the parties that actually reflect their values,” said Calhoun.
The party said they made a donation of $985 to the Whitehorse Food Bank.
The party can re-register in the future.
Voting day is April 12.
Contact Haley Ritchie at haley.ritchie@yukon-news.com