Pat Duncan (born April 8, 1960) is a Canadian politician from

Yukon Yukon (; ; formerly called Yukon Territory and also referred to as the Yukon) is the smallest and westernmost of Canada's three territories. It also is the second-least populated province or territory in Canada, with a population of 43,964 as ...

. Duncan served as leader of the

Yukon Liberal Party The Yukon Liberal Party (french: Parti libéral du Yukon) is a political party in the territory of Yukon, Canada. The party is not organizationally linked to the federal Liberal Party of Canada in any official manner. Sandy Silver, MLA for Klond ...

from 1998 to 2005 and as the sixth

premier of Yukon The premier of Yukon is the first minister and head of government for the Canadian territory of Yukon. The post is the territory's head of government, although its powers are considerably more limited than that of a provincial premier. The office ...

from 2000 until 2002. Duncan was the first Liberal premier of the Yukon and the first female premier in the Yukon, the second woman in Canadian history to win the premiership of a province or territory through a general election, the first to do so by defeating an incumbent premier, and the first to do so by defeating a male opponent. Duncan was appointed to the

Senate of Canada The Senate of Canada (french: region=CA, Sénat du Canada) is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the House of Commons, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The Senate is modelled after the ...

on December 12, 2018.

Life before politics

Duncan was born in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city an ...

, Alberta in 1960, and moved with her family to

Whitehorse, Yukon Whitehorse () is the capital of Yukon, and the largest city in Northern Canada. It was incorporated in 1950 and is located at kilometre 1426 (Historic Mile 918) on the Alaska Highway in southern Yukon. Whitehorse's downtown and Riverdale areas ...

in 1964. She graduated from

Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to serve returning Wo ...

with a Bachelor of Arts in political science.

Professional background

Prior to entering politics, Duncan was a small business owner. She also served as executive director of the Whitehorse Chamber of Commerce. In the mid-1980s, Duncan served as a special assistant to Progressive Conservative Deputy Prime Minister

Erik Nielsen Erik Hersholt Nielsen (February 24, 1924 – September 4, 2008) was a Canadian lawyer and politician. He served as the longtime Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament for Yukon, and was Leader of the Opposition and the third deputy pr ...

. Duncan remained in this position until Nielsen's retirement in 1987.

Yukon politics

Duncan was first elected to the Yukon Legislative Assembly in the 1996 general election. Duncan was elected as a Liberal to represent the Porter Creek South riding, a riding located in

Whitehorse Whitehorse () is the capital of Yukon, and the largest city in Northern Canada. It was incorporated in 1950 and is located at kilometre 1426 (Historic Mile 918) on the Alaska Highway in southern Yukon. Whitehorse's Downtown Whitehorse, downtown ...

. In the 1996 general election,

Piers McDonald Piers McDonald, OC (born August 4, 1955) is a Yukon politician and businessman. Born in Kingston, Ontario, McDonald, originally a miner by profession, is a long-time MLA, Cabinet minister, and the fifth premier of Yukon. He was leader of the Y ...

(

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * ...

) won a majority government. Duncan was one of three Liberals elected. Liberal leader at the time, Ken Taylor, was unsuccessful in winning his Mount Lorne riding. In 1998, Duncan was elected leader of the

. From 1998-2000, Duncan served as the Leader of the Official Opposition in the legislature. In the 2000 general election Duncan led the Yukon Liberal Party to a majority government, defeating New Democratic incumbent

. The Liberals were elected in 10 ridings and received 42.7% of the popular vote. Early in 2002, the Liberal majority was reduced to a minority after the defection of three Liberal MLAs,

Mike McLarnon Mike McLarnon is a Canadian former politician, who represented the electoral district of Whitehorse Centre in the Yukon Legislative Assembly from 2000 to 2002. McLarnon was born and raised in Whitehorse, Yukon and operated several businesses ...

, Don Roberts and

Wayne Jim Wayne Jim (February 24, 1961-November 28, 2018) was a Canadian politician who represented the electoral district of McIntyre-Takhini in the Yukon Legislative Assembly from April 2000 to November 2002. Jim was elected as a member of the Yukon ...

. The catalyst for the defections was reported to be Duncan's allegedly heavy-handed and secretive leadership style. On October 4, 2002, only two years into Duncan's five-year term, she called a general election for November 4, 2002. The rationale for the election was to achieve certainty in the legislature, however many Yukoners were angered at the quick election. The Yukon Liberals were reduced to only one seat after the election - Duncan's own riding of Porter Creek South.

Yukon Party The Yukon Party (french: Parti du Yukon) is a conservative political party in Yukon, Canada. It is the successor to the Yukon Progressive Conservative Party. Formation With Prime Minister Brian Mulroney's Progressive Conservative federal go ...

leader Dennis Fentie, a former NDP MLA, led his new party to victory. The Liberals were reduced to third party status with Duncan as the sole Liberal MLA. At the 2005

leadership convention, Duncan was defeated by Arthur Mitchell by a margin of 357 votes to 303. Citing health concerns, she did not seek re-election in the 2006 general election.

Electoral record

Yukon general election, 2002

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Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

, Pat Duncan , align="right", 408 , align="right", 51.7% , align="right", -12.5% ,

NDP NDP may stand for: Computing * Neighbor Discovery Protocol, an Internet protocol * Nortel Discovery Protocol, a layer two Internet protocol, also called SONMP * Nondeterministic programming, a type of computer language Government * National ...

, Paul Warner , align="right", 80 , align="right", 10.1% , align="right", -0.7% , - bgcolor="white" !align="left" colspan=3, Total !align="right", 789 !align="right", 100.0% !align="right", –

Yukon general election, 2000

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, Pat Duncan , align="right", 607 , align="right", 64.2% , align="right", +21.3% ,

, Mark Dupuis , align="right", 103 , align="right", 10.8% , align="right", -7.0% , - bgcolor="white" !align="left" colspan=3, Total !align="right", 945 !align="right", 100.0% !align="right", –

Yukon general election, 1996

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, Pat Duncan , align="right", 435 , align="right", 42.9% , align="right", +15.0% ,

, Mark Dupuis , align="right", 181 , align="right", 17.8% , align="right", -7.8% , - bgcolor="white" !align="left" colspan=3, Total !align="right", 1013 !align="right", 100.0% !align="right", –

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duncan, Pat Yukon Liberal Party MLAs Premiers of Yukon 1960 births Living people Women MLAs in Yukon University of Ottawa alumni Canadian female first ministers Politicians from Whitehorse Politicians from Edmonton Yukon Liberal Party leaders Members of the Executive Council of Yukon Women members of the Senate of Canada 20th-century Canadian politicians 21st-century Canadian politicians Independent Canadian senators Canadian senators from Yukon 20th-century Canadian women politicians 21st-century Canadian women politicians