Gary Douglas McRobb is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

politician, who represented the rural Yukon

electoral district An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

of Kluane in the

Yukon Legislative Assembly The Yukon Legislative Assembly () is the legislative assembly for Yukon, Canada. Unique among Canada's three territories, the Yukon Legislative Assembly is the only territorial legislature which is organized along political party lines. In contr ...

from 1996 to 2011.

Political career

McRobb entered public life to protect Aishihik Lake from further hydroelectric projects. He was elected as a member of the incoming

New Democrat New Democrats may refer to: * New Democratic Party, a social democratic party in Canada * New Democrats (United States), the ideological centrist faction of the Democratic Party ** New Democrat Coalition, the related caucus in the United States H ...

government of

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 ...

in the 1996 Yukon election. Though McRobb was not appointed to Cabinet, he was appointed Cabinet Commissioner for Energy, Mines and Resources in the McDonald administration. He also served as Deputy Speaker of the Yukon Legislative Assembly. McRobb was re-elected as a member of the New Democrats in the

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

and

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

Yukon elections, and served as Opposition House Leader and New Democrat caucus critic for Tourism, Energy, Mines and Resources, Transportation, Information, and Communications, the Yukon Development Corporation, and the Yukon Energy Corporation. In 2006, McRobb was expelled from the New Democrat caucus by then-leader

Todd Hardy Todd Hardy (May 17, 1957 – July 28, 2010) was a Canadian carpenter, trade union activist, and politician who served as Leader of the Yukon New Democratic Party. He has also served as Leader of the Opposition in the Yukon Legislative Assembly f ...

when it was discovered that McRobb and his colleague,

Mayo-Tatchun Mayo-Tatchun is an electoral district which returns an MLA to the Legislative Assembly of the Yukon Territory in Canada. It is an amalgamation of the former Mayo and Tatchun electoral districts. Mayo-Tatchun is currently one of the Yukon's ...

MLA Eric Fairclough, had been publicly consulting constituents about considering quitting the New Democrats for the Liberals due to Hardy's isolated decision-making and a lack of faith in his leadership. McRobb and Fairclough soon moved to the Liberal caucus, reducing Hardy's New Democrats to third party status and elevating the

Yukon Liberal Party The Yukon Liberal Party () 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. History After twenty years as a minor party, the Yukon Libe ...

to Official Opposition. The move prompted the New Democrats to table legislation preventing MLAs from crossing the floor without an ensuing election, but the legislation was never adopted. McRobb and Fairclough were elected comfortably as Liberals in the 2006 election later that same year and the Liberals retained their Official Opposition status. Hardy's New Democrats remained the third party. During the 32nd Assembly, McRobb served as the Opposition House Leader, as well as the Liberal critic for Energy, Mines and Resources, Highways and Public Works, and the Yukon Energy Corporation and the Yukon Development Corporation. As energy critic, he was outspoken against the governing

Yukon Party The Yukon Party, formerly the Yukon Progressive Conservative Party, is a conservative political party in Yukon, Canada. History The Yukon Progressive Conservative Party was founded in April 1978. Long time Yukon legislator Hilda Watson was ...

's secretive efforts to privatize Yukon Energy in a sale to

ATCO Electric Atco or ATCO may refer to: Businesses * ATCO, a Canadian diversified company involved in manufacturing, utilities, energy and technologies ** ATCO Electric, a subsidiary of the above company * Atco (British mower company), a mower manufacturing c ...

. During his tenure in office, McRobb had developed a reputation of a political attack dog, who the media noted would "occasionally... over-reach, with accusations never quite substantiated in fact." McRobb announced his decision to retire from politics prior to the 2011 election, citing that he had served enough time in elected office.A fighter hands up his gloves
''Yukon News'' (John Thompson), August 3, 2011.

Electoral record

Yukon general election, 2006

, - ,

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

, Gary McRobb , align="right", 317 , align="right", 53.3 , align="right", +37.2 , - , - ,

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...

, Lillian Grubach-Hambrook , align="right", 82 , align="right", 13.8 , align="right", -51.3 , - ,

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

, Freddy Hutter , align="right", 19 , align="right", 3.2 , align="right", +3.2 , - ! align=left colspan=3, Total ! align= 598 ! align= 100 ! align= –

Yukon general election, 2002

, - ,

, Gary McRobb , align="right", 442 , align="right", 65.1 , align="right", +11.1 , - , - ,

, Paul Birkckel , align="right", 109 , align="right", 16.1 , align="right", +0.7 , - ! align=left colspan=3, Total ! align= 679 ! align= 100 ! align= –

Yukon general election, 2000

, - ,

, Gary McRobb , align="right", 405 , align="right", 55.0 , align="right", +6.5 , - , - ,

, Gerald Brown , align="right", 113 , align="right", 15.4 , align="right", -8.2 , - ! align=left colspan=3, Total ! align= 736 ! align= 100 ! align= –

Yukon general election, 1996

, - ,

, Gary McRobb , align="right", 364 , align="right", 48.5 , align="right", +8.4 , - ,

, John Farynowski , align="right", 177 , align="right", 23.6 , align="right", +23.6 , - , - ,

, Bonnie Lock , align="right", 66 , align="right", 8.8 , align="right", +8.8 , - ! align=left colspan=3, Total ! align= 751 ! align= 100 ! align= –

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McRobb, Gary Yukon New Democratic Party MLAs Yukon Liberal Party MLAs Living people 1956 births 21st-century members of the Yukon Legislative Assembly