John Edzerza (August 14, 1948 – November 25, 2011) was 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. He represented the

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 McIntyre-Takhini 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 ...

Political career

Born in

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

in 1948, he first entered politics in 2002 as a

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 ...

MLA, and served as Minister of Justice and Minister of Education in Dennis Fentie's cabinet. After disagreeing with a number of government decisions in early 2006, he resigned from the Yukon Party on August 2, 2006, to sit as an independent MLA, and recontested his seat in that fall's territorial election as a candidate of the

Yukon New Democratic Party The Yukon New Democratic Party (YNDP; ) is a social democratic political party in the Yukon, Canada. It is the territorial section of the federal New Democratic Party. The Yukon NDP first formed the government of the territory under the leaders ...

. He was re-elected, and served in the NDP caucus under Todd Hardy until January 2009, when he resigned from the NDP to sit again as an independent. He rejoined the Yukon Party on October 22, 2009, and served as Minister of the Environment until retiring in 2011. Edzerza died of

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

on November 25, 2011.

Electoral record

Yukon general election, 2006

, - , NDP , John Edzerza , align="right", 336 , align="right", 38.8% , align="right", +7.0% , Liberal , Ed Schultz , align="right", 328 , align="right", 37.9% , align="right", +15.4% , - ! align=left colspan=3, Total ! align= 865 ! align= 100.0% ! align= –

Yukon general election, 2002

, - , NDP , Maureen Stephens , align="right", 270 , align="right", 29.8% , align="right", -4.7% , Liberal , Judy Gingell , align="right", 204 , align="right", 22.5% , align="right", -15.9% ,

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 ...

, Wayne Jim , align="right", 129 , align="right", 14.2% , align="right", +14.2% , Independent , Geoffrey Capp , align="right", 15 , align="right", 1.7% , align="right", +1.7% , - ! align=left colspan=3, Total ! align= 906 ! align= 100.0% ! align= –

Yukon general election, 2000

, - , Liberal , Wayne Jim , align="right", 376 , align="right", 38.4% , align="right", +18.1% , NDP ,

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 ...

, align="right", 338 , align="right", 34.5% , align="right", -14.8% , - ! align=left colspan=3, Total ! align= 979 ! align= 100.0% ! align= –

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Edzerza, John Yukon New Democratic Party MLAs Independent MLAs in Yukon Yukon Party MLAs Politicians from Whitehorse 2011 deaths Deaths from leukemia in Canada 1948 births 21st-century members of the Yukon Legislative Assembly