John Edzerza (August 14, 1948 – November 25, 2011) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) 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 ...

politician. He represented the electoral district of McIntyre-Takhini in the

Yukon Legislative Assembly The Yukon Legislative Assembly (french: Assemblée législative du Yukon) is the legislative assembly for Yukon, Canada. Unique among Canada's three territories, the Yukon Legislative Assembly is the only territorial legislature which is organiz ...

Political career

Born in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include ...

in 1948, he first entered politics in 2002 as a

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 ...

MLA, and served as Minister of Justice and Minister of Education in

Dennis Fentie Dennis G. Fentie (November 8, 1950 – August 30, 2019) was a Canadian politician. He was the seventh premier of Yukon and leader of the Yukon Party, serving from 2002 to 2011, as well as the MLA for Watson Lake. Before entering politics, ...

'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 (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique du Yukon) is a social-democratic political party in the Yukon territory of Canada. The Yukon NDP first formed the government of the territory under the leadership of Tony ...

. 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 and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in 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 Judy Gingell, (born November 26, 1946Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

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 L ...

, 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 , 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 1948 births 21st-century Canadian politicians