John Ostashek (May 10, 1936 – June 10, 2007) was a

Yukon Yukon () is a Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada, bordering British Columbia to the south, the Northwest Territories to the east, the Beaufort Sea to the north, and the U.S. state of Alaska to the west. It is Canada’s we ...

politician. An entrepreneur, he was elected leader of the Yukon Party in June 1992 and led it to victory in the fall 1992 election in which he also won a seat in the

legislature A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial power ...

for the first time. Ostashek declined to use the title

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

adopted by his predecessor, Tony Penikett and preferred to be called ''Government Leader''. Ostashek's

minority government A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in ...

, which was kept in power with the support of right leaning independent MLAs, was a

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

one which instituted

welfare reform Welfare reforms are changes in the operation of a given welfare system aimed at improving the efficiency, equity, and administration of government assistance programs. Reform programs may have a various aims; sometimes the focus is on reducing th ...

and a reduction of public services. Soon after coming into power, his government signed land claims agreements with four

First Nations First nations are indigenous settlers or bands. First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to: Indigenous groups *List of Indigenous peoples *First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...

communities in the Yukon which had been negotiated by the previous government. Ostashek's Yukon Party lost the 1996 election to the Yukon NDP though he retained his seat and became

leader of the opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...

. In the 2000 election however his Yukon Party was again defeated, this time by the Liberals with Ostashek losing his own seat. He subsequently resigned as Yukon Party leader and retired from politics. He died on June 10, 2007, from

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, after having been medevaced from Whitehorse the week before.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ostashek, John Premiers of Yukon Yukon Party MLAs 1936 births 2007 deaths Deaths from cancer in British Columbia People from Big Lakes County Members of the Executive Council of Yukon Yukon political party leaders 20th-century members of the Yukon Legislative Assembly 21st-century members of the Yukon Legislative Assembly Businesspeople from Yukon