Roger Stephen Kimmerly is a former Canadian politician who 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 Whitehorse South Centre 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 1981 to 1989. He was a member 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 ...

Early career

Before entering politics, Kimmerly worked as a lawyer in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

and

Yellowknife Yellowknife is the capital, largest community, and the only city in the Northwest Territories, Canada. It is on the northern shore of Great Slave Lake, about south of the Arctic Circle, on the west side of Yellowknife Bay near the outlet of t ...

. He served as a Yukon territorial court judge for three years.

Political career

In July 1981, Kimmerly was nominated by the

as its candidate for the October

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

for the

of Whitehorse South Centre. The riding had been left vacant following the resignation of

Jack Hibberd John Charles Hibberd (12 April 1940 – 30 August 2024) was an Australian playwright best known for his plays '' Dimboola'' (1969) and '' A Stretch of the Imagination'' (1972). He was also a physician. Biography John Charles Hibberd was bor ...

. Kimmerly won the by-election, which resulted in the New Democrats replacing 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 ...

as the Official Opposition in the Legislative Assembly. He was re-elected in the

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

and

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

elections. Following the 1985 election, which saw the Yukon New Democratic Party form government for the first time, Kimmerly was appointed Minister of Justice. He did not run in the 1989 election.

Personal life

Kimmerly had a seven-year relationship with

Audrey McLaughlin Audrey Marlene McLaughlin (name at birth, née Brown; born November 8, 1936) is a Canadian politician and former leader of the New Democratic Party (Canada), New Democratic Party from 1989 to 1995. She was the first female leader of a politica ...

, who managed two of his political campaigns. He married Carol Smith on the floor of the Yukon legislature in 1986. Following Kimmerly's departure from politics, the couple moved to

Duncan, British Columbia Duncan is a city on southern Vancouver Island in the Cowichan Valley Regional District, British Columbia, Canada. It is the smallest city in Canada by area. It was incorporated as a city in 1912. Location The city is about 45 kilometres from b ...

to run a 10-acre organic farm.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kimmerly, Roger 1948 births Living people 20th-century Canadian farmers 20th-century Canadian lawyers 20th-century members of the Yukon Legislative Assembly Lawyers from Ottawa Politicians from Ottawa Yukon New Democratic Party MLAs