Scott Kent 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 was elected to 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 ...

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 ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

and 2021 Yukon elections. He currently represents the

Whitehorse Whitehorse () is the capital of Yukon, and the largest city in Northern Canada. It was incorporated in 1950 and is located at kilometre 1426 (Historic Mile 918) on the Alaska Highway in southern Yukon. Whitehorse's downtown and Riverdale areas ...

electoral district of Copperbelt South as a member of the

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 ...

caucus.

Political career

30th Legislative Assembly

Kent was first elected to the Yukon Legislative Assembly as MLA for Riverside on April 17, 2000, for 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 part of the short-lived government of

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 ...

Pat Duncan Patricia Jane Duncan (born April 8, 1960) is a Canadian politician from Yukon. Duncan served as leader of the Yukon Liberal Party from 1998 to 2005 and as the sixth premier of Yukon from 2000 until 2002. Duncan was the first Liberal premier ...

. Kent served as Deputy Chair of Committee of the Whole from June 5, 2000 to June 12, 2001. He was appointed to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts and the Standing Committee on Rules, Elections and Privileges during the 30th Legislative Assembly. In June 2001, Kent was appointed to the Executive Council (Cabinet) as Minister of Economic Development. He later acquired responsibility for the Department of Infrastructure, the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources, and the Yukon Development Corporation/Yukon Energy Corporation. He was also the Minister responsible for Youth. Kent's riding of Riverside was dissolved prior to the 2002 election, and he opted to run for re-election in the newly created riding of

Porter Creek Centre Porter Creek Centre is an electoral district which returns a member (known as an MLA) to the Legislative Assembly of Yukon, Canada. It was created in 2002 out of the Whitehorse ridings of Porter Creek North and Porter Creek South. It encompass ...

. However, he was defeated by Archie Lang of the

33rd Legislative Assembly

Kent re-entered territorial politics in 2011, when he crossed the floor to join the Yukon Party. He was elected in the riding of

Riverdale North Riverdale North is an electoral district which elects a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) to the Legislative Assembly of the Yukon Territory in Canada. Along with Riverdale South, it makes up the subdivision of Whitehorse of Riverdale ...

- which included part of his former riding of Riverside - in that year's

election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...

. He was appointed again to Cabinet on November 5, 2011, serving as Minister of Education, Minister responsible for the Yukon Housing Corporation, Minister responsible for the Yukon Liquor Corporation (including the Yukon Lottery Commission), Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources, Minister responsible for the Yukon Development Corporation and Yukon Energy Corporation, Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources, and Minister of Highways and Public Works. During his time Minister of Education, his department drew criticism for its handling of the Catholic school system's stance on homosexuality, which came to light in a school document which labeled homosexual urges a "disorder" and homosexual acts an "intrinsic moral evil.". Kent was later moved out of the education portfolio in August 2013. Kent also served on the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, the Standing Committee on Rules, Elections and Privileges and the Standing Committee on Appointments to Major Government Boards and Committees during the 33rd Legislative Assembly.

34th Legislative Assembly

Kent once again sought re-election in

, but this time in the riding of Copperbelt South. Kent received criticism for moving out of his riding, and then for not seeking re-election in his current riding and then seeking re-election in a riding that was different than the one he was moving to. Nonetheless, although the Yukon Party was defeated in the general election, Kent was elected in Copperbelt South, defeating popular

city councillor and Liberal candidate Jocelyn Curteanu by just 24 votes. He is currently the Yukon Party caucus critic for the Department of Education, the Department of Economic Development, and the Oil, Gas and Mineral Resources Division of the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources. He is also the Official Opposition House Leader. Kent is currently a member of the Standing Committee on Rules, Elections and Privileges.

35th Legislative Assembly

As of September 29, 2024, Kent serves as the Official Opposition House Leader and the critic for Education and for Energy, Mines and Resources.

Personal life

Outside of politics, Kent has worked in a family-owned business and for a number of organizations, including the Yukon Environmental and Socio-Economic Assessment Board (YESAB), the Yukon Chamber of Mines, the Klondike Placer Miners Association, and the Yukon Hospital Foundation.Copperbelt South Riding Profile
''CBC North'', October 19, 2016

Electoral record

2021 general election

2016 general election

, - , - , Liberal , Jocelyn Curteanu , align="right", 425 , align="right", 34.9% , align="right", +18.6% , - , NDP , Lois Moorcroft , align="right", 397 , align="right", 27.2% , align="right", -14.8% , - , - ! align=left colspan=3, Total ! align= 1217 ! align= 100.0% ! align=

2011 general election

, - , - !align=left colspan=3, Total !align=986 !align=100.0% !align= –

2002 general election

, - , Liberal , Scott Kent , align="right", 312 , align="right", 40.3% , align="right", – , - , NDP , Judi Johnny , align="right", 63 , align="right", 8.1% , align="right", – , - bgcolor="white" !align="left" colspan=3, Total !align="right", 774 !align="right", 100.0% !align="right", –

2000 general election

, - , Liberal , Scott Kent , align="right", 359 , align="right", 54.3% , align="right", +15.4% , NDP , Jasbir Randhawa , align="right", 202 , align="right", 30.6% , align="right", -7.2% ,

, Michael Weinert , align="right", 100 , align="right", 15.1% , align="right", -8.2% , - ! align=left colspan=3, Total ! align=661 ! align=100.0%

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kent, Scott Yukon Party MLAs Living people Politicians from Whitehorse Yukon Liberal Party MLAs 21st-century members of the Yukon Legislative Assembly Members of the Executive Council of Yukon Year of birth missing (living people) Businesspeople from Yukon