Willard Leroy Phelps (born October 23, 1941) is a former
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, who briefly served as the second
premier of Yukon
The premier of Yukon is the first minister and head of government for the Canadian territory of Yukon. The post is the territory's head of government, although its powers are considerably more limited than that of a provincial premier. The offi ...
in 1985.
Background
Born in 1941, he was the grandson of
Willard "Deacon" Phelps and the son of
John Phelps, both former members of the
Yukon Territorial Council
The Yukon Territorial Council was a political body in the Canadian territory of Yukon, prior to the creation of the Yukon Legislative Assembly. Although not a full legislature, the council acted as an advisory body to the Commissioner of Yukon, and ...
. He graduated from the
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...
in 1968 with a law degree.
Political career
Phelps was first elected to the Yukon Territorial Council in 1974, but his election was overturned in 1975 after
Don Branigan filed for a court injunction on the grounds that as the government was renting space in Phelps' commercial real estate holdings for some of its
liquor store
A liquor store is a retail business that predominantly sells prepackaged alcoholic beverages, including liquors (typically in bottles), wine or beer, usually intended to be consumed off the store's premises. Depending on region and local idiom ...
s, his serving on the council placed him in a
conflict of interest
A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple wikt:interest#Noun, interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates t ...
.
He did not run for 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 elections of 1978 or 1982. However, with the resignation of
Chris Pearson as government leader in 1985 the
Progressive Conservatives chose Phelps as its new leader and he was accordingly the
second
The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...
''Government Leader''
Profile of Willard Phelps"> Profile of Willard Phelps
at Opportunities North 2008 from March 23 to May 28, 1985,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 ...
from 1985 until 1991. When the Progressive Conservatives became the Yukon Party, Phelps became an Independent Alliance MLA but sat in the new party's caucus
A caucus is a group or meeting of supporters or members of a specific political party or movement. The exact definition varies between different countries and political cultures.
The term originated in the United States, where it can refer to ...
.
When John Ostashek
John Ostashek (May 10, 1936 – June 10, 2007) was a Yukon 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 for th ...
's 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 ...
took power in 1992 with a 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 ...
, Phelps lent his support and became minister of justice, health and social services. In 1994 he dropped the justice portfolio and picked up responsibility for education. In his responsibilities for social services, Phelps 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 ...
hiring private investigators to look into welfare recipients. He also argued for the privatization
Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation w ...
of the government owned energy concern. Phelps resigned his cabinet positions in March 1996. Phelps ran for re-election but lost his seat in the fall election.
Phelps formed the United Citizens Party of Yukon in 2009 to oppose the government of Dennis Fentie. He resigned as the party leader on May 9, 2011 for health reasons and due to waning interest.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Phelps, Willard
Premiers of Yukon
1941 births
Living people
Independent MLAs in Yukon
Yukon Party MLAs
Members of the Yukon Territorial Council
Members of the Executive Council of Yukon