The Yukon’s premier-designate says he’s ready to start implementing key promises from his election campaign but stopped short of pledging electoral reform even after residents voted in favour of changing to a ranked ballot.
Currie Dixon made history Monday when his Yukon Party picked up 14 of the 21 available ridings, meaning he’ll become the first premier born in the territory.
“Ultimately, it’s an honour and a generational shift. And I’m certainly very proud to be the first Yukoner born in the territory to become the premier,” he said in an interview Tuesday, noting that earlier premiers had “generational roots in the territory” but were in power at a time when people had to leave the Yukon to give birth.
At 40 years old, Dixon is an experienced politician. When he was first elected in 2011, the then-26-year old became the youngest Yukon cabinet minister ever.
He did not seek re-election in 2016, but ran the party’s campaign that year, before being re-elected in 2021 after being named leader.
The latest government represents a return to power for the Yukon Party that spent nine years as the territory’s Official Opposition.
The Yukon Liberal Party, which had formed government after the 2021 election, was nearly wiped out in Monday’s vote, winning just one of 21 seats.
The NDP doubled up from the previous election, going from three to six seats.
Unofficial results released by Elections Yukon show that 10,186 of 18,130 voters cast a ballot in favour of changing the Yukon’s voting system from the current first-past-the-post system to a ranked ballot.
The territory has nearly 36,000 eligible voters.
However, Elections Yukon says only 53 per cent of eligible voters cast their ballot on Monday.
The Yukon Party said in the lead up to the election that it would not support a change in the voting system, but “If Yukoners clearly indicate they wish to see a change, we’ll respect their direction.”
The vote on the ranked ballot is non-binding and Dixon said Tuesday that he thinks the process that led up to the plebiscite was flawed, and the question that was asked, wasn’t well considered.
He said he the thinks changing the way the territory votes is not the best use of limited resources right now, but that a final decision will be made by his new cabinet.
“But, you know, my view is that that’s not something we should be prioritizing, and we should be focusing on issues that matter to Yukoners,” he said.
A date for Dixon’s swearing-in has not been set yet.
He said work needs to be done in the legislature to make room for two new MLAs after the number of ridings in the territory grew from 19 to 21 this election.
“We’re going to think carefully about whether and when we need to have a sitting — before Christmas or if that can be deferred until the new year. That’s something we’re thinking about right now,” he said.
Dixon said his early priorities include a promised expansion of Whitehorse General Hospital and improvements to the territory’s electrical infrastructure.
He said Prime Minister Mark Carney’s office has reached out since he won the election but the two have yet to connect.
The federal government’s agenda “can be very advantageous for Yukon” in areas such as critical mineral development, nation-building projects and the military and Arctic sovereignty, Dixon said.
He has spoken in favour of a proposed plan to link the Yukon’s power grid with B.C., an idea which a feasibility study recently pegged at $4 billion in construction costs.
“I think that if the federal government wants to pursue it, we are certainly interested in doing so as well. It doesn’t, however, change what we need to do in the near and medium term here in the Yukon, with regards to the investments needed in our electricity generation infrastructure,” he said.
“Our grid is aging, our generation capacity is not keeping up with demand, and there’ll be some considerable investment needed in our grid and generation capacity to meet the demands of Yukoners.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2025
Ashley Joannou, The Canadian Press
