Lewis Rifkind

Liberals in the Yukon and Trump in the White House not a good sign for the territory's environment

Lewis Rifkind — Sat, 12 Nov 2016 08:45:39 +0000

In the last week the outcomes of two elections have defied the optimists on the left.

The first, of course, was the Yukon territorial election. While some were fervently hoping for a Yukon New Democratic Party minority government, others had convinced themselves that a NDP majority government was possible. They were even willing to concede that a Yukon Liberal Party minority government in partnership with the NDP could happen.

Alas, it was not to be. The Liberals swept to power with eleven of the nineteen seats available. The conservative Yukon Party, the outgoing governing party, got six seats and the NDP only got two.

Now, a Yukon Liberal government is not the end of the world. They will be a damn sight better than the previous government.

Yukon heads to the polls tomorrow

Lewis Rifkind — Sun, 06 Nov 2016 04:33:36 +0000

Monday November 7th is election day in the Yukon. Voters will be heading for the polls to elect the next territorial government.

Actually, let us backtrack for a moment. About four fifths of eligible voters will be heading for the poll because 5,284 Yukoners already voted at advance polls. Given that there are only about twenty-five thousand eligible voters in the territory this advance voting certainly shows interest is high among the electorate. And, as an aside, high turnouts at advance polls tend to be bad news for incumbent parties.

Yukon election polls are in but are they on?

Lewis Rifkind — Tue, 01 Nov 2016 06:53:45 +0000

Much to the Yukon political junkies delight two polls have been released in the last few days in the territory. They allegedly interpret the intentions of voters for the territorial election that ends on Nov. 7.

DataPath Systems, a local Yukon company, released the results of their survey based on results from Oct. 15 to 23. They were not commissioned by anyone nor any party, they did it on their own. Their survey had the following figures: the Liberal Party and Yukon Party at 34 per cent, the Yukon New Democrats at 29 per cent and the Green Party at three percent.

Yukon advertising is the real election winner

Lewis Rifkind — Mon, 31 Oct 2016 02:25:36 +0000

With just a week left in the Yukon 2016 territorial election it turns out the real winners so far are those that sell advertising for a living.

The local papers seem to be carrying nothing but paid political copy, and those radio stations that air commercials are drowning their listeners in the audio equivalent.

Yukon Greens got some good ideas

Lewis Rifkind — Wed, 26 Oct 2016 06:31:44 +0000

The Yukon Green Party is running five candidates in the 2016 Yukon territorial election. Come voting day on November 7th it is highly unlikely any of them will have been elected to the legislature. This is a pity, because their platform has some damn good ideas in.

Yukon political debates and other vicious sports

Lewis Rifkind — Thu, 20 Oct 2016 04:46:03 +0000

The Yukon 2016 territorial election is well underway. The list of candidates has been finalized. Three parties -- the governing Yukon Party, the opposition Yukon New Democrats and the third party Yukon Liberals -- are running full slates of nineteen candidates, the Yukon Greens have put forward five candidates, and there is one independent. Voting day is on Nov. 7.

The North sends thee a raven

Lewis Rifkind — Fri, 14 Oct 2016 04:32:18 +0000

The year is 2016 and Trudeau, second of his name, rules this Dominion of Canada. Here, in his most distant possession, the dukes and barons of the territory of Yukon joust, as they do every five years, to see who will become the ruling lord and thus avail themselves of the bounty that flows each year from Trudeau's treasury.

Hot air in the cool North

Lewis Rifkind — Wed, 12 Oct 2016 05:31:09 +0000

A funny thing happened when the Yukon Premier Darrell Pasloski popped into the local supermarket to perhaps pick up some groceries. He called a territorial election.

This election call was no surprise. An election had to be called this month as the current five year mandate has expired. What was a bit odd was having the photo opportunity of the election call at a grocery store. The fresh produce aisle, if you must know.

Why I'm voting for the NDP in the Yukon

Lewis Rifkind — Tue, 13 Oct 2015 01:12:10 +0000

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There are many progressive voters in the Yukon who are agonizing over who to vote for in this federal election.

Yukon First Nations could decide who represents the territory

Lewis Rifkind — Sun, 04 Oct 2015 06:36:06 +0000

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At the Yukon First Nation Forum for the Federal candidates held on September 29th, hosted by the Council of Yukon First Nations, it was a packed house of over two hundred people in beautiful downtown Whitehorse. All the political parties were represented, including the Conservative candidate. He has attended some but not all of the various debates held in the Yukon. This debate was broadcast on a First Nation owned community radio station, CHON-FM, and was live-streamed on YouTube.

Conservative Yukon MP risks missing all-candidate debates at his peril

Lewis Rifkind — Tue, 22 Sep 2015 04:02:19 +0000

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Federal tax dollars, the Yukon and a deep dark abyss

Lewis Rifkind — Mon, 14 Sep 2015 03:13:03 +0000

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Living in the Yukon Territory means one is exposed to a financial fantasyland that is paid for by southern taxpayer dollars. There are transfer payments of about $900 million a year to the Yukon Territorial government to provide services to the roughly 35,000 residents. In addition there is the Federal Contaminated Sites Action Plan, the Northern Housing Fund and the Green Infrastructure Fund (naming but a few) to provide additional taxpayer dollars. These would seem to be flung around as if the government was a drunken sailor on a payday spree.

The Yukon, the municipalities and the voters

Lewis Rifkind — Thu, 10 Sep 2015 21:15:34 +0000

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Thanks to the fixed election date for the federal election, and the same for Yukon municipalities and local councils, there is a twin political campaign process underway in the Yukon. The municipal and local council elections are on October 15th and the federal election is on October 19th.

Conservative Yukon candidate dresses up like a ninja, handcuffs woman defacing his campaign sign in dead of night

Lewis Rifkind — Thu, 03 Sep 2015 03:36:07 +0000

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Ryan Leef, the incumbent Conservative Party MP for the Yukon, performed a citizen's arrest on a Yukoner who was vandalizing his re-election signs. You can read the first-person details here and the CBC North coverage here.

Prime Minister in Whitehorse; no tuba players please

Lewis Rifkind — Tue, 01 Sep 2015 01:42:48 +0000

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The Prime Minister is coming to town on Friday and I am sorely disappointed.

I was hoping for a couple more days notice so I could teach myself to play the tuba. Then I could follow him around playing the Darth Vader theme from Star Wars. It would be good for a laugh. And one thing most people in power cannot abide is being laughed at. But alas, there was not enough notice.

On Monday it was leaked that the Yukon branch of the Conservative Party was inviting loyal followers to register for a function where the Prime Minister would be present.