Federal elections 2025: All 4 candidates for Yukon MP have say on key issues

The News reached out to the four candidates campaigning for the territory’s MP seat ahead of the April 28 federal election to hear their views on issues of the day.

The Green Party of Canada has put up Gabrielle Dupont, incumbent Brendan Hanley is running for the Liberal Party of Canada, Ryan Leef is representing the Conservative Party of Canada and Katherine McCallum is the federal NDP candidate.

Interviews were conducted based on the following questions:

1. How will your platform and that of your party respond to U.S. tariffs or other measures targeting Canada’s economy or its sovereignty?
2. How important is affordable housing to an affordable lifestyle for Yukoners? What will you and your party do to bring it within reach for more people?
3. The Yukon healthcare system has faced challenges with staffing, infrastructure and capacity. If elected, what would you and your party do to alleviate these?
4. How would you and your party strike a balance between the interests of extractive industries such as mining in the Yukon and protection of the territory’s environment?
5. What are your views on immigration and the Yukon Nominee Program? Should the number of nominees be allowed to increase, decrease or remain the same? If the allotment of nominees falls or remains the same, what solutions can you offer businesses in search of staff?

The candidates’ perspectives are presented in alphabetical order below.

Gabrielle Dupont, Green Party of Canada

Tariffs and sovereignty

Dupont finds the present solution of meeting U.S. tariffs with Canada’s own appropriate in the short term but says it’s important to keep in mind that Americans and Canadians remain neighbours. 

“We’re still neighbours, and there’s a big difference between what’s happening at the administration level of the country and at the state level, and we’ve seen with the Alaskan resolution of last week to affirm Canada sovereignty. I think that’s a very good indication that at the state level, we are still friends, and the states do want to do business with us,” she said.

“They do want to keep this relationship going on, and in the future, presidents and prime ministers, they come and go. Trump will not stay here forever, and actually, there will be primary elections in less than two years. Nothing is set in concrete right now, and we have bigger issues on the horizon that we should really keep in focus, and that’s climate change, fighting climate change.”

Housing and affordability

Dupont described affordable housing as a priority going into the election; it’s an issue that can’t be fixed with a status quo approach in her view. 

She said more must be done to partner with the building industry and local governments to make it more attractive to build homes. The problem, in Dupont’s view, is a lack of a business case for building affordable homes. She says the private sector must be the key solution and government must work with them on a situation where they can build more affordable homes. 

Dupont says that can look a lot of different ways: houses, apartment buildings or mobile homes.

“In the Yukon, we are used to having a wide range of housing options for us at different prices as well. And we’re not seeing this right now. We haven’t seen this in many years. So again, let’s get the building industry with us to build affordable homes.” 

Healthcare

Dupont says the healthcare industry is not exempt from expensive housing that makes it a challenge to attract and retain staff and that building more affordable homes will help bring in workers.  

She notes that priorities are set through the Canada Health Act working alongside the territory. She says primary care and access to a family doctor, nurse practitioner or physician’s assistant should be the priority as it allows them to catch problems early on and avoid the “downward spiral” of requiring more costly, specialized care. This problem is manifesting itself mental health care, substance abuse, senior care and chronic disease management. 

“Prevention is always the best course. It’s very cost effective, and it prevents suffering. And so the federal government, we really need to work with the territory, align priorities and align funding requirements as well to get there,” Dupont said.

Resource industry

Dupont recognizes the importance of mining in the Yukon in the past and the future. She says it will be needed for clean energy transition. 

Dupont thinks mining can be conducted in a way that will protect the environment. She notes existing regulations on mining in the territory but feels the federal government should work with the territory to find gaps in legislation. 

“Where can we improve our legislations and the ways of doings and best practice to make sure that when we do extract our resources, we’re doing it in a way that really benefits the environment, benefits the economy, our communities also that are impacting by mining, but impacting in a good way, so they can see benefits from it?”

Dupont says that economic considerations cannot be separated from environmental ones.

“It’s this disconnection that we’ve seen in the past that we’re hitting a wall now with climate change, and we just cannot afford to do it anymore, to see economy and environment separately.”

Nominee program and immigration

Dupont thinks it’s a mistake to reduce the Yukon Nominee Program quota. 

The territory’s allotment of foreign workers on track to permanent residency via the program was halved for 2025. 

“We have clear data showing that we don’t have enough labour for our ambitions here. It’s also sending an overall bad message at a time where we have acute staff shortage in healthcare and immigration could and should help us filling some of these staff shortage and these gaps.”

She says that the program could be improved to create better resources for employees. 

Brendan Hanley, Liberal Party of Canada

Tariffs and sovereignty

While the Liberals are currently in government, Liberal Leader Mark Carney, who is also prime minister, has had to step out of his role campaigning to deal with the tariff threats as they become reality. 

Hanley says the Liberals are continuing to stick with a “Team Canada” approach, which he says has taken the form of engaging with U.S. partners to build trust and relationships in hopes that the American administration will drop its tariffs or at least adjust them in Canada’s favour. 

“The next thing is to prepare for the countermeasures and to continue to have targeted and strategic countermeasures, as we have already seen, in place. The third is to make sure that workers and businesses are supported,” he said.

“And the fourth area is developing Canada’s economic sovereignty, mostly by unlocking economic projects and removing barriers to internal trade. For example, developing a national trade and economic corridor so measures in to support workers will be some adjustments to EI.”

Employment Insurance, commonly known as EI, adjustments could include changes to waiting periods to make the safety net easier to access, he says. He added that there will be supports for businesses that could include deferred income tax payments and more funding for Canada’s regional development agencies.

Housing and affordability

Hanley says that after tariffs, housing has been the most common issue he has heard about on Yukoners’ doorsteps while he has been out campaigning. 

“So to cut to the quick on that, Mark Carney’s plan is to unveil the most ambitious housing plan that we have had since the Second World War, and that means doubling the pace of construction to almost 500,000 new homes a year in the country, including really getting the federal government back into the business of building affordable homes at scale, including affordable homes on public lands,” he said. 

Hanley says the goal is working with all partners on making a “full spectrum” of market and non-market housing available for all sectors of Canadian society. 

He says the government can help assist innovative pre-fabricated home builders in Canada. He says prefabrication, where homes are assembled in plants and then brought to their sites, are advantageous for the Yukon with its short construction season because assembly can go on during the winter and they can be put to use during the building season. 

Other measures include looking at a break on GST on new homes costing less than $1 million and providing supports for retrofits assisting energy efficiency. 

Healthcare

Hanley says if elected he will continue the work on the health system he took on during his first term as MP. 

He says the federal government must ensure it is in the game when it comes to ensuring access to primary care. 

“There are multiple ways that are already underway, and that we need to continue and support. So this involves, for instance, international credentialing, so that people who are qualified from outside of Canada have smoother pathways to be able to be credentialed, mentored, and then credentialed to work in the country. This includes Canadians who have trained overseas and who are looking for opportunities to work,” Hanley said. 

“But we also need to use federal levers to scale up innovative practices in how team-based primary care can be applied throughout the Yukon so that we have everyone — pharmacists, physios, nurse assistants, nurse practitioners, nurses, physicians — working to their full scope of practice and working in a coordinated manner, so that people have access to integrated care,” he continued.

“If we can solve access to primary care, we can solve many other problems down the line, access to specialist care, hospital use, emergency department use and the whole the entire spectrum of health care.”

Resource industry

Hanley thinks there is a balance to be achieved when it comes to industry and mining, but it requires awareness of the federal and territorial roles. He said work has been done on amendments to the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board (YESAB) legislation, aimed at efficient assessments and clearing a backlog.

Areas where the federal government can assist with financing including the critical mineral infrastructure fund and supporting energy grid connectivity to power responsible mining projects in the territory. 

“But at the same time, we have vast areas of of land that we need to continue to protect, as we have been in the process of doing. A lot of our potential lies in key partnerships, with First Nations, and harnessing, also the the ability for First Nation development corporations to have opportunities for partnering on projects.”

He says the Yukon is full of potential where mining is concerned but mistakes need to be learned from. He points to the situation at Victoria Gold and other mines that have ended in failure or government-run remediation. 

 Nominee program and immigration

While the Yukon Nominee Program is administered by the Yukon government, Hanley noted that nominee allocations are a federal responsibility. 

Hanley says the numbers must adjusted not just in accordance with the need for labour but also in a way that ensures new Canadians can be supported in terms of housing and job and economic opportunities. If nominees’ needs can be met well, he said the Yukon should look for opportunities to increase the number of nominees it is bringing in. 

“There always is a balance, and we always need to adjust according to the needs and our ability to support,” he said. 

“This has been a very dynamic conversation that I have also been involved in, in my role, with the minister of immigration, and I expect that if I have the opportunity, I would be continuing to participate in that conversation, so that we do achieve the ideal number.”

He says he knows how much businesses in the Yukon depend on the program but noted other ways immigrants can work in the territory. 

“There are other federal pathways to immigration, and we need to make sure that that businesses and employers are aware of other other opportunities.”

Ryan Leef, Conservative Party of Canada

Tariffs and sovereignty

“Our platform right now is really focused on breaking down the interprovincial trade barriers that have existed in the country for quite some time, making it easier for Canada to trade east to west and not be so reliant on our north to south relationship,” Leef said. 

“There are a number of interprovincial barriers that prevent goods from moving seamlessly across our provincial jurisdictions, and if we can do that, all of a sudden, Canadians can find greater opportunity within our own country.”

He adds there needs to be a focus on exposing Canadian products to a global market as much the domestic one. 

Lower corporate and personal income taxes and a welcoming regulatory environment are part of a platform aimed at getting business, jobs and workers to return to Canada. He notes the challenges of being neighbours with a less taxed and regulated country, the United States. 

“Mark Carney himself has decided to invest in the United States heavily, move corporate headquarters to the U.S., and there’s a reason. He sees that as a more attractive tax climate, more attractive business climate, and we need to change that dramatically here in our country and make sure that people feel that they can invest their dollars in the country.”

Housing and affordability

Leef described affordability “directly tied to housing” as the number one issue he has heard about while on campaign. 

“People who are in a housing market right now understand that their children may never be able to afford a down payment or home, nevermind, own a home. The cost of rent is alarming. The availability of housing is a challenge. Our underhoused, our housing-vulnerable and homeless population in the territory, is getting out of hand. That is true of the rest of this country,” he said. 

“Tent cities are exploding across our cities that we’ve never seen before. That is tied in so many connected ways to a weakened economy and poor policy that’s driven everybody into debt over the last nine, and in particular the last four, years.”

He pitched his party’s solutions including lower income tax so Canadians can keep more of their paycheques to help them stay ahead of inflationary expenses. He says his party plans to cut GST on new homes if elected and to invest in trades workers including with new tax write-offs. 

The Conservatives’ pledge to get rid of the carbon tax “for real and for good” will promote interest in building, Leef said. 

Healthcare

Leef says it’s important to make sure the cost-to-service calculation makes sense when it comes to deploying federal health transfer payments. 

He thinks that making life more affordable across the board will help attract healthcare workers. He adds that standardization of provincial certification for healthcare workers will give them more freedom to move around the country. He also wants to create pathways for skilled and trained healthcare workers who have come to the Yukon from foreign countries and who find themselves working in other sectors to get back to providing health care. 

The system can also be aided with infrastructure investments and more money for medevac services to help overcome the unique challenges the Yukon faces, he says.

Leef says the federal government should work with other levels of government on ways to improve health outcomes for Yukoners and relieve burden on the care system. Nutrition, sport and health investment programs are all examples he gave. 

“And so we have healthy youth, and then we have healthy adults and investing in programs and services for our seniors across the board. And then we have people aging in a healthier manner. All of that starts to relieve some of the pressure that exists on our healthcare services,” he said. 

Resource industry

Leef speaks highly of both responsible industry in the territory and Yukoners’ deep connection to the land. 

He says there are industry players who are deeply invested in environmental protection and their relationship with Yukon First Nations “as both interested parties in development and guardians of their traditional territories, land and the environment.”

Yukoners have a much closer relationship with the land than people in other parts of Canada, he suggests, noting that it is driven by hunting, outdoor recreation and a strong wilderness tourism sector. 

The territory is also very rich in natural resource including many critical minerals important to life in Canada and to world markets, Leef says.  

He acknowledges that there is work to be done between federal, territorial and First Nations governments to make sure regulations protect the environment but don’t reduce the Yukon’s competitive position when it comes to investment. 

Leef said that work must fully consider Chapter 22 of the Umbrella Final Agreement dealing which deals with economic development, self-reliance and participation for First Nations. Once that work on regulation is done, Leef thinks that industry and First Nations will be able to move forward with confidence in the environment’s protection

Nominee program and immigration

“I think our position, you know, it’s a territorial administered program at the federal level, principally, we’re supportive of that of the program. And you know, with the caveat, as it were, that the use of the program isn’t designed to take jobs away from Canadians and isn’t designed to drag down wages,” Leef said.

“We understand the needs of the business community and Yukoners to both give and receive the services that have been provided by a lot of nominees over the years that have come into the Yukon. So it’s been a great program. It will continue to be a great program. It’s certainly needed, but there’s always a business case to be made to ensure that we’re always keeping an eye on opportunities for Yukoners, we’re always keeping an eye on opportunities for training and education and development, so that Yukoners have the opportunity to get jobs first and the wages are commensurate to the job that they’re doing.”

Leef says the territory’s business community has provided all levels of government with advice on directing the program and he will be “all ears” if elected MP. He noted the important role it plays especially in small Yukon communities and wants to make sure it is responsive to the needs of Canadians and Yukoners. 

Katherine McCallum, NDP

Tariffs and sovereignty 

The more Trump ramps up pressure on Canada with tariffs, the higher the prices of everyday items will go, per McCallum.  

She says the NDP will work to keep healthcare, dental care, childcare and housing affordable for “everyday working Yukoners” despite Trump’s tariffs threats.  

Removing trade barriers between provinces and territories makes sense to her. She believes that the health sector could benefit from lowering interprovincial and international barriers for doctors to come to the territory.  

Housing and affordability  

McCallum says housing is in a massive “crisis” that hits close to home for her. Her two children, who are in their early 20s now, can’t afford to move out of their family homes. 

“They can’t afford to leave and go and get rental and they certainly can’t afford to buy a home, or even think about what that means,” she said.  

She says the NDP is pitching to build three million homes over the next four years. The party would also increase the transfer payment to the territory and make it tied to housing. She wants to “make sure that renters and tenants are protected by law from renovictions and unfair practices by landlords.”  

She seeks to ensure that Yukoners can apply and qualify for mortgages “using a government-backed low-interest mortgage so that low-income people can afford to buy their own homes.” 

Healthcare  

McCallum said a lack of a family doctor and having to navigate the mental health system with her children for the last decade have personally affected her. 

“This is really quite a personal question for me,” she said. “The NDP is going to fight for a Canadian licensing system so that doctors can come here from all over Canada without having to re-license.” 

By 2030, her goal is for every resident in Canada to be matched with a doctor.  

“It’s not acceptable that we don’t have doctors available to us,” she said. 

Given her personal experience, McCallum has been looking for holes in the mental health system. She says her family had to wait months on a waitlist for care while at a “crisis point.” To her, that suggests a lack of mental health professionals — and specialized ones — in the territory. 

“If you’re in a crisis today, you need mental health care today,” she said, adding that she would fight for federal funding to be specifically tied to certain services.  

Resource industry  

From McCallum’s perspective, federal funding also needs to be tied to land-use planning so that Yukon First Nations have a say on resource development in the territory. 

She expects environmental protections to be in place and followed to avert “mining disasters.”  

Nominee program and immigration 

McCallum sees the importance of the Yukon Nominee Program on economic, social and multicultural levels.  

“I’m an immigrant myself and I am so thankful that Canada is a country full of immigrants and that I’ve been so supported,” she said.  

She says the problem is that there’s not enough housing and health care available for newcomers once they arrive to Canada.  

“We need to make sure that there are programs in place to make sure people are housed safely and securely and that people have access to health care,” she said. 

“We can’t invite people to our country if we can’t house them and offer them health care when they get here.” 

While she couldn’t speak to the size or federal allotments for the Yukon Nominee Program, she acknowledges its importance for addressing a tight labour market in the territory.  

“I can tell you that it’s important, and that staffing levels are obviously under stress, and that we need immigration for those reasons,” she said.

— With files from Jim Elliot, Dana Hatherly, Jake Howarth and Talar Stockton

Contact Jim Elliot at [email protected]