Piers McDonald

McDonald was elected in the rural riding of Mayo as part of the New Democrat caucus in the 1982 election. Taking more than half the vote, he defeated incumbent Progressive Conservative MLA Swede Hanson. McDonald had been an underground miner, labour leader, and Vice-President of the Yukon Federation of Labour before his entry into territorial politics.

The New Democrats, under the leadership of Tony Penikett, formed the Official Opposition in the 25th Legislative Assembly. McDonald acted as critic for Rural Development, Labour, Occupational Health and Safety, and Workers' Compensation.

In the 1985 election, Tony Penikett led the New Democrats to a narrow minority government. McDonald was sworn in as a member of the Yukon Executive Council as Minister of Education, Minister of Community and Transportation Services, and Minister of the Yukon Housing Corporation. During that time, McDonald oversaw a significant agenda for his portfolios, ushering in the creation of the Yukon College and the establishment of the Yukon Arts Centre and the Whitehorse Public Library.

Other initiatives of his included: the Native Teacher Education Program; the opening and paving of the South Klondike Highway, which provided tidewater access for Yukon mines; the transfer of private-sector municipal airports and the Alaska Highway to the Yukon Government; and the establishment of the first home ownership programs and homesteader policies in the territory.

McDonald was re-elected in Mayo in the 1989 election, which saw the New Democrats attain majority status in the legislative assembly. He was once again sworn into Cabinet, this time as Government House Leader, Minister of Education, Minister of Government Services, Minister of Economic Development, Mines and Small Business, Minister of the Public Service Commission, and Minister of the Workers’ Compensation Health and Safety Board.

During the 27th Legislative Assembly, McDonald oversaw the creation of the Yukon's first Education Act, as well as a new Workers’ Compensation Health and Safety Act. He oversaw the signing of an oil and gas accord with the Government of the Northwest Territories and an economic development agreement with the Government of Canada. Within the public school system, he also established policies on busing, computers, special needs education, and experiential learning. Yukon's only French First Language school, École Emilie Tremblay, was opened under his mandate.

In the 1992 election, McDonald ran for election in the newly created Whitehorse riding of McIntyre-Takhini. His riding of Mayo had been amalgamated with the neighbouring riding of Tatchun. He was elected to McIntyre-Takhini that election, but the Penikett government was narrowly defeated by a minority Yukon Party government led by John Ostashek and propped up by three independent MLAs. Penikett subsequently resigned as Leader of the Yukon New Democratic Party and McDonald succeeded him as Leader. He assumed the critic portfolios of Finance and Economic Development and served as Leader of the Official Opposition.

McDonald defeated the government of John Ostashek in the election of September 30, 1996, his government elected with a large level of support in rural Yukon. McDonald's party captured 11/17 seats, then the largest majority in Yukon history, and McDonald was once again re-elected in McIntyre-Takhini. He became Premier of the Yukon, then referred to as ‘Government Leader’, and assumed the responsibilities of Minister of Finance and Minister of the Executive Council.

During his premiership, McDonald's government oversaw significant restructuring of the Yukon's governance. The Umbrella Final Agreement, jointly established through the mandates of Penikett and Ostashek, began to usher in final land claims negotiations for many Yukon First Nations. With the federal government, a devolution accord on the Transfer of Lands and Resource Management to the Yukon was negotiated (ultimately implemented in 2003). McDonald also emphasized intergovernmental and circumpolar relations, established new territorial parks and community schools, and created new government strategies for restorative justice, protected areas, trade and investment, forestry, and energy.

While his government left a $60 million budget surplus and earned a good reputation for promoting social programs and protecting the environment, the Yukon had suffered from a decline in the territory's economy due to a fall in world metal prices and the closure of several mines. This became a major campaign issue in the 2000 general election, along with a resulting mass exodus of nearly one-in-ten people from the Yukon.

Ultimately, these economic hardships fueled the rise of the Pat Duncan Liberals and in the 2000 general election, McDonald's NDP government was defeated and McDonald himself lost his own seat of McIntyre-Takhini. NDP support had largely held in rural Yukon, but it was the Liberals' sweep of the territory's Whitehorse ridings that ensured the NDP's defeat. McDonald resigned as party leader on April 27, 2000.