Whitehorse West

Whitehorse West
Province	Yukon
Prov-status	active
Prov-election-first	1952
Prov-election-last	2025
Prov-rep	Laura Lang
Prov-rep-party	Yukon
Demo-electors	1,577
Demo-electors-date	2021
Demo-csd	Arkell, Copper Ridge, Ingram, Logan

Whitehorse West is a territorial electoral district of Yukon that has been represented in the Yukon Legislative Assembly since 1952.

Geography

Whitehorse West includes the subdivisions of Ingram, Arkell, and Logan; the north part of Copper Ridge bounded by Lazulite Drive to Tigereye Crescent, cutting across to the north of Ruby Lane, and extending to the boundary of the Porter Creek South electoral district. Besides Porter Creek South, Whitehorse West is bordered by the districts of Mountainview, and Copperbelt North. The Whitehorse district is the smallest riding, by size, in the Yukon.

History

Whitehorse West is the former seat of Yukon Premier Tony Penikett of the Yukon New Democratic Party, Deputy Premier Elaine Taylor of the Yukon Party, Dennis Schneider, 8th Speaker of the Yukon Legislative Assembly, and Ken McKinnon, former Commissioner of the Yukon.

Initially considered a New Democrat stronghold, the riding evolved into a largely Yukon Party stronghold, despite falling to the Liberals in 2016. However, Whitehorse West could also be viewed as a bellwether, as it has voted for the governing party in every territorial election since 1985, except 1992.

Electoral results

2025

2021 Yukon general election redistributed results^[1]
Party		Votes	%
	Liberal	408	39
	Yukon Party	397	38
	New Democratic	241	23

2016

| Liberal | Richard Mostyn | align="right"| 455 | align="right"| 45.8% | align="right"| +17.1% |-

| NDP | Stu Clark | align="right"| 106 | align="right"| 10.7% | align="right"| -2.2% |- ! align=left colspan=3|Total ! align=right| 994 ! align=right| 100.0% ! align=right| – |}

2011

| Liberal | Cully Robinson | align="right"| 209 | align="right"| 28.7% | align="right"| -9.9% |-

| NDP | Louis Gagnon | align="right"| 94 | align="right"| 12.9% | align="right"| +5.1% |- ! align=left colspan=3|Total ! align=right| 729 ! align=right| 100.0% ! align=right| – |}

2006

| Liberal | Mike Walton | align="right"| 371 | align="right"| 38.6% | align="right"| +0.6% |-

| NDP | Rhoda Merkel | align="right"| 75 | align="right"| 7.8% | align="right"| -6.1% |- ! align=left colspan=3|Total ! align=right| 963 ! align=right| 100.0% ! align=right| – |}

2002

| Liberal | Dennis Schneider | align="right"| 319 | align="right"| 38.0% | align="right"| -2.5% |-

| NDP | Rachel Grantham | align="right"| 117 | align="right"| 13.9% | align="right"| -17.4% |- ! align=left colspan=3|Total ! align=right| 840 ! align=right| 100.0% ! align=right| – |}

2000

| NDP | Dave Sloan | align="right"| 480 | align="right"| 31.3% | align="right"| -9.4%

|- ! align=left colspan=3|Total ! align=right| 1535 ! align=right| 100.0% ! align=right| – |}

1996

| NDP | Dave Sloan | align="right"| 486 | align="right"| 40.7% | align="right"| -1.6% |-

| Liberal | Larry Bagnell | align="right"| 383 | align="right"| 32.1% | align="right"| +0.2% |-

|- ! align=left colspan=3|Total ! align=right| 1195 ! align=right| 100.0% ! align=right| – |}

1996 by-election

| NDP | Dave Sloan | align="right"| 433 | align="right"| 42.3% | align="right"| -3.3%

On the resignation of Tony Penikett, 1995

1992

| NDP | Tony Penikett | align="right"| 304 | align="right"| 45.6% | align="right"| -9.7% |-

| Liberal | Shaun Patrick Dennehy | align="right"| 114 | align="right"| 17.1% | align="right"| +6.2% |-

| Independent | Bernd Schmidt | align="right"| 12 | align="right"| 1.8% | align="right"| +1.8% |- ! align=left colspan=3|Total ! align=right| 666 ! align=right| 100.0% ! align=right| – |}

The Yukon Progressive Conservative Party re-branded itself as the Yukon Party before the 1992 election.

1989

| NDP | Tony Penikett | align="right"| 810 | align="right"| 55.3% | align="right"| -1.9% |-

| Liberal | Joe Jack | align="right"| 160 | align="right"| 10.9% | align="right"| +10.9% |- ! align=left colspan=3|Total ! align=right| 1465 ! align=right| 100.0% ! align=right| – |}

1985

| NDP | Tony Penikett | align="right"| 716 | align="right"| 57.2% | align="right"| +8.5% |-

|- ! align=left colspan=3|Total ! align=right| 1251 ! align=right| 100.0% ! align=right| – |}

1982

| NDP | Tony Penikett | align="right"| 541 | align="right"| 48.7% | align="right"| +17.4% |-

| Liberal | Adam Skrutkowski | align="right"| 59 | align="right"| 5.3% | align="right"| -21.9% |- ! align=left colspan=3|Total ! align=right| 1112 ! align=right| 100.0% ! align=right| – |}

1978

| NDP | Tony Penikett | align="right"| 230 | align="right"| 31.3% | align="right"| – |-

| Liberal | John Watt | align="right"| 200 | align="right"| 27.2% | align="right"| – |-

| Independent | Al Omatani | align="right"| 81 | align="right"| 11.0% | align="right"| – |-

| Independent | Guy Julien | align="right"| 37 | align="right"| 5.0% | align="right"| – |- ! align=left colspan=3|Total ! align=right| 736 ! align=right| 100.0% ! align=right| – |}

Partisan politics introduced into the territory

1974

| Independent | Flo Whyard | align="right"| 252 | align="right"| 42.3% | align="right"| – |-

| Independent | John Watt | align="right"| 227 | align="right"| 38.1% | align="right"| – |-

| Independent | Al Omatani | align="right"| 116 | align="right"| 19.5% | align="right"| – |- ! align=left colspan=3|Total ! align=right| 596 ! align=right| 100.0% ! align=right| – |}

1970

| Independent | Ken McKinnon | align="right"| 444 | align="right"| 23.4% | align="right"| – |-

| Independent | John Watt | align="right"| 294 | align="right"| 28.7% | align="right"| – |-

| Independent | John P. Hoyt | align="right"| 281 | align="right"| 27.5% | align="right"| – |- ! align=left colspan=3|Total ! align=right| 1023 ! align=right| 100.0% ! align=right| – |}

References

^ Hutton, Kyle (May 24, 2025). "Yukon's New Electoral Boundaries". Blunt Objects. Substack. Retrieved June 3, 2025.