Pat Duncan
- For other uses, see: Patrick Duncan (disambiguation).
Pat Duncan (born April 8, 1960) was Premier of Yukon from 2000 until 2002 when her government was defeated in a snap election called by Duncan in an attempt to solidify the Liberal government's position in the legislature after a series of defections. The election, instead, reduced the Liberals to third party status with Duncan as the sole MLA.
Prior to getting into elected politics, Duncan, who was born in Edmonton, Alberta but raised in Whitehorse, Yukon from the age of four, served as an aide to Progressive Conservative deputy prime minister Erik Nielsen in the mid-80s, until Nielsen's retirement in 1987.
Duncan was first elected to the legislature in 1996 after serving as executive director of the Whitehorse Chamber of Commerce. She was elected to represent Porter Creek South shortly after the birth of second child, son Craig Berube. Her party initially won a majority government in 2000 but was reduced to a minority in early 2002 when three Liberal MLAs crossed the floor to sit as independents after complaining of Premier Duncan's "secretive and dictatorial" leadership style.
Duncan remained leader of the Yukon Liberals until June 4, 2005 when she was defeated by Arthur Mitchell by a margin of 357 votes to 303 at the party's leadership convention. After the Liberals became the Official Opposition early in May 2006[1], she became Opposition House Leader.[2]
Prior to the October 10, 2006 general election, Duncan, who had been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, announced she would not be running for a fourth term as the MLA for the Whitehorse riding of Porter Creek South.
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Preceded by: | Yukon Premier 2000-2002 |
Succeeded by: |