Yukon general election, 1917

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The 1917 Yukon general election was held on March 15, 1917 to elect the ten members to the 4th Yukon Legislative Council. This election was contested between the Liberals and Conservatives.


This campaign was contested by the Yukon and Liberal parties. The Liberals platform was primarily focused on improving working conditions, while the Conservative platform focused on infrastructure development. Both parties pledged to allow women to vote and stayed neutral on prohibition.[1][2]

Liberal platform[edit]

The Liberals campaigned on a platform of "progressive legislation". They pledged to introduce if elected to bring in woman's suffrage, reducing public works employee work days to 8 hours a day without reducing wages, a new workers compensation act, a pledge to experiment with farming in the Yukon and lowering the cost of medical services and legal fees.[2]

In addition to powers covered under territorial jurisdiction, the party pledged to lobby the federal government to put an exemption limit of $1000.00 for royalty payments paid by prospectors and miners. They planned to do this by establishing a memorial to send prayers to Ottawa.[2] The party also decided to take no stand on the question of liquor prohibition which had been voted on a few months prior to the election.[2]

Conservative platform[edit]

The Yukon Territorial Conservative Association pledged to bring in woman's suffrage, establish an old people's home, limit the time that mining claims can be registered under the Yukon Placer Mining Act and establish a road network, and wireless telegraph network with rural Yukon and southern Canada. The Conservatives also took a neutral stance regarding the question of prohibition.[1]


The electoral districts of North Dawson and South Dawson returned two members each.

North Dawson election results
Name Party Votes %
     Joseph Beaupre Conservative %
     J.P. Guite Liberal %
     William J. O'Brien Liberal %
     Godfrey Rogers Conservative %


  1. ^ a b "To the Electors of Dawson". Dawson Daily News. February 21, 1917. p. 6. 
  2. ^ a b c d "To the Electors of North and South Dawson". Dawson Daily News. February 21, 1917. p. 6. 

External links[edit]