John Edzerza
Office 1Minister of the Environment
Premier 1Dennis Fentie
Darrell Pasloski
Term start 1February 4, 2010
Term end 1November 5, 2011
Predecessor 1Elaine Taylor
Successor 1Currie Dixon
Office 2Minister of Education
Premier 2Dennis Fentie
Term start 2November 30, 2002
Term end 2August 2, 2006
Predecessor 2Cynthia Tucker
Successor 2Elaine Taylor
Office 3Minister of Justice
Premier 3Dennis Fentie
Term start 3July 12, 2004
Term end 3August 2, 2006
Predecessor 3Elaine Taylor
Successor 3Elaine Taylor
Office 4Minister of the Public Service Commission
Premier 4Dennis Fentie
Term start 4November 30, 2002
Term end 4July 12, 2004
Predecessor 4Pam Buckway
Successor 4Elaine Taylor
Office 5MLA for McIntyre-Takhini
Term start 5November 4, 2002
Term end 5October 11, 2011
Predecessor 5Wayne Jim
Successor 5Constituency dissolved
Birth dateAugust 14, 1948
Birth placeLower Post, British Columbia
Death dateNovember 25, 2011 (aged 63)
Death placeWhitehorse, Yukon
PartyYukon Party (2000-2006)
Independent (2006)
New Democrat (2006-2009)
Independent (2009-2010)
Yukon Party (2010-2011)

John Edzerza (August 14, 1948 – November 25, 2011) was a Canadian politician. He represented the electoral district of McIntyre-Takhini in the Yukon Legislative Assembly.

Political career

Born in British Columbia in 1948,[1] he first entered politics in 2002 as a Yukon Party MLA, and served as Minister of Justice and Minister of Education in Dennis Fentie's cabinet.

After disagreeing with a number of government decisions in early 2006, he resigned from the Yukon Party on August 2, 2006, to sit as an independent MLA, and recontested his seat in that fall's territorial election as a candidate of the Yukon New Democratic Party. He was re-elected, and served in the NDP caucus under Todd Hardy until January 2009, when he resigned from the NDP to sit again as an independent.[2] He rejoined the Yukon Party on October 22, 2009,[3] and served as Minister of the Environment until retiring in 2011.[4] Edzerza died of leukemia on November 25, 2011.[5][6]

Electoral record

Yukon general election, 2006

|-

| NDP | John Edzerza | align="right"| 336 | align="right"| 38.8% | align="right"| +7.0%

| Liberal | Ed Schultz | align="right"| 328 | align="right"| 37.9% | align="right"| +15.4%

|- ! align=left colspan=3|Total ! align=right| 865 ! align=right| 100.0% ! align=right| – |}

Yukon general election, 2002

|-

| NDP | Maureen Stephens | align="right"| 270 | align="right"| 29.8% | align="right"| -4.7%

| Liberal | Judy Gingell | align="right"| 204 | align="right"| 22.5% | align="right"| -15.9%

| Independent | Wayne Jim | align="right"| 129 | align="right"| 14.2% | align="right"| +14.2%

| Independent | Geoffrey Capp | align="right"| 15 | align="right"| 1.7% | align="right"| +1.7% |- ! align=left colspan=3|Total ! align=right| 906 ! align=right| 100.0% ! align=right| – |}

Yukon general election, 2000

|-

| Liberal | Wayne Jim | align="right"| 376 | align="right"| 38.4% | align="right"| +18.1%

| NDP | Piers McDonald | align="right"| 338 | align="right"| 34.5% | align="right"| -14.8%

|- ! align=left colspan=3|Total ! align=right| 979 ! align=right| 100.0% ! align=right| – |}

References

  1. ^ "MLA biography". Yukon Legislative Assembly. Archived January 11, 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2015-11-18.
  2. ^ "Yukon MLA Edzerza quits NDP, will sit as Independent". CBC News. January 29, 2009. Retrieved 2015-11-18.
  3. ^ "Edzerza rejoins Yukon Party". CBC News. October 22, 2009. Retrieved 2015-11-18.
  4. ^ "Edzerza named Yukon environment minister". CBC News. February 4, 2010. Retrieved 2015-11-18.
  5. ^ "Former Yukon minister dies". CBC News. November 28, 2011. Retrieved 2015-11-18.
  6. ^ "'He had so much more he wanted to do'". Whitehorse Daily Star. November 28, 2011. Retrieved 2015-11-18.