The 1978 Yukon general election, held on November 20, 1978, was the first conventional legislative election in the history of Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

's Yukon Territory

Yukon

Yukon is the westernmost and smallest of Canada's three federal territories. It was named after the Yukon River. The word Yukon means "Great River" in Gwich’in....

. Prior elections were held to elect representatives to the Yukon Legislative Council, a non-partisan body that acted in an advisory role to the Commissioner of the Yukon. Following the passage of the Yukon Elections Act in 1977, the 1978 election was the first time that voters in the Yukon elected representatives to the Yukon Legislative Assembly

Yukon Legislative Assembly

-History:From 1900 to 1978, the elected legislative body in the Yukon was the Yukon Territorial Council, a ten-member body which did not act as the primary government, but was a non-partisan advisory body to the Commissioner of the Yukon...

 in an election organized along political party

Political party

A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...

 lines.

Hilda Watson

Hilda Watson

Hilda Watson was a Canadian schoolteacher and politician from the Yukon Territory. She was the first woman in Canadian history to lead a political party which was successful in having its members elected....

, the first woman ever to lead a political party into an election in Canada, was the leader of the Progressive Conservatives

Yukon Party

The Yukon Party , is a conservative political party in the Yukon Territory of Canada. It was previously known as the Yukon Progressive Conservative Party.-Declining fortunes:...

. Although the party won the election, Watson herself was defeated in Kluane by Liberal

Yukon Liberal Party

The Yukon Liberal Party is a political party in the Yukon Territory in Canada.Arthur Mitchell is the Leader of the Yukon Liberal Party.-History:...

 candidate Alice McGuire

Alice McGuire

Alice McGuire is a Canadian politician. She represented the electoral district of Kluane in the Yukon Legislative Assembly from 1978 to 1982.She defeated Yukon Progressive Conservative leader Hilda Watson in Kluane, despite the fact that the Progressive Conservatives won the election overall...

, and thus did not become government leader. The position of government leader instead went to Chris Pearson

Chris Pearson (politician)

Christopher William Pearson was the first leader of the Yukon Progressive Conservative Party and the first Government Leader in the Yukon. Pearson moved to the Yukon in 1957 and worked for the government from 1960 until 1973 when he entered private business...

.

New Democratic

Yukon New Democratic Party

The Yukon New Democratic Party is a social-democratic political party in the Yukon territory of Canada.The Yukon NDP first formed the government of the territory under the leadership of Tony Penikett from 1985 to 1992, and under the leadership of Piers McDonald from 1996 to 2000. The party's...

 leader Fred Berger

Fred Berger (politician)

Fred Berger was a Canadian politician. First elected to the non-partisan Yukon Territorial Council in the 1974 territorial election, he became the first leader of the Yukon New Democratic Party when the territory adopted political parties for the first time in the 1978 election...

 was also defeated in his own riding, and was succeeded as leader of the party by Tony Penikett

Tony Penikett

Antony David John Penikett is a mediator and negotiator and former politician in Yukon, Canada.-Life and work:An activist with the New Democratic Party , Penikett was campaign manager in 1972 for Wally Firth, the first indigenous northern MP ever elected to the House of Commons...

.

Results by party

Party	Party Leader	# of cands	Seats
			Before	After	% of vote
Progressive Conservative Yukon Progressive Conservative Party The Yukon Progressive Conservative Party was a conservative political party in the Yukon Territory of Canada. It is now known as the Yukon Party.-History:...	Hilda Watson Hilda Watson Hilda Watson was a Canadian schoolteacher and politician from the Yukon Territory. She was the first woman in Canadian history to lead a political party which was successful in having its members elected....	15		11	37.1
Liberal Yukon Liberal Party The Yukon Liberal Party is a political party in the Yukon Territory in Canada.Arthur Mitchell is the Leader of the Yukon Liberal Party.-History:...	Iain McKay	13		2	26.0
Independent Independent (politician) In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...		10	16	2	16.6
NDP Yukon New Democratic Party The Yukon New Democratic Party is a social-democratic political party in the Yukon territory of Canada.The Yukon NDP first formed the government of the territory under the leadership of Tony Penikett from 1985 to 1992, and under the leadership of Piers McDonald from 1996 to 2000. The party's...	Fred Berger Fred Berger (politician) Fred Berger was a Canadian politician. First elected to the non-partisan Yukon Territorial Council in the 1974 territorial election, he became the first leader of the Yukon New Democratic Party when the territory adopted political parties for the first time in the 1978 election...	14		1	20.3
Total		52	16	16

Results by riding

Electoral District	Party	Candidate
Campbell		Robert Fleming
Faro Faro (electoral district) Faro was an electoral district that returned a member to the Legislative Assembly of the Yukon Territory in Canada between 1978 and 2002.-MLAs:*I = Independent*YNDP = Yukon New Democratic Party*YLP = Yukon Liberal Party...		Maurice Byblow Maurice Byblow Maurice Byblow is a former Canadian politician, who represented the electoral district of Faro in the Yukon Legislative Assembly from 1978 to 1985 and from 1989 to 1996....
Hootalinqua		Al Falle
Klondike Klondike (electoral district) Klondike is an electoral district which returns a member to the Legislative Assembly of Yukon in Canada. It was the only seat won by the Yukon Party in the 2000 territorial election...		Meg McCall Meg McCall Meg McCall is a former Canadian politician, who represented the electoral district of Klondike in the Yukon Legislative Assembly from 1978 to 1985. She was a member of the Yukon Progressive Conservative Party....
Kluane		Alice McGuire Alice McGuire Alice McGuire is a Canadian politician. She represented the electoral district of Kluane in the Yukon Legislative Assembly from 1978 to 1982.She defeated Yukon Progressive Conservative leader Hilda Watson in Kluane, despite the fact that the Progressive Conservatives won the election overall...
Mayo		Peter Hanson
Old Crow		Grafton Njootli Grafton Njootli Grafton Njootli was a Canadian politician. He represented the electoral district of Old Crow in the Yukon Legislative Assembly from 1978 to 1982 as a member of the Yukon Progressive Conservative Party....
Tatchun		Howard Tracey
Watson Lake		Don Taylor Donald Taylor (Yukon politician) Donald Emerson "Don" Taylor is a former political figure in the Yukon, Canada. He represented Watson Lake from 1961 to 1985 in the Yukon Territorial Council and then in the Yukon Legislative Assembly from 1961 to 1985 as a Progressive Conservative then Independent member.He was born in Toronto,...
Whitehorse Porter Creek East Porter Creek North Porter Creek North is an electoral district which returns a member to the Legislative Assembly of the Yukon Territory in Canada...		Dan Lang Daniel Lang (Yukon politician) Hector Daniel Lang is a Canadian politician and a Conservative member of the Canadian Senate. He was appointed on the advice of Stephen Harper to the Senate on January 2, 2009.-Political career:...
Whitehorse Porter Creek West		Doug Graham
Whitehorse Riverdale North		Chris Pearson Chris Pearson (politician) Christopher William Pearson was the first leader of the Yukon Progressive Conservative Party and the first Government Leader in the Yukon. Pearson moved to the Yukon in 1957 and worked for the government from 1960 until 1973 when he entered private business...
Whitehorse Riverdale South Riverdale South Riverdale South is an electoral district which elects a Member of the Legislative Assembly to the Legislative Assembly of the Yukon Territory in Canada...		Iain McKay
Whitehorse North Centre		Geoff Latin
Whitehorse West Whitehorse West Whitehorse West is an electoral district which returns a member to the Legislative Assembly of the Yukon Territory in Canada...		Tony Penikett Tony Penikett Antony David John Penikett is a mediator and negotiator and former politician in Yukon, Canada.-Life and work:An activist with the New Democratic Party , Penikett was campaign manager in 1972 for Wally Firth, the first indigenous northern MP ever elected to the House of Commons...
Whitehorse South Centre		Dr. Jack Hibberd

Member changes

Maurice Byblow, elected as an independent, subsequently joined the NDP.

Jack Hibberd resigned his seat in the legislature on April 15, 1981, after accepting a position as a surgical consultant with a hospital outside of the Yukon. The resulting by-election, held on October 13, was won by New Democrat Roger Kimmerly

Roger Kimmerly

Roger Kimmerly is a former Canadian politician, who represented the electoral district of Whitehorse South Centre in the Yukon Legislative Assembly from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Yukon New Democratic Party....

. Now holding three seats in the legislature, the NDP replaced the Liberals as the Official Opposition.