Willard Phelps | |
|---|---|
| 2nd Premier of Yukon | |
| In office March 23, 1985 – May 28, 1985 | |
| Commissioner | Douglas Bell |
| Preceded by | Chris Pearson |
| Succeeded by | Tony Penikett |
| Legislative Assembly of Yukon | |
| In office October 19, 1992 – September 30, 1996 | |
| Preceded by | riding established |
| Succeeded by | Dave Keenan |
| Constituency | Ross River-Southern Lakes |
| Legislative Assembly of Yukon | |
| In office May 13, 1985 – October 19, 1992 | |
| Preceded by | Al Falle |
| Succeeded by | riding redistributed |
| Constituency | Hootalinqua |
| Yukon Territorial Council | |
| In office October 7, 1974 – June 13, 1975 | |
| Preceded by | position established |
| Succeeded by | Walt Lengerke |
| Constituency | Whitehorse Riverdale |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1941-10-23)October 23, 1941 (age 84) Vancouver, British Columbia |
| Political party | Progressive Conservative |
| Occupation | lawyer |
Willard Leroy Phelps (born October 23, 1941) is a formerYukon politician, who briefly served as the secondpremier of Yukon in 1985.[1]
Born in 1941, he was the grandson ofWillard "Deacon" Phelps and the son ofJohn Phelps, both former members of theYukon Territorial Council. He graduated from theUniversity of British Columbia in 1968 with a law degree.
Phelps was first elected to the Yukon Territorial Council in 1974, but his election was overturned in 1975 afterDon Branigan filed for a court injunction on the grounds that as the government was renting space in Phelps' commercial real estate holdings for some of itsliquor stores, his serving on the council placed him in aconflict of interest.
He did not run for theYukon Legislative Assembly in the elections of 1978 or 1982. However, with the resignation ofChris Pearson as government leader in 1985 theProgressive Conservatives chose Phelps as its new leader and he was accordingly thesecondGovernment Leader[2] from March 23 to May 28, 1985,[3] when theYukon NDP took office after winning the1985 election. Phelps wasleader of the opposition from 1985 until 1991. When the Progressive Conservatives became the Yukon Party, Phelps became anIndependent Alliance MLA but sat in the new party'scaucus.
WhenJohn Ostashek'sYukon Party took power in 1992 with aminority government, Phelps lent his support and became minister of justice, health and social services. In 1994 he dropped the justice portfolio and picked up responsibility for education. In his responsibilities for social services, Phelps institutedwelfare reform hiring private investigators to look into welfare recipients. He also argued for theprivatization of the government owned energy concern. Phelps resigned hiscabinet positions in March 1996. Phelps ran for re-election but lost his seat in the fall election.
Phelps formed theUnited Citizens Party of Yukon in 2009 to oppose the government ofDennis Fentie. He resigned as the party leader on May 9, 2011 for health reasons and due to waning interest.[4]
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