The Yukon Party was formed in April 1978 and adopted the name “Yukon Territorial Progressive Conservative Party” because it chose at that time to be affiliated with the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada.
Mrs. Hilda Watson of Haines Junction was elected as the first Leader of the Yukon Party in September of 1978 beating out Mr. Erik Nielsen, the Yukon’s long-serving Member of Parliament, by one vote. Mrs. Watson became the first woman leader of a major political party in Canada. She was first elected to the Yukon legislature in 1970 representing the former Carmacks-Kluane Riding and was chosen as one of two elected members to serve on the Executive Committee (Cabinet). Mrs. Watson was responsible for Education. She was re-elected in 1974 but resigned in 1975 after deciding not to contest a court case brought forward by a defeated candidate over irregularities in the voters list. After winning the Yukon Party leadership, however, Mrs. Watson was unsuccessful in winning a seat in the November 20, 1978 territorial election and resigned as the Yukon Party Leader on December 8, 1978. Mrs. Watson is now deceased. She passed away in Haines Junction on July 14, 1996.
At its founding, the Yukon Party adopted eighteen resolutions, the majority of which were to define the policy direction of the Yukon Party and Yukon Party Governments for the next two decades and are still relevant today. For example, the first two resolutions concerned the “Yukoners’ Claim” and “Yukon Indian Land Claims.” Under the “Yukoners’ Claim”, the Yukon Party called upon the federal government to transfer increased responsibilities over Yukon affairs, land and resources to the Yukon Government, while the “Yukon Indian Land Claims” resolution recognized the aboriginal title of the Yukon Indian people to the land in Yukon and called for the just and expeditious settlement of those claims. The drafters of these resolutions would never have believed that 23 years later that the fulfillment of these resolutions would still be outstanding.
Other founding resolutions concerned important constitutional, land claim, social and economic issues that have withstood the test of time. Under the “Role and Responsibilities of Government”, the Yukon Party defined its support for private sector development, restricting government interference in the private sector, and providing for freedom of information. “The Alaska Highway Pipeline and Pipeline Revenues” resolution was designed to ensure that the Yukon Government was able to deal with the socio-economic impacts of pipeline construction and ensure long-term benefits from pipeline revenues. The resolution on “Economic Development” called for hydro energy development, a balance between economic development and environmental protection, and giving Yukoners a preference in the awarding of government contracts. The “COPE Claim” resolution made it clear that the Yukon Party was opposed to the COPE Agreement in Principle because it prejudiced the land claim of the Vuntut Gwitchin, was negotiated in secret by the federal government without any participation by the Yukon Government, proposed granting the ownership of 1,000 square miles of land in northern Yukon to the Inuvialuit of the NWT, and established an unacceptable precedent for other transboundary claims in Yukon.
Other resolutions included: “Agriculture”, “Education”, “Tourism”, “Mining”, “Municipal and Community Affairs”, “Yukon Lands and Taxation of Yukon Lands”, to name but a few.
These resolutions formed the basis of the Yukon Party’s first election platform and made the Yukon Party separate and distinct both from the Yukon Liberal Party, and the Yukon New Democratic Party.