SENATORS’ STATEMENTS — The Honourable Pat Duncan

Honourable senators, one of the privileges of this chamber is working alongside and learning from our colleagues from across the country. Each day, we learn how to serve Canadians better by hearing from senators who represent their provinces and territories with such care.

Today, I’d like to honour one of our colleagues who does just that. She is a senator whose sincerity, dedication and knowledge of her region shine through in every intervention she makes: the Honourable Senator Pat Duncan.

I knew she would become undone just a little bit.

Colleagues, on April 17, 2000, Senator Duncan was elected Premier of the Yukon. She was the first woman ever to have been elected to the position. She was sworn into her premiership 26 years ago today and was actually wearing this exact suit.

When she was elected premier, the Whitehorse Daily Star reported that her smile alone could have lit up Whitehorse. A quarter of a century later, I think we would all still agree.

Colleagues, in 2000, every senior political position in the Yukon was held by women: their MP, the commissioner, the Mayor of Whitehorse and our own Senator Ione Christensen.

Senator Duncan has been part of the Yukon’s story for a long time. Pat served for 10 years as a member in the Yukon Legislative Assembly and remains the only woman elected as Premier of the Yukon to this day.

She was a signatory of the Yukon Northern Affairs Program Devolution Transfer Agreement, transferring responsibility from Canada to the territory, granting the Yukon authority over its own land and resources. Twenty-five years ago, the Yukon was the first of the territories to undergo devolution, setting an example for the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.

She was also a proud signatory of the Ta’an Kwach’an Council Self-Government Agreement in 2002. It was one agreement, among many, that formed the bedrock of how the federal and territorial governments work in collaboration with First Nations governments.

Some of you may not know that Senator Duncan was a premier during the 9/11 attacks. On that day, a jetliner en route to New York mistakenly signalled it had been hijacked, causing an eruption of panic in Whitehorse, where it was diverted and later landed, thankfully, without further incident.

Colleagues, Senator Duncan was always ahead of the curve. In the 1990s, Senator Duncan began door knocking for her first election campaign, but with a twist: she was pregnant with her second child. She was told on many doorsteps that her pregnancy would hold her back, but she didn’t let that stop her. She knew better: “They’re saying that because of outdated ideas about what women can and can’t do.”

Senator Duncan ardently represents the feeling of pride we all share, representing our territories and provinces in the upper chamber. In our work in the Government Representative’s Office, in each discussion, she reminds us of the Yukoners she serves by bringing to the table her decades of service in the North and beyond.

Colleagues, on this twenty-sixth anniversary of her election as premier, I ask you to join me in celebrating our colleague, who offers so much to this chamber and has represented Yukoners proudly and tirelessly for many decades.

Mahsi’cho.