Whitehorse Daily Star

Liquor vote set for June 23rd

Will the legal age for the consumption of alcoholic beverages be 19 years of age?

By Whitehorse Star on May 12, 1969

All Yukon residents, 19 years and up, will be asked to answer this question on Monday, June 23: “Are you in favour of lowering the legal age for the consumption of alcoholic beverages from 21 years to 19 years of age?” Commissioner James Smith announced the date and terms of the plebiscite this morning. It is believed to be the first time in Canada that underage voters will have had an opportunity to express their opinions on a question which directly affected them. There will be no enumeration of voters, and no voters list compiled for the plebiscite, which will be conducted by Federal Returning Officer Harold J. MacDonald of Whitehorse. Instead, each voter will swear an affidavit that they are of the full age of 19 and they were ordinarily residents in the Yukon Territory on March 20, 1969. This was the date on which Yukon Territorial Council approved the idea of the plebiscite being held.

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