Ed. note: Here, and on pages 10 and 11 and in alphabetical order, the Star profiles the three men vying for the leadership of the governing Yukon Party at Saturday's convention.

Jim Kenyon believes he has been on an extended job interview for the position of leader of the Yukon Party.

Kenyon, the current MLA for Porter Creek North, was first elected to the legislature when the Yukon Party came to power in 2002, dislodging Pat Duncan's short-lived Liberal government.

At the time, the territory was in a rough state, Kenyon said, with mass unemployment and a lack of development.

Now, the Yukon has the lowest unemployment rate in North America, the highest GDP in Canada and no debt, he said.

"That's what we've done,” said Kenyon, who was economic development minister until he was stripped of his portfolios earlier this month.

"I've been through an 8 1/2-year job interview, basically. So the others can say what they'd like to do; I can basically sit back and say, ‘Here's what I've done. Do you want this to continue in a much more open style? We can do it.'”

Kenyon doesn't believe the current government's rule has been flawless, however.

"My biggest problem is that we have failed to communicate to the public what we are doing and what we have done,” he said, adding that his style of leadership would be slightly different.

"I see it as very inclusive. Get good ministers, get good people in to work. And tell people what we're doing.”

Kenyon said he has the advantage of already knowing how to do the job.

"I think the others are going to come in and find it's a very difficult learning curve,” he said.

"They're both capable of doing that, but do you want to spend the next few months getting someone up to speed or hitting the road running and going from there?”

He also believes his experience working with other provincial, state and federal governments in his role as economic development minister could be an asset if he's elected leader.

"The relationships with other governments has really been the high point of what I've been doing,” he said.

Kenyon said his experience makes him realistic about what the government can accomplish.

In terms of connecting to the B.C. electrical grid, for instance, Kenyon said current proposals are not realistic.

"Is it something to look at long in the future? Yes ... but to come out and say this should be a priority is just not part of reality,” he said,

Some alternatives could be hydro power from the territory's rivers or nuclear energy, though he recognizes the suggestion is an unpopular one.

Housing would be Kenyon's number one priority, should he become the premier.

"The first thing I would do is mobilize that $18 million that's sitting in the Northern Housing Trust,” he said, noting that creating social housing creates a "cascade effect” by freeing up other units.

What's really needed is apartments, said Kenyon.

"You can go out and buy a $500,000 house, but to get an $800, $1,000 (a month) apartment is near impossible.”

Another imminent challenge, Kenyon said, is convincing newcomers to support the Yukon Party.

"If you weren't here a decade ago and knew what happened under other political control, it's easy to say, ‘This issue is big' or ‘That issue is big,'” he said.

"We need to show voters what we have done, what we can do in the future.”

Despite being the only candidate to have won an election previously, Kenyon is unsure how he'll fare on Saturday.

"The other two candidates came on like gangbusters,” he said.

Still, he remains optimistic.

"If experience and continuation is the choice, here I am.

"If a fresh face with business experience is the choice, then there they are.”

See Murray J, Martin column, In Opinion