Just hours after a potential Yukon Liberal Party candidate stepped into the Watson Lake race (see story above), Don Hutton announced he’s putting his name to the Liberal nomination ticket in Mayo-Tatchun.

Hutton, born in Mayo Landing in 1956, has lived in the riding his whole life, according to a statement released today.

Now retired, Hutton was a resource management officer for the federal government until the program was devolved to the Yukon government in 2003. At the territorial level, he was a zone protection manager who dealt primarily with fire services.

He has worked in politics at the municipal level, as both a councillor and mayor of Mayo, and as a manager in the federal and territorial governments.

“I’ve kind of been a Liberal my whole life,” Hutton told the Star today.

“My parents were Liberal supporters who drove Jean Chrétien around Yukon when he minister of Indian and Northern Affairs.” (The former prime minister was in that portfolio in the late 1960s and early ’70s.)

“I grew up feeling comfortable with that philosophy.”

Hutton said he was happy to see a change in government in Ottawa in 2015 and is “really happy” with Justin Trudeau as prime minister.

Improving relations with the Yukon’s First Nations is a priority, said Hutton, who previously held a one-year contract as director of lands and resources with the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyak Dun.

“As the Liberal MLA for Mayo-Tatchun, I will work toward building a respectful relationship with all Yukon First Nations in an open and accountable governance model,” he said in his statement.

For 20 years until 2012, Hutton served as a private, corporal and sergeant for the Canadian Rangers.

The Rangers are a branch of the Canadian Armed Forces that patrol in Canada’s remote regions.

Rangers perform search and rescue operations, among other duties, and are typically trained in wilderness survival.

Hutton acted as chairperson of the Mayo Emergency Measures Organization, where he lead a ditch-building project to protect a nearby Yukon Energy diesel generation plant from flooding in 2010.

In 2011, Hutton was awarded the Premier’s Award of Excellence for his efforts during Mayo’s winter flood.

“Faced with rising groundwater levels caused by thick ice floes in the Mayo River, (Hutton and his team) faced the uncertainties and challenges with innovative but practical approaches to protect the village,” the Yukon government said when it announced the award.

Hutton has diplomas in forest resources technology and in wildlife and forestry conservation.

“I want to be a part of a government that shows a true commitment to developing a diversified economy while preserving and enhancing protection of the environment,” he said in his statement.

Recreationally, Hutton coached indoor soccer and junior curling, and notes a “passion for prospecting.”

“I have some (gold and silver) claims right now, down by Moose Creek, me and a partner,” said Hutton.

“The best showings that I got out of there – one sample is 7.6 grams of gold per ton of rock, and silver was 124 ounces.

“It’s an old property that my father had staked back in the ’60s, and I went back and restaked it.”

Hutton is not to be confused with another Yukoner by the same name who served as the Yukon Party president in the late 1990s.

The Mayo-Tatchun seat is currently held by the NDP’s Jim Tredger.

Tredger, who serves as the party’s critic for Education (public schools), and Energy, Mines and Resources, was elected in 2011.