Melissa Craig, Yukon MP Larry Bagnell's new financee, says proposing to Bagnell didn't prove to be an easy task.

'Larry's a very busy man,' said Craig, who popped the question to the second-term Liberal MP last weekend at the annual Commissioner's Ball in Dawson City.

Craig told the Star she tried to prepare Bagnell before the dinner by telling him she wanted a few minutes alone and that she had a gift for him. However, as last Saturday evening wore on, it appeared they might not get the time away.

'I had to be persistent on getting more than five minutes alone,' she said.

Bagnell said in an interview Monday that in the midst of the activities, he suggested to Craig that she simply give him the gift and he'd open it on the plane on the way back to Ottawa, where the House of Commons is still sitting.

'You know when I don't have anything else to do,' Bagnell said, remembering his conversation with Craig that night.

'It's not really that kind of gift, Larry,' Craig said she told him.

Craig had been planning on asking him to get married for several weeks. She had ordered the gold nugget ring made of gold from Last Chance Creek.

She waited until the Commissioner's Ball because she wanted to ask the question on a 'special night.'

Craig had written a speech to Bagnell that talked about reasons why she loves him.

'She then asked me to spend the rest of my life with her,' said Bagnell.

The couple hasn't yet made any plans for the wedding, he said. However, they're joking about making it an 'orange wedding,' which is Craig's favourite colour.

'I don't just want the wedding party to wear orange,' joked Craig. 'I want everyone to wear orange.'

Bagnell said they plan to be pretty relaxed about planning the wedding and don't want to get into any arguments or in 'troubles over the details.'

They have talked about marriage previously, he said, but he wasn't expecting her to ask for his hand that night.

After the proposal, Bagnell then had to go into the ball and make a speech. He was still very excited and a little overwhelmed, he said.

'It had just happened five minutes before, but I got through the speech OK. It's a very exciting time.'

During the speech, he introduced Craig to the audience and announced their engagement.

Bagnell told the Star they are 'kind of unconventional,' as is reflected in Craig's proposal to him.

But added: 'It's kind of neat for the woman to ask the man.'

Bagnell has offered to buy a ring for Craig, but so far, she's told him she doesn't need one, he said.

'I'm trying to convince her.'

Bagnell, 55, met the significantly younger Craig a few years ago at a meeting of the Yukon Anti-Poverty Coalition.

'There's a fairly apparent age gap,' she agreed, 'but, it's really irrelevant.'

Bagnell said he and Craig are 'very much the same' and enjoy many of the same interests and activities, including fishing.

The pair began to see more of each other in December 2004. After spending some time together, they began dating last January.

Craig admits her political ideals are more in line with the NDP than with the Liberals.

'It's something to build a lot of humour on,' she said.

Even though she doesn't agree with everything on the Liberal platform, she added, Bagnell is still the kind of person she'd vote for.

Craig works for Air North in reservations. She previously was a flight attendant, but transferred after she broke her wrist in a snowboarding accident this past winter.

She also works with the Yukon Women's Transition House in Whitehorse.