The Yukon NDP has started rolling out new faces seeking spots in the legislature.

Shirley Chua-Tan, a local realtor and outgoing Yukon Sourdough Rendezvous Queen, announced Wednesday she is seeking the NDP nomination for Riverdale North in the upcoming territorial election.

It’s her first venture in politics.

Chua-Tan explained it was her experience as Rendezvous Queen that got her more engaged in the community, and helped her to see her “hidden potential.”

“I do have a true passion and love for the people,” she said.

But it’s her time spent volunteering that has shown her how the government can affect organizations.

“I’ve been volunteering for years at the nonprofit level, only to see funding being cut,” Chua-Tan said.

Last year, the Yukon Council on DisABILITY closed after having served Yukoners since 1998. The group’s funding through the territorial and federal governments was not renewed.

The Yukon government claimed the council hadn’t filed the necessary documents, but the council insisted that the funding rules are too strict.

The council was doing good work, Chua-Tan said.

“They just got booted out.”

She currently sits on the board for Autism Yukon – a non-profit that hits close to home, as her son, Ernest, has autism.

Though supporting children with disabilities is Chua-Tan’s soft-spot, she insists that her work as an MLA would go beyond that.

“Children are our future. If we stop investing in them, helping them, we are digging our own grave,” she said.

“My priority is to help diversify Yukon’s economy in the areas of tourism, mining, education and immigration.”

Though she currently lives in Takhini-Kopper King - NDP MLA Kate White’s riding – she has chosen Riverdale North for its diversity.

When picking a riding, she asked the NDP leaders which riding has a mix of homeowners, renters, immigrants and people with different ethnicities.

“I want a bag of everything,” she laughed.

She also noted it is likely that her nomination will be contested by other potential NDP candidates.

The current MLA for Riverdale North is Yukon Party minister Scott Kent.

In the 2011 election, he earned 37 per cent of the vote, ahead of NDP candidate Peter Lesniak, Liberal candidate Christie Richardson and Green hopeful Kristina Calhoun.

So far, the NDP has announced that MLAs Kate White and Jan Stick are seeking re-election.