The graduating classes of Dr. John Gillis High School in Antigonish, Nova Scotia should start voting on the classmate most likely to become the Yukon’s premier.

Ranj Pillai will succeed his former classmate, Sandy Silver, as the territory’s leader after the deadline to enter the Yukon Liberal Party leadership race closed Saturday afternoon with only one candidate. 

“I am honoured and humbled to be acclaimed as the leader of the Yukon Liberal Party,” Pillai said in a release Sunday, shortly after an executive party meeting made his leadership official.

As party leader, Pillai will automatically assume the role of premier following a swearing-in ceremony. Until then, Silver officially remains the Yukon’s premier.

Pillai, a cabinet minister and MLA for Porter Creek South since 2016, told the Star this morning the date for his swearing-in as the Yukon’s 10th government leader/premier has been set for Saturday 2 p.m. He and his new cabinet will be sworn in at Whitehorse’s Jim Smith building, according to a Yukon government release.

“I am committed to working hard, seeking common ground, acting strategically and to fiercely defending the interests of the Yukon,” he said Sunday.

Pillai also thanked Silver for his leadership of both the party and the territory.

“I look forward to continuing to work with him for the remainder of our term,” he said.

Silver, who’s led the Liberals since 2012 and has been premier since 2016, announced in September 2022 he would step down from those roles once a replacement was found.

In a party release Sunday, he said, “Ranj is exactly what the Yukon needs at this time, a strong leader dedicated to building a positive future for all Yukoners.

“He has been an integral member of our cabinet team and has shown tremendous determination to achieve the mandate Yukoners gave him.”

Pillai “has the experience, expertise, and compassion necessary for the job,” Silver added. 

“I am confident in his ability and excited for what his leadership will bring to the territory,” the outgoing premier said.

Going forward, Silver has said he’ll continue representing the district of Klondike as MLA, and is hoping to assume a cabinet role until the next territorial election is called.

That might not come until 2025. Despite calls from Yukon Party Leader Currie Dixon that the Liberals’ new leader seek his or her own mandate once chosen, Pillai told reporters in November he would not call an election, opting instead for “stability.”

Silver formed a majority government in 2016, but has left Pillai with a minority government – elected in April 2021 – that is precariously holding power through a Confidence and Supply Agreement with the territory’s NDP.

That pact has given the ruling party support in the legislative assembly while also pushing NDP-led policy initiatives such as the recently announced Yukon Dental Program. It’s set to expire at the end of the month.

As such, Pillai will have to negotiate to renew that agreement almost immediately after taking office.

NDP Leader Kate White told the Star today she “imagines there’s conversations coming” regarding the agreement, but didn’t comment specifically on the change in leadership.

Pillai said in his release Sunday he won’t be discussing plans or policy for his government until after he’s officially sworn-in. 

He met with the Yukon’s commissioner this morning to get that ball rolling.

Joined by his wife Delilah and sons Taylor and Calum, Pillai met Angélique Bernard at Taylor House to formally request he be sworn-in as the Yukon’s new premier this month. 

“It meant a lot to us,” Pillai said of the small gathering at the historic Yukon building.

He said his wife’s family history in the territory can be traced back generations, and it was important she and their sons be able to take part in the process at such a culturally significant building.

The race itself, from the time Pillai announced his candidacy on Nov. 25, has had the same rubber-stamped feeling as that meeting with the commissioner. 

When Silver originally announced his intention to step down, there was speculation there would be plenty of competition to replace him, but that never materialized. 

Party spokesperson Paolo Gallini said in November when nominations opened that interest among potential candidates from within the party was high – but only Pillai wound up running.

Gallini told the Star today he’s not sure why no other candidate stepped forward, but “there was a lot of interest that wasn’t public interest.”

Gallini said the lack of public opposition that resulted might be a comment on the party’s support for Pillai.

“I think it says that there’s confidence that he is a solid leader for this party.”

Pillai received endorsements from former Yukon MP Larry Bagnell and former Whitehorse mayor, commissioner and Yukon senator Ione Christensen right after he announced.

Jeanie McLean was the sole cabinet minister to back him publicly.

Pillai told the Star Friday he received nothing but positive words behind the scenes from the rest of his cabinet colleagues.

Yukon Party MLA Brad Cathers said today that the lack of competition in the race did not show confidence in Pillai.

He called the one-person race “uninspiring,” saying Pillai is more of the same from the Liberals.

Cathers noted to the Star that Pillai didn’t put forward any new policy ideas during his run.

Pillai has said he won’t discuss plans until he officially becomes premier.

Cathers was also critical of Pillai’s track record as a cabinet minister, citing housing development delays during his time as the minister responsible for the Yukon Housing Corp.

“There’s a history of Mr. Pillai talking big, but not following through,” said Cathers.

Pillai has called the Yukon Party unfair in its attacks on these delays in the past.

Debates between Pillai and members of the opposition grew heated at times during the legislative assembly’s fall sitting, with Pillai calling some Yukon Party’s criticisms “personal” and factually incorrect.

“Our team will now turn its focus to the transition period,” he said Sunday.

“I look forward to sharing more information in due time.”

Pillai has served as the deputy premier, minister of Economic Development, Energy, Mines and Resources, Tourism and Culture as well as the Yukon Housing, Energy and Development corporations.

Liberal party members are invited to meet with the new leader at the upcoming annual general meeting and policy convention on Jan. 28 at the MacBride Museum.