Patrick Michael, the clerk of the territory's legislative assembly, is retiring from his job after 28 years of service.

'I'd been thinking about it for a little while,' Michael told the Star this morning. 'The timing felt right. It felt right to me.'

Michael, 55, submitted his letter of retirement to Ted Staffen, the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, on Monday and notified the three party leaders of his decision.

'I have been honoured to serve the Yukon Legislative Assembly and the Yukon electorate as clerk of the assembly and chief electoral officer,' Michael stated in the letter.

'The experience has been deeply rewarding and I wish to offer particular thanks to all the members of the legislative assembly, past and present, for having provided me a career filled with interest, challenge and wonder,' he added.

Michael began his service as a table officer in the assembly in November 1977.

He was later appointed to the position of clerk on Oct. 30, 1978, and five years later also took on the position of chief electoral officer in December 1983.

There's a bunch of mixed feelings about the retirement, said Michael.

'It's been more than half my life. That makes it awkward or difficult. There's a little bit of a guilt feeling that goes with it.'

Michael said he hopes the timing is right for the institution as well, as it is also going through a transition period following the re-election of the Yukon Party on Oct. 10.

The retirement becomes effective on March 30, 2007, leaving the assembly with five months to adjust to the pending departure and appoint someone else to the position.

With Michael serving since the 1970s, the legislative assembly has never had to think about a transition period before, as the clerk guided the territory through the implementation of party politics, the devolution of federal powers to the territorial government, and assembly responsibilities as they exist today.

Clerks are meant to serve as parliamentary experts and to provide continuous and lasting advice on parliamentary procedure and the political institution itself to elected representatives.

'I've been extremely fortunate in having come here at quite a vital time in the Yukon's evolution,' said Michael.

The veteran clerk was in the territory before party politics, Liberal Leader Arthur Mitchell said today, and has watched the Yukon go through that entire process.

It was Michael who helped organize the party system, determine who got to ask questions in the house and when, and that the procedure in the assembly reflected that of parliamentary systems elsewhere, said Mitchell.

'He's a reservoir of information and has done a lot on behalf of the territory and Yukoners,' he said, adding the clerk will be hard to replace.

Michael doesn't have any intention of leaving the territory. His wife, Janet Moodie, deputy minister of the Executive Council Office, does not have plans to retire just yet.

He doesn't expect that he'll be taking on any other kind of employment or contract work it is definitely a retirement and not a career change.

Michael said he hopes to 'indulge (his) passion for golf,' do some writing (though not likely about the Yukon) and continue to explore his growing interest in digital photography.

'I need some time to be retired to figure out what it means,' said Michael. 'I haven't thought much yet about how to explain it all.'