Ed. note: this is one of a series of riding profiles for the Nov. 7 election being published in random order.

When party politics began in the Yukon with the territorial election of 1978, residents of Old Crow voted in was then a representative of the Yukon territorial Conservative party.

It re-elected a Conservative MLA in 1982 under the late Chris Pearson’s re-elected regime, but went left with the NDP in 1985 and again in 1989.

In 1992 and 1996, it returned to the right, but went back to the New Democrats in 2000 and 2002.

It wasn’t until the 2006 election that Old Crow residents voted in their first Liberal candidate, with the selection of Darius Elias. It went Liberal again with Elias in 2011 but the MLA left the Liberals to sit independently before joining the Yukon Party.

Elias is seeking re-election as a Yukon Party MLA this time. Pauline Frost is running for the Liberals, while Skeeter Wright is running for the NDP.

Despite several requests placed by the Star, Elias remained unavailable for an interview for this riding profile.

Skeeter Wright

Wright believes even though he doesn’t live in the isolated community of 265, he has something to offer the riding of Vuntut Gwitchin.

For the previous 20 years, he’s worked on the final land claim and self-government agreements for the Yukon government and for First Nations.

Most recently, he was the executive director of the Little Salmon-Carmacks First Nation when the issue of Bill S-6 erupted, and he was also involved with modernizing mining legislation.

Wright says after he put his name forward for the NDP nomination in Mountainview, a family medical matter, which has since been resolved, prevented him from putting in the time, and he lost the nomination to Shaunagh Stikeman.

When the New Democrats asked him to run in Vuntut Gwitchin after the last-minute cancellation by a potential Gwitchin candidate, it was partly in recognition of his experience working with First Nations, he says.

“When I was in Old Crow, that all was reinforced,” Wright adds.

“The people I spoke to recognized I did have a history of working with First Nation matters.”

Wright says he’s very passionate about pushing for the development of renewable forms of energy as alternatives to fossil fuel.

His vehicle, he points out, runs on vegetable oil collected from local restaurants.

The former president of the territorial NDP organization who still sits on the board, Wright emphasizes the New Democrats are the only party promising to ban hydraulic fracturing.

“When I was in Old Crow, the one constant message I heard was ‘no fracking ever,’” he says.

“‘Ban fracking, not a moratorium, not a temporary stop, ban fracking,’ and that was a big issue.”

Wright says residents of the community want their final and self-government agreements respected, they want more community-based health care.

It was the NDP government that negotiated the land claim agreements, and it was the NDP that supported mining programs, he points out.

Wright says it was the New Democrats who saw the value of demand side management as a valuable tool to reduce energy consumption.

Improving community health care remains a key commitment in the party’s platform, he says.

“It was the NDP that recognized the importance of people being able to stay in their communities and have services.”

Pauline Frost

Building a collaborative Yukon government is high on the to-do list for the Liberal candidate in the riding of Vuntut Gwitchin.

Pauline Frost says as a negotiator and co-ordinator of intergovernmental relations for the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation, she sees the need for improved relationships between the Yukon and First Nation governments.

There should be no need to be in court to interpret or implement the aboriginal land claim and self-government agreements, says the 53-year-old Gwitchin mother of two who also provides technical support to the First Nation on the Peel Watershed land use file.

Born and raised in Old Crow, she says she understands the unique challenges for the only community in the Yukon that is not accessible by road.

Frost says representing Old Crow in the territorial legislature would be an opportunity to expand her commitment to the community and take on more responsibilities.

“That means being at the table when decisions are made that are impactful to my community,” she says.

“I spent most of my childhood on the land learning my culture, learning the ways of the Gwitchin people.”

Frost says the issues for the riding include the delivery of social services and programming.

In Old Crow, for instance, if residents need to see a dentist on an emergency basis, they have to pay for airfare, she points out.

Frost says there is a need to provide support for the unincorporated community that faces challenges with its infrastructure.

In Old Crow, students still need to leave home to attend high school.

“That is a problem in itself,” she says. “So how can we design programs around education that can keep our children in our community?”

An avid paddler and a veteran of several Yukon River Quests, Frost has served on the Yukon Salmon Sub-Committee for five years, the last four as committee chair.

She says she has spent a lot of time working with the youth of the community and volunteering. While she has a home in Whitehorse, she also maintains her home and a business in Old Crow.

While she’s not been an official card-carrying member of the Liberal party in the past, she says she has always seen herself as Liberal.

Frost says she believes the Liberals are the best party to address the interests of the riding.

“And that is why I am running for the Liberals,” she says.