North of Ordinary in Whitehorse was decked out in orange during the 43rd general election on Monday. It was a small but enthusiastic group that was gathered shortly before the territory’s polls closed.

The large TV above the stage telecast national coverage of the election, the smaller of the two had the local coverage. Those who were already at the party had their eyes set to the national coverage – that is, until Justin Lemphers, the person they were waiting to see, arrived.

The NDP candidate for the Yukon arrived shortly after the polls closed in the territory. He wore his charcoal suit with two orange NDP buttons on the lapel.

It took a moment for the crowd to notice he had joined them, but when they did, their attention turned to him. With a big smile on his face, he worked the room, shaking hands and hugging the crowd.

People continued to trickle in and Lemphers greeted them all; the smile did not leave his face.

Before the votes started to roll in for the Yukon, he said he is proud of the work his team put in during the campaign.

“There is no regrets,” said Lemphers. “We will walk away with our heads held high.”

When asked about any future plans, he flashed a smile and said: “You’ll have to wait until the speech.”

He continued to work the room and chat with the volunteers who helped him along the way.

One supporter, Kyron Craig-Singh, 12, had already taken an interest in the NDP because of his neighbour.

“I’ve lived beside Sally Wright; I was influenced by her to join the NDP,” said Craig-Singh. “She is with the NDP and she volunteers.”

Craig-Singh said he has been interested in politics since the age of 10 and, outside of Wright’s influence, he believes in the platform of the NDP.

“It’s what they are doing with helping with climate change and stuff like that,” said Craig-Singh.

Although he is not old enough to vote, Craig-Singh said he believes Lemphers would be a great leader for all Yukoners.

The results began to slowly trickle in. Lemphers paced the room, occasionally stopping to look at the screen with the local results.

Those with their eyes turned to the national coverage let out loud cheers as announced NDP seats were won in other ridings.

It quieted down for a short period but Yukon NDP Leader Kate White, who had been pacing about, had an announcement for Lemphers. He had won Dawson City.

Asked how he felt about that, he put his hand to his temple and made the mind-blown gesture.

“I didn’t think I had lived there long enough to make an impact,” said Lemphers. “It’s quite amazing.”

With that knowledge, Lemphers had more pep in his step as he continued to mingle with the crowd.

A roar rang through the party. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh was about to give his speech. Lemphers held his wife, Brigitte Parker, as Singh spoke.

Squarely in third place with three polls left to be counted, it was time for Lemphers to take the stage.

Loud chants of “N-D-P, N-D-P!” reverberated around North of Ordinary.

“All right, I’ve got a speech to get through,” laughed Lemphers while trying to quiet the crowd.

He first spoke about the journey and the future of the NDP in the Yukon.

“All right, folks, this has been one hell of a journey and you know what? We kicked ass!” said Lemphers.

“Just look at those numbers this evening. That is a lot of people who cared deeply about what happens in this territory. That is a lot of people who know what the future needs to look like.

“We are so close. This journey is only the beginning in a step. This journey is not over.”

The decibel level did not stay down for long as he thanked his wife, parents and his campaign team.

“You all rock,” said Lemphers, although at that moment you could hardly hear him.

Lemphers, who left the presidency of the Yukon Federation of Labour to run, continued to stress that this was the beginning of a journey.

“Everyone in this room, you contributed to this tonight,” said Lemphers. “This is not the end. It is the beginning.

“You can’t go through a process like this without learning things. There is a lot of wonderful things I learned about my community, about the people around me and how much love there is here.

“The other side is the responsibility. You can’t take in this information about people’s stories about loss, hardship, difficulties and just stop.

“This energy is transformative and it must go forward. We need to harness this energy because we are going forward into a (2021) territorial election.”

The crowd exploded with excitement at these words. Lemphers told everyone in the room to use that energy and move forward.

“We have leaders here in this room, not potential, we have leaders here in this room,” said Lemphers. “Harness this energy, harness this feeling, this passion that we all share. Let’s go forward and use it because we have a responsibility to look after the people around us.”

The chants of “N-D-P!” started again.

“So, the question is who’s joining us?” asked Lemphers. “There is a lot of work to do, and the work needs to start now.

“This isn’t over; this is not the end. The next step starts right away. We need to know we need to keep this momentum up.

Pointing at the local results, he said, “We know that is just an indication of potential and the future is orange.”

The polls as of Tuesday morning had Lemphers in third place, with 4,617 votes, or 22 per cent of the 21,008 ballots cast in the Yukon.

When the final poll was registered, Lemphers spoke about how he was feeling after his first campaign.

“I am extremely content with this,” said Lemphers. “We ran a great campaign and we worked so hard. To run as a first-time contender at this level and come in third place, that really speaks to what people care about and what they really want to see.

“I am very satisfied and my team… all the people that invested effort congratulations to all of them because we earned every single vote along the way.”

The NDP earned 24 seats in the House of Commons. Lemphers is still unsure if those numbers will give the NDP leverage in the Yukon.

“We have yet to see,” said Lemphers. “The seats that have been distributed nationally; with Larry (Bagnell) seated in the Yukon, we will have to see how the Yukon is represented.

“I know I will be looking at Larry for decision-making and accountability moving forward.”

In his speech, Lemphers mentioned the territorial election but did not say whether he would be running.

“I started this journey 2.5 years ago with a seven-year plan,” said Lemphers. “Things have changed, and I still have a seven-year plan. We will see what happens in those next seven years.

This having been his first campaign, Lemphers said he wasn’t caught off guard too many times while running.

“If anything, if there was one thing I can really put my finger on it’s how much faith and trust that people invest in you when you knock on their door and say ‘let’s talk about the issues that are important in your life,’” said Lemphers.

“That caught me off guard. I did not expect people to be so open about their lives and the challenges they face. That is really humbling and touching. That is what requires us to go forward and find ways to deal with that.”

With one campaign behind him, Lemphers was asked if he would know what to expect the next time around.

“Eyes wide open,” said Lemphers.