Green Party picks Gabrielle Dupont as Yukon federal candidate

The Green Party has announced Gabrielle Dupont as its Yukon candidate for the upcoming federal election.

Dupont said she strives to live a low-impact life in her off-grid cabin just outside Whitehorse. 

She said she's at a point in her life where she wants to pursue a different career path and become the territory's next federal MP.

"I'm running because I really want to offer Yukoners a chance to vote for the Green Party," Dupont said.

"The economy (exists) in relation to the environment so if you degrade your environment, you're degrading your economy. And what we're seeing now with climate change is that we're hitting a wall and the Green Party at its core wants to look at this relationship and start again."

Dupont said two areas of focus for her are improving and increasing renewable energy sources like wind and solar power in the Yukon and advocating for more affordable housing options.

"The first thing is to redefine what it means to have affordable housing," she said. "It seems like there's a disconnect there between what the government is funding right now under the premise that it's affordable homes and housing, and what we see on the ground."

Dupont's Yukon story is similar to many who come to the territory for a summer visit and ended up never leaving.

As an avid outdoors person, Dupont fell in love with the Yukon and has called it her home for the past 18 years Twelve of those she spent working as an architectural draftsperson for mining companies, contractors, and governments.

Dupont acknowledged the road to becoming the Yukon's next MP won't be easy. That's because the Liberals have held the seat for 21 of the last 25 years. The Greens captured just over four per cent of the vote in the 2021 election.

But she said she's confident Yukoners will vote for the person they feel will best represent them.

"There's a lot of anxiety about climate change, especially with younger people," she said. "I would like to tell them to not feel defeated and to be resilient and to go vote for what you believe."