Angela Drainville, a community volunteer and occupational health and safety professional, is seeking the Yukon Party nomination for Whitehorse West in the upcoming territorial election.

The riding is held by Liberal cabinet minister Richard Mostyn.

“As a struggling single parent for many years, I came to the Yukon because it promised a better life for my family,” Drainville said today.

“Yukon gave us the opportunity to thrive, and I am eager to give back to the territory and my community by serving as a progressive and compassionate voice for hard-working Yukoners in the legislative assembly.”

Drainville has decades of experience in culture and tourism, along with a career in occupational health and safety.

She works with both the private and public sectors as the general manager of Outcrop Yukon and as an occupational health and safety educator at the Northern Safety Network.

She has also worked with the MacBride Museum and the Miles Canyon Historic Railway Society, where she managed both the Copperbelt Railway and Mining Museum and the Whitehorse waterfront trolley. That tourist attraction stopped operating several years ago after the Yukon government withdrew funding.

Drainville recently managed the Atlin Arts and Music Festival, and worked with the board of the Kluane Mountain Bluegrass Festival prior to its cancellation in 2020.

She has also helped organize and run the Winterval Santa Claus Parade in Whitehorse for the past six years, and has delivered many other live events in the territory.

Drainville is the president of Music Yukon, and the president of the Yukon Convention Bureau. She is also currently the past-president of the Canadian Institute for Theatre Technology (CITT/ICTS), the treasurer for Whitehorse Independent Theatre, and serves on the boards of directors for Home Routes/Chemin Chez Nous Canada, and ArtsNet.

Drainville also has a heart for youth and children’s issues, and has been a vocal advocate for youth education. She is the vice-chair of the Porter Creek Secondary School Council, and the vice-president of the school’s grad committee.

As well, she founded and leads the Yukon Theatre for Young People Society, a cost-free theatre program dedicated to offering live performance opportunities to Yukon youth.

“We need a government that empowers all Yukoners to feel that they can contribute to the ideas that will ensure a sustainable and prosperous future for all people in our territory,” said Drainville. “We need action now, as the next generation is counting on us.

“I am a believer in open communication, and collaboration, and have modeled this value throughout my career and in the volunteer roles I’ve held,” she added.

“I have worked with people of all backgrounds and political affiliations in order to produce the best outcomes for the territory, and I will continue to hold myself accountable to that standard if I am the successful nominee for Whitehorse West.”

She and her family have lived in the riding since 2014.

Drainville has also served on the boards of Borealis Soul, the Yukon Historical and Museums Association, the Yukon Sourdough Rendezvous Society and the Canadian Association for the Performing Arts.

In support of her eldest son and other Yukoners living with epilepsy, Drainville founded Epilepsy Yukon after moving to the territory from northern Ontario.

She studied law and political science at Ottawa’s Carleton University before leaving to complete a law clerk diploma at Algonquin College. She also has a Certificate in Cultural Planning from UBC.

On Saturday, the Yukon Party’s nomination process opened in Porter Creek Centre, Porter Creek North, and Mount Lorne-Southern Lakes. The nomination deadline is Feb. 20.

Today, the nomination process opened in Porter Creek South and Riverdale South, with the nomination deadline set as Feb. 22.

The party now has 12 ridings open for nomination. Leader Currie Dixon is the confirmed candidate in Copperbelt North.