Stacey Hassard, the MLA for Pelly-Nisutlin, will be the Yukon Party’s interim leader, the party announced today.

Hassard’s new role will begin in earnest when premier-designate Sandy Silver and the Yukon Liberal Party take over the government. A swearing-in date still has not been announced.

Outgoing Premier Darrell Pasloski resigned the leadership after losing his riding of Mountainview to Liberal MLA Jeanie Dendys in the Nov. 7 territorial election. He had been the leader since the summer of 2011, succeeding former premier Dennis Fentie.

The Yukon Party’s executive council asked the caucus to put forward an interim leader, and Hassard was the unanimous pick, said party president Linda Hillier.

“The executive council is fully in support of Stacey being the interim leader,” she said in an interview.

Hassard is a competent, second-term MLA who has been involved with the Yukon Party for many years, she said.

Hassard volunteered himself as interim leader, and has “no aspirations” to run for premier, he told the Star this morning.

As interim leader, Hassard is excluded from running for the party leadership, said Hillier.

Hassard said he stepped up because he feels well-positioned to help rebuild the party, and return it to its roots.

“Traditionally, we’ve been the conservative, right-wing... party in the Yukon, or more right-of-centre, so we just have to get back to where we were traditionally,” he said.

In Hassard’s view, his party lost votes because it was trying to be too many things for too many people.

“You can’t be everything in politics, you’ve got to take a stand, and say we’re either in favour of things or we’re not,” he said.

“You can’t get too wishy-washy.”

Of course, said Hassard, the challenge at election time is that you want to please as many people as possible so you can get the most votes.

“That’s how you win,” he said, “but at the same time, we have to remember who we are.”

The new Yukon Party caucus will be sworn in at a ceremony in the legislative assembly on Nov. 29.

After that, Hassard will begin the business of leading the official Opposition, a role the party will take over from the New Democrats.

His top priorities, he said, will be holding the Liberal government to account, ensuring that the government spends tax dollars responsibly, and getting ready for the next territorial election in 2021.

“We need to get prepared to get where we need to be,” he said.

Hassard could very well be interim party leader leader for several months or longer: the Yukon Party constitution puts no limit on the length of time an interim leader can serve.

Decisions about how and when to proceed with the election of a new party leader will be made at the Yukon Party’s annual general meeting (AGM) in the spring of 2017, said Hillier.

The Yukon Party’s election rules aren’t “super-specific,” she said, but once the election process begins, it typically lasts 90 days.

A party member need not be an MLA to be nominated as a candidate for leader, and all Yukon Party members are eligible to vote.

In the outgoing government, Hassard served as the minister of Economic Development and the minister responsible for the Yukon Housing and Liquor corporations and the Yukon Lottery Commission.

The Liberals took 11 seats in the election, which reduced the Yukon Party to six and the NDP to two. A recount for the Mountainview riding is scheduled for tomorrow.