JOHN KENNETH (KEN) McKINNON

Ken McKinnon was born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and first arrived in the Yukon in 1956. A graduate in Political Science from the University of Manitoba, Mr. McKinnon was first elected in 1961 as the youngest Member in the history of the Yukon Legislative Assembly, where he served for four terms. Mr. McKinnon was subsequently appointed as Chair of the Financial Advisory Committee and later as Minister of Municipal Affairs, Highways and Public Works and Minister Responsible for the Alaska Highway Gas Pipeline. In 1986, he was installed as Commissioner of Yukon, a post he held for nine years. Mr. McKinnon was President of the first Arctic Winter Games and first Chair of the Yukon Anniversaries Commission.

Mr. McKinnon also served on the first Board of Directors of the Skookum Jim Friendship Centre and was appointed as one of the first Honorary Chiefs of the Yukon Native Brotherhood for his work on behalf of the Yukon First Nations in bringing their original claim to the Federal Government. He has also been appointed to many political, environmental and economic Boards and Commissions and is presently the longest serving Provincial / Territorial President on the Canadian Unity Council.