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Yolanda Burkhard

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Yolanda Burkhard
Mayor of Dawson City, Yukon
In office
1976–1978
Preceded byColin Mayes
Succeeded byVi Campbell
Personal details
Born
Yolanda Giacometto

(1930-10-27)October 27, 1930
Switzerland
DiedMarch 31, 1998(1998-03-31) (aged 67)
Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada
NationalitySwiss-Canadian
SpouseFrank Burkhard (m. 1951)
OccupationCity clerk

Yolanda Burkhard (née Giacometto; October 27, 1930 – March 31, 1998) was a Canadian politician who served as mayor of Dawson City, Yukon from 1976 to 1978.[1] She was the first woman ever elected mayor of the community;[2] Ione Christensen was elected as the first woman mayor of Whitehorse on the same day.[2]

Born in Switzerland,[1] she was raised there until the death of her father, and then travelled to Dawson City with her mother on what was initially planned as a visit to a family friend.[1] The family ended up settling in the town, where she married Frank Burkhard in 1951.[1] In the 1960s and 1970s, she worked as the city clerk for Dawson City's municipal government, until being dismissed from her position by then-mayor Colin Mayes in 1975.[1] She subsequently worked as a bookkeeper for the local museum,[3] and successfully challenged Mayes in the 1976 municipal election.[1]

In 1977, she took a trip to Bendigo, Victoria, Dawson City's twin town in Australia, to attend the Australian National Gold-Panning Championship.[3]

She stepped down as mayor in 1978, moving to Whitehorse and taking a job with the mining recorder's office,[1] and was succeeded as mayor by Vi Campbell.

She died on March 31, 1998, in Whitehorse.[1] Following her death, MLA Peter Jenkins gave a tribute speech in the Legislative Assembly of Yukon on April 2.[1]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i "In remembrance of Yolanda Burkhard". Hansard of Yukon, April 2, 1998.
  2. ^ a b "Two women elected mayors in Yukon vote". The Globe and Mail, December 13, 1975.
  3. ^ a b "Canadian gold town mayor to visit Bendigo". Sydney Morning Herald, April 19, 1977.