Dan Curtis
Dan Curtis was born and raised in Whitehorse. His parents first came to the territory in the 1950s to work in the mining industry. Dan worked as a realtor and service and supply representative for what is now Northern Industrial Sales before he was the Executive Director of Skills Canada-Yukon.1) In the 2011 territorial election, he ran unsuccessfully for the Liberal Party in the riding of Riverdale South.2) Curtis was elected in October 2012 to become the 16th elected Mayor of Whitehorse.3) In 2017 a video made by local writer Gurdeep Pandher and Dan Curtis went viral. The video shows Curtis being fitted with a Sikh turban and was made to promote diversity and understanding.4)
Curtis served nine years (three terms) as the Mayor of Whitehorse (2012 to 2021) and was the city’s longest serving mayor ahead of Don Branigan who served seven years (1984 to 1991). Curtis did not run in the 2021 election. During his term, Whitehorse saw a twenty percent increase in population, the city opened a new operations building off Range Road and a new downtown fire hall. Councillor Jocelyn Curteanu credited Curtis with improving relationships between the city and First Nation governments in the Moving Forward Together events and the Declaration of Commitment. He worked to keep property taxes low and engaged the community in town halls and by attending many, many community events.5)