Ivan John “Jack” Cable (1934 - 2021)
Jack Cable was born in Hamilton, Ontario and grew up in Burlington and the Kitchener area. He received a chemical engineering degree from the University of Toronto and worked for nine years as an engineer. During that time, he graduated with an MBA from McMaster University, and then he went to law school at the University of Western Ontario to receive a Batchelor of Laws degree. He came to the Yukon in 1970.1) He was called to the Yukon bar and joined the firm of Nielsen, Hudson and Anton, and then became a partner with the firm of Lueck, Pitzel and Cable. He was appointed Queen’s Council of Canada. He left the law firm in 1991 before becoming the President of the Yukon Energy Corporation and Yukon Development Corporation and a director of the Northern Canada Power Commission.2)
Jack went back into the law firm briefly before going into politics in 1992 when he was elected as the lone Liberal in the Yukon Legislature. He was elected again in 1996 along with two other Liberals including his daughter Sue Edelman.3) Jack Cable and Sue Edelman were the first examples in Canada of a father and daughter sitting together in a legislative assembly.4)
The Yukon Liberals formed the government in 2000 and Cable was appointed Commissioner shortly after that. Cable credited his administrative assistant, Eileen Fry, with steering him in the right direction in the early days. He found that his legal skills were useful in determining if the regulations he was asked to sign complied with the law. During his term, Cable worked to encourage renewable energy options.5)
Jack Cable was active with many professional, community, and non-profit groups, like the Learning Disabilities Association and the Law Society of Yukon, and was deeply involved with the Whitehorse United Church.6)
In 2020, Jack Cable was inducted into the Order of Canada and the Order of Yukon. He was honoured for his demonstrated excellence and achievement and his outstanding contributions to the social, cultural or economic well-being of Yukon and its residents.7)