Gerald Isaac

Gerald Isaac was born and raised in Moosehide by his grandmother Eliza Isaac. His first language is Hän Hwëch’in. When the Whitehorse Training and Technical Centre was built in Whitehorse, they recruited students from the communities. Gerald was in Grade 10 in the Dawson Public School and had an interest in painting and drawing. About twenty Dawson students left high school and enrolled in the trades at the Whitehorse centre. Gerald studied for two years and received certification in drafting. He worked for the Yukon government and did drawings for buildings and structures associated with highways. He worked for the government for fifteen or twenty years and then went to school in Vancouver at Langara College. He worked for different engineering companies and stayed in the south for eight years before returning to the north to become part of the land claims process. He worked for the Council of Yukon Indians (CYI) [now Council for Yukon First Nations (CYFN)] in mapping and research and became director of the program. He ran and was elected as the vice president of the Yukon Native Brotherhood.¹⁾

Gerald Isaac went on to become the Senior Policy and Planning Advisor at the Yukon Land Use Planning Council in Whitehorse. He retired in May 2016 after serving with the Council for over twelve years. Isaac also served on the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada.²⁾ He was co-chair of the first Fish and Wildlife Management Board and a member of the Yukon Surface Rights Board and the Yukon Water Board. He was a successful entrepreneur in the natural resources sector. In December 2013, Isaac was appointed Yukon Administrator for a three-year term. His duties included acting in the place of the Yukon Commissioner if the Commissioner was unable to perform his/her duties or the position was vacant. He followed Yukon Administrator Bob Cameron.³⁾ After Doug Phillip’s term as Commissioner ended on 31 January 2018. Yukon’s administrator, Gerald Isaac, fulfilled the legislative functions of the vacant post until his term expired in March.⁴⁾