Kluane

Wade Istchenko -

Wade is married to wife Donna, and has a son and a daughter, Joshua and Taryn.

He was first elected as the MLA for Kluane in the Yukon Legislative Assembly in the general election of 2011, and re-elected on November 7, 2016, and again on April 12, 2021.

He has been the Opposition critic for Environment, Tourism and Economic Recovery, Yukon Liquor Corporation and Yukon Lotteries Commission and Rural Yukon. My previous experience included serving in Cabinet positions as the Minister for Environment and Highways and Public Works.

Istchenko was born in Whitehorse and raised in Haines Junction. He attended St. Elias Community School and, after graduation in 1984, he joined the Canadian Armed Forces, where he completed training in various locations across Canada and served with NATO forces in Germany for three years. He remains a proud member of the Canadian Rangers and the Royal Canadian Legion and has 38 years of service in the military to date.

After my regular force service, he worked 10 years for Highways and Public Works and then ran an outdoor adventure company, Kluane Ridin’ Adventure Tours, for 10 years.

He is the Canadian Ranger Sergeant in Haines Junction, also working with the Junior Canadian Ranger youth program. He has also coached minor hockey for years and was one of the founders and first President of the Haines Junction Snowmobile Club.

Wade is big into volunteering, serving in various capacities in our communities, including the St. Elias Lions Club, President of the St. Elias Chamber of Commerce and Chair of the Alsek Renewable Resource Council. He was also appointed to the Kluane Park Management Board and was instrumental in the development of the Alsek-Tatshenshini National Park.

His grandmother, Hilda Watson, was an MLA for the electoral district of Kluane and the first woman to lead a political party in Canada.

Being a born and raised Yukoner, he was adopted into a First Nations Family many years ago and have great respect for First Nations and their culture.

He was able to accomplish a lot when he was an MLA/Minister in Government in his first 5-year term. Being the opposition since 2016, Istchenko has advocated for rural Yukon on many issues, and is eager tol discuss some of them on the doorstep. He has heard from many constituents, and agrees that with the outgoing government, rural Yukon has seen a loss of services, a lack of consultation and is not being heard.

Wade is committed and running again for Change so rural Yukon can be heard. Working with First Nations, Municipalities, Local area Councils and all those in between for a better Yukon.

Photo credit: Crystal Schick Photography.

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About Kluane

Kluane includes the communities along the Alaska Highway of Mendenhall, Haines Junction, Burwash Landing, Destruction Bay, Aishihik, Champagne, and Beaver Creek. The border between the Kluane electoral district and the Lake Laberge electoral district is Km post 1459 on the Alaska Highway. It is the 5th largest electoral district at 67,943 km². It is situated on the traditional territory of the Kluane First Nation, the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations, the White River First Nation, the Selkirk First Nation, and the Little Salmon/Carmacks First Nation.

First created in 1974, Kluane is one of the oldest electoral districts in the Yukon and is presently bordered by the rural districts of Klondike, Mayo-Tatchun, Lake Laberge, Marsh Lake-Mount Lorne-Golden Horn, and Southern Lakes, as well as the Whitehorse district of Porter Creek South.