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Wade Istchenko
Wade Istchenko was first elected as the MLA for Kluane in 2011 and was re-elected by the riding residents in 2016 and 2021. He previously served as the Minister for Environment and Highways and Public Works.
Wade was born in Whitehorse and raised in Haines Junction. He attended St. Elias Community School and, after graduating in 1984, joined the Canadian Armed Forces. There, he completed training in various locations across Canada and served with NATO forces in Germany for three years. He remains a proud Canadian Ranger and member of the Royal Canadian Legion with three decades of military service. As a Canadian Ranger Sergeant, Wade runs the Junior Canadian Ranger youth program in Haines Junction.
Before his election, Wade owned and operated an outdoor adventure company. He remains a committed community volunteer having served as President of the St. Elias Lions Club and St. Elias Chamber of Commerce and Chair of the Alsek Renewable Resource Council. Wade has also coached minor hockey for many years and is the founder and first President of the Haines Junction Snowmobile Club.
Wade's grandmother, Hilda Watson, was an MLA for the electoral district of Kluane and the first woman to lead a political party in Canada. He and his wife Donna have a son and a daughter, Joshua and Taryn.
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.
