Cardiff enters Yukon NDP leadership race

A week after Yukon MLA Todd Hardy announced he will step down as the territory's NDP leader, his fellow New Democrat in the legislature said Thursday he will seek Hardy's job.

Mount Lorne MLA Steve Cardiff became the first person to put his name forward in the NDP leadership contest, a date for which has not been set.

"I think I've got the experience, and I think I've got the commitment and the energy to do this," Cardiff told reporters in Whitehorse on Thursday.

"I wouldn't be doing it if I didn't think it was possible."

Cardiff said he would rebuild a party that has seen its fortunes flag latelythrough such events as McIntyre-Takhini MLA John Edzerza's decision two weeks ago to quit the NDP and sit as an Independent.

Edzerza's departureleft Cardiff and Hardy as the only New Democrats in the Yukon legislature, which is led by the right-leaning Yukon Party, with the Liberals as the Official Opposition.

Hardy announced his impending resignation as NDP leader last week, citing a return of the leukemia he was diagnosed with in 2006. Hardy said he has not yet decided whether he would stay on as MLA for Whitehorse Centre after a successor is named.

Cardiff has represented Mount Lorne for the NDP since 2002. He is currently the party's caucus critic for the Departments of Community Services, Education, Highways and Public Works, andJustice,as well asthe Yukon Workers' Compensation Health and Safety Board, the Yukon Housing Corp. and the Yukon Liquor Corp.

Cardiff said his party still enjoys popularity in rural Yukon something he promised to build on if he is chosen as party leader.

"We need to go to those communities, we need to sit in those people's kitchens, we need to talk to them, we need to meet in the coffee shops," he said.

"We need to listen to what their concerns are."

He said he would also focus on building bridges with Yukon First Nations and with youth and seniors.