A 26 year-old graduate of the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) is now among the youngest cabinet ministers in Canadian history.
In fact, Currie Dixon, who was sworn in as Yukon's Minister of the Environment and Economic Development on Nov. 5, just completed his master's degree in political science at UNBC in May 2011.
"Some people may believe that it's a little counterintuitive to be named both Minister of the Environment and Minister of Economic Development, but it's critically important that we develop our resources in ways that are environmentally sustainable," said Dixon, who hails from Whitehorse and is the MLA for
Copperbelt North, Yukon's second most populated riding.
"If I hadn't gone to UNBC and attained my master's degree, I don't believe I would have advanced to the position of senior policy advisor to Premier [Darrell] Pasloski, continued my involvement in politics, and ultimately been elected to represent the people of my riding."
UNBC political science professor Gary Wilson said Currie was one of the best students he's ever taught.
Wilson supervised Dixon's master's project. The research paper involved the relationship between Yukon First Nations and the Yukon government with respect to
education.
"He was very bright and passionate about his topic so it's not surprising that he's had such success so soon after graduation," Wilson said.
Dixon said he benefited from having "excellent and easily accessible professors at UNBC."
"I believe the skills and training I learned at UNBC have given me an ability to be much more analytical and objective when it comes to policy and political decision-making," Dixon said."I can't say enough about UNBC."
Another political luminary of UNBC is James Moore. Currently, the federal heritage and official languages minister, Moore graduated from UNBC with a bachelor of arts in political science and went on to become the fourth-youngest MP ever to be named to the
federal cabinet.
