The riding of Blackstrap included Yelich's home town of Kenaston, Saskatchewan, identified as the largest Croatian farming settlement in Canada.

She was appointed Minister of State (Western Economic Diversification) by Harper following the re-election of the Conservative minority government in 2008.

During her Parliamentary tenure, Yelich served on the Citizenship & Immigration, Transport, Government Operations & Estimates, and Status of Women committees.

She was also a member of the Standing Committee on Human Resources and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities (HUMA).

Yelich introduced private member's motions to make sexually explicit material contraband in prisons, keep open local weather stations, establish a report on decorum in the House, and support research on endometriosis.