[1] The council was, thus, not a fully democratic government; although an elected body, its powers were significantly more constrained than those of a provincial legislative assembly.
[1] Although the motion was disallowed, it did lead to the negotiation of a series of reforms in the 1970s which ultimately led to the establishment of the fully democratic Legislative Assembly of Yukon in 1978.
The new structure proved controversial,[4] and led to a period of internal dissension within the council and widespread dissatisfaction with its work among the general public.
[4] Noted political conflicts during this era included a jurisdictional dispute with Whitehorse City Council in 1973 which led five of the six city councillors to resign their seats in protest,[5] and dissension over the introduction of medicare in 1974 which resulted in 4,000 of the territory's 6,651 registered voters signing a petition demanding the council's dissolution.
The elections were called by the Yukon Commissioner, while electoral district boundaries were controlled by an act of legislation from the council.
Alfred Thompson resigned his seat on November 3, 1904 after being elected as Yukon's federal Member of Parliament, but no by-election was held to succeed him.