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Don Branigan
Donald W. Branigan (1933 – June 27, 1999) was a Canadian politician and medical doctor, best known as a former mayor of Whitehorse, Yukon.[1] As a medical doctor, he was also noted for his frequent legal conflicts with medical licensing bodies opposed to his use of holistic medical practices such as acupuncture.[2] BackgroundBorn in Loverna, Saskatchewan, Branigan trained as a medical doctor at the University of Alberta.[3] Practicing as a rural family doctor, he was mayor of the town of Manning, Alberta,[1] a Liberal Party of Canada candidate for Peace River in the 1968 federal election, and a candidate for the leadership of the Alberta Liberal Party in its 1969 leadership race, before moving to Yukon.[1] Move to WhitehorseHe later moved to Whitehorse, where he resumed his medical practice. In this period, he began to introduce holistic therapies into his practice,[1] resulting in frequent conflict with the Yukon Medical Council and other authorities.[3] The Whitehorse General Hospital revoked his hospital privileges in 1979; although they denied that the revocation had anything to do with his holistic practices, they did not publicize an alternate reason.[4] In 1985, the council revoked his license to practice medicine, although it was reinstated a month later.[3] In 1988, the medical council charged him with 103 counts of fraud relating to his medical billing practices,[2] although 42 of the charges were withdrawn in the trial phase and he was acquitted of the other 61 charges in 1989.[5] PoliticsHe ran three times for election to the Yukon Territorial Council, losing in the 1970 election to Norman Chamberlist and in the 1974 election to Willard Phelps. He filed a petition against Phelps' election on conflict of interest grounds, which resulted in Phelps' election being voided in 1975. He then ran in the by-election to succeed Phelps, but lost to Walt Lengerke. He served as mayor of Whitehorse from 1979 to 1982, and from 1984 to 1991.[1] As mayor, he was noted for some quirky ideas, such as suggesting that Whitehorse handle its sewage treatment needs by building a large ultrasonic blaster,[1] and having a pyramid built over the council chambers at Whitehorse City Hall as a spiritual conduit,[1] but was also highly regarded for his practical focus on economic development in the Yukon — in particular, he frequently called attention to the fact that the territory's wealth of natural resources offered it many opportunities to become more economically self-sufficient by expanding into manufacturing industries.[1] He ran twice in the electoral district of Whitehorse North Centre for the Legislative Assembly of Yukon, as an independent candidate in the 1982 territorial election and as a Yukon Liberal Party candidate in the 1989 territorial election. Federally, he ran as a Liberal candidate for Yukon in the 1972 election, the 1987 by-election resulting from the retirement of Erik Nielsen[6] and the 1993 election, and as an independent candidate in the 1997 election. He did not win any of the elections to the higher offices. Upon his retirement as a medical doctor, he moved to Carcross where he died on June 27, 1999, after collapsing from a heart attack.[1][7] References
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