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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Some may call Tim Doyle an unlikely candidate to be the next mayor of Yellowknife.

The 38-year-old has never run for city council, and at press time, Doyle is only confirmed mayoral candidate who doesn't sit on council. Former car dealership owner Tony Vane, also inexperienced in municipal politics, announced plans to run for mayor earlier this year but now says he is undecided.

Doyle sees this as a strength.

"I think it absolutely helps me," he said. "Just because I don't sit on council doesn't mean I'm not aware of the issues."

Doyle, a certified financial planner for 13 years, transferred to Yellowknife from New Glasgow, N.S. in 2005 with the Royal Bank of Canada. Most of his neighbours there had spent time in the North and always had positive things to say about their time up here.

"We were the only ones in the neighbourhood who had never been up North," he said. "It gets to a point when you start to ask yourself if you're really missing something."

The married father of two young boys took the job as executive director of the Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce in January 2011, and is also a financial planner with Freedom 55 Financial.

Doyle also sits on the city's Smart Growth committee on behalf of the chamber of commerce.

He said his experience dealing with city hall has instilled in him a desire to run for council. Upon hearing that current Mayor Gord Van Tighem was not planning to run again, Doyle decided to make a bid for the mayor's office.

"I think we need some absolute change in the direction that we're taking the city these days," said Doyle.

"There's a lot of things that have gone well and there's lot of things that I think need to be reconsidered or looked at differently."

Doyle will be talking about several key issues throughout his campaign. Among them are the cost of living, fiscal responsibility and accountability.

Doyle said he is a firm believer in allowing the private sector to provide housing to residents, and he is critical of the strict regulations imposed by the city on development.

In terms of fiscal responsibility, he would like to see less money spent more wisely, and believes that this fiscal responsibility will help council avoid future property tax hikes.

"With the free-wheeling spending ways that have been going on for the last eight years at city hall, there has to be some controls put in place," he said.

On accountability, Doyle is also critical of the current administration.

"I do strongly believe that the local municipal government and administration is not listening to the wishes of the voters, and that's not a sign of a healthy democracy," he said, pointing to the city's continued pursuit of geothermal heat from Con Mine more than a year after citizens voted against borrowing money for the project in a referendum.

Doyle said he has noticed an absolute lock-down on information flowing out of city hall recently.

"It's complete silence and that is not local representation when you can't get an answer from anybody," he said.

"Yellowknife is still a small city, there should be open doors, and that's a policy I definitely stand for."

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