Home page

Text size

E-mail this page

SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Strong words were exchanged Thursday during the first mayoral debate in the municipal election, though candidate Tim Doyle came under fire most for being inexperienced at city hall and for expressing platform views that his competitors think he will be hard-pressed to honour.

Tim Doyle, left, responds to a question during Thursday night's mayoral debate. - Laura Busch/NNSL photo

The three men vying to be the City of Yellowknife's next mayor went head to head in front of a live audience for the first time in the election campaign on Thursday evening during the joint Rotary Club Mayoral Debate.

Close to 50 Rotary Club members were present as the debate heated up towards the end of the evening, when each candidate had the chance to pose one question to one other candidate. Both Heyck and Falvo aimed to poke holes in Doyle's platform with their questions.

First, Falvo asked Doyle how he expects to follow through on his many campaign promises, including his strong opposition to the Con Mine geothermal project, given that the mayor can only cast a vote to break a tie on council.

Doyle replied that from what he's heard from voters while going door to door, "there will be a clean slate" at city council, and that would make enacting change easier.

"You're right, there are going to be circumstances where council overrides the wishes of the mayor and sets the agenda, and there's nothing I can do about that," said Doyle. "My plan is to work with the council, whoever that may be … and find ways that we can find common ground and move forward with an agenda instead of backwards, where we've been going for the last three years."

Heyck ended the candidates' questions by asking Doyle why he has not been attending council meetings or writing letters to the city if he is unhappy with the performance of the current council and truly believes administration hides behind closed doors.

"I would think that someone who was running for mayor of the capital city of the NWT would want to sit in on a few meetings," said Heyck.

Doyle responded that he attended a council meeting the night council held readings for the Block 501 development project – new modular homes to be located near the correctional centre -- "one of the things that the current administration and council has been blocking for, I think, 33 months now."

He also re-affirmed his belief that city hall is currently operating on a closed-door policy, both in terms of speaking with the media and addressing the concerns of citizens.

"I don't think that the mayor has to answer every question (on behalf of) city hall," said Doyle. "We have a capable administration and if somebody knows something better about a sewer thing, they should be answering that question. Why does the mayor have to answer that question?"

Doyle said he had e-mailed city hall with concerns about what he characterized as poor treatment of the Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce during this year's Yellowknife trade show, to which Heyck himself responded.

"Mark, you did write that e-mail to me, and it was not very professional," said Doyle. "With that trade show, we are the biggest trade show North of 60, we attract over 10,000 people and create millions in GDP each year. So, I think we deserve a little better than a PFO letter."

PFO is a profane term for "please go away."

Doyle opened the candidates question section by probing Heyck about the Con Mine geothermal project, asking if Heyck was willing to force building and land owners to take part in the project, as administration is technically allowed to do under the Cities and Towns Act.

Heyck said he would never compel people and businesses who did not want to buy in to geothermal to do so.

"It only gets off the ground if it's financially and technically viable, and if potential customers are going to hook up to it," he said.

Many other topics were broached over the course of the debate, which ran until 8 p.m., long past its scheduled end time of 6:30 p.m.

None of the candidates would support any kind of zero-tolerance policy when it comes to dealing with the drunkenness and social problems in Yellowknife's downtown core. All agreed that these issues stem from physical and mental health issues, and should be treated as such.

Again and again, Doyle said the city could solve many issues by releasing control of housing development and other projects to the private sector.

Heyck argued that municipal governments are one of the only forms of government small and agile enough to effect real change within one term of office.

Falvo said the city could take real control over some issues, giving the example of the recent solution brokered for Northland Trailer Park, but could benefit from opening some things up to the private sector.

"Affordability is very key in the minds of many people," said Falvo. "As a city we don't set prices, we don't set rental rates but we can influence that."

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.