 | E-mail this story |  | Write letter to editor |  | Order a classified ad |
| E-mail this story | | Write letter to editor | | Order a classified ad |
Mike W. Bryant
Northern News Services
 Cheryl Best during her last day in the office at the NWT Development Corporation. After 15 years in Yellowknife, Best is heading to Tulita.
- Mike W. Bryant/NNSL photo |
Yellowknifelife: You've had an eclectic assortment of professions over the 15 years you've been in Yellowknife. What was your first job?
Cheryl Best: My first job was working with the GNWT as a nurse recruiter, trying to get nurses to move North. Turnover of nurses at the time was really bad so they needed a full-time person to try to get them here and get them to stay. We found out one of the reasons why the nurse turnover was so high was that we kept forgetting to tell them that a lot of the communities were in the Barrens. There was no trees, no sidewalks. It was a real problem. Getting off the plane and seeing nothing but tundra and a few little houses and blowing snow was scaring them away.
Yellowknifelife: Most of these nurses were Southerners right out of school?
CB: Yep, pretty much. They were recruited right from the school -- ask them to come up and try frontier nursing.
Yellowknifelife: So that's how you would pitch it. After a while you had to change your tune and say 'This is what you should expect?'
CB: That's right. We started developing packages on each of the communities with photos and information on what it's really going to be like, so that helped a bit.
Yellowknifelife: You then moved into the mining sector.
CB: I was doing that (recruitment) for about six months then it was the end of my term with the government so I ended up working with the (NWT) Chamber of Mines and that was great.
That was back when the Chamber of Mines office was right next door to the Miner's Mess. My desk was facing Franklin Ave. I don't know how many times people would stumble through the door and land on my desk, knock everything off, push me out of my chair because they were stumbling out of the Miner's Mess after a little bit too much to drink. It was just funny.
Yellowknifelife: How long were you with the chamber of mines?
CB: I was with the Chamber of Mines for about three years, and then the opportunity came up to work at the (Yellowknife) chamber of commerce came up. That was my dream job. I loved every minute.
Yellowknifelife: What got you into politics? You were probably part of the only husband/wife team to ever run for city council in Yellowknife's history.
CB: I was working for the chamber of commerce as executive director. Of course, the main job is watch-dogging city hall: 'what's going on at city hall that's going to impact business.' So I knew city hall inside and out. I knew who did what and where the decisions were made.
Yellowknifelife: You were in daily contact?
CB: Always. So I was very interested in trying to make change at city hall, and trying to build partnerships among businesses, politicians, and administration at city hall. So when the business community was looking for someone who could represent business interests on council I put my name in the hat and won.
John (former husband) on the other hand, had a great personal interest in city politics. So, when I came home and told him that I was going to run for a seat on council, he announced he was planning to also. We had some good discussions about what would happen if I got on and he didn't or vice versa. We realized that it might look like a strong coalition out there, but like any husband and wife team we didn't always agree.
So for us it was kind of funny the public didn't want the two of us to win because if we did get in it would be like a power surge from the Best family at city hall. I have feeling if John had got on city council we would have argued more than most councillors just because we were coming from two different places. I was there to represent the business community and he was more into the property owner looking after things like taxes, water and sewer and what's happening to our town.
Yellowknifelife: It was pretty much a clean slate when you were elected onto council in 1997. All the councillors were new except for one. What was that like?
CB: Poor (Mayor) Dave Lovell, having to deal with all of us newbies. We're all in there to make change, and the politics was sometimes brutal and personal. One of my big issues was this twin-pad arena, not putting it on Twin Pine Hill, not paying for it all up front, but mortgaging it so everybody that uses it pays for it instead of just this generation.
That issue came to council so many times over the three years I was there. I recall one time I said, 'I think we have to take our time paying for it, and that everybody pays for it, the building is going to last so many years, and this was a big issue for me.' Dave Ramsay was new on council at the time and got up and said, 'That's grand-standing and you're trying to steal headlines.' I just stood there thinking that this is what I was suppose to do, speak to my issues ... It was a traumatic time, learning the politics and how to get decisions made properly and what the people really want.
Yellowknifelife: How did you go about doing that, finding out what the people wanted?
CB: The minute your name is on the slate as a city councillor you become a target. You're a target not only for the people that want to twist your arm to get you to go in there and represent them and their specific idea, you're also a target for all the insults, and bitching and complaining. It's not hard figuring out what people want. They tell you.
Yellowknifelife: What made you decide to run for mayor rather than another term in council in the 2000 election?
CB: I had decided to quit politics and go into business. The thing about going into business is when you're in start-up you always need a full-time job to help support that business. My conclusion was that I was going to have to give up politics, keep my (NWT) Development Corporation job, and run the business after hours. When I went and told everyone I was retiring from politics it was brought up to me: 'What's the difference between a full-time job with the development corporation and a full-time job at city hall as mayor.'
I felt honestly that I was doing a good job with the city and I felt I could continue doing a good job with the city. I thought that if people really wanted me to continue in politics they'd vote me in. If they didn't care then I wouldn't win and that would be fine. So that's how it worked out.
Yellowknifelife: Now you're off to Tulita. Do you think you'll be coming back to Yellowknife.
CB: Well, I'm getting old and I just thought I should just get my Northern experience in while I'm still young enough to survive it. I've been working with a couple of companies from Tulita for the last three years through the NWT Development Corporation.
The community of Tulita has everything going for it. It's a beautiful little community on the Bear River, it's got strong leadership in the community, and I think there's so much opportunity for that community. It's just a matter of getting everybody in the same book let alone the same page.
As far as coming back to Yellowknife, I haven't sold my house yet. But I'm thinking I'll drop by once in a while to visit.
Yellowknifelife: Would you say living in Yellowknife has been a life-changing experience?
CB: Northerners are the most kind, honest and considerate people I've ever met. My very first day in town I'm walking downtown in front of the Miner's Mess on Franklin Ave., and some man walks up to me on the street and says, 'You must be Cheryl,' and I'm like: 'Oh no, I've only been in town for six hours, what have I done?'
It turns out that it was a friend of a friend who was told I was coming up to visit. He picked me out by the description he'd been given.
That was amazing and Yellowknife is still like that. I feel like I know half the town well enough to say hi to them.
