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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Since council candidates have been excluded from two of the three scheduled public debates leading up to the Oct. 15 municipal elections, candidates have banded together to organize their own public forum next Tuesday.

"We don't really have that much of a chance to speak. These forums are a valuable resource to find out where people really stand on stuff," said council candidate Adrian Bell. "As a voter, I like to see how councillors think on their feet. These forums are the only opportunity for that."

During some previous municipal elections, there have been two candidate forums, one hosted by the Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce and another hosted by Alternatives North. This year, the chamber announced it decided to only include the three mayoral candidates in its forum because of time constraints and a lack of resources to co-ordinate the additional 12 council contenders. This year, two Yellowknife Rotary clubs are co-hosting another debate for their members and other guests for the first time. However, only mayoral candidates were scheduled to participate in that debate, which was scheduled to be held at the Top Knight yesterday evening.

Many councillors identified their lack of participation in the forums as a big problem, said Bell.

"It leaves voters with a lot less valuable information," he said.

Council candidate Niels Konge shared these concerns, and took it upon himself to start the ball rolling on an all-council-candidates debate.

"That didn't sit right with me," he said of being involved in just one forum days before the election. "The mayors, they get their own, so I figured we should do our own. I think it's actually a good idea that each have their own because there are different roles for each to play."

The mayor's role, from Konge's perspective, is to act as a tie breaker when the councillors are deadlocked on an issue, as well as be a public face for the City of Yellowknife.

"The councillors are more responsible for saying 'hey, this is the direction that we want to go' and get the administration to get us in that direction," said Konge. "So I think it makes sense not to muddy the waters and have everybody at one place."

The council candidates debate has been scheduled for next Tuesday at Centre Ice Plaza, beginning at 6:30 p.m. All council candidates have been invited to attend, though not all had confirmed their participation at press deadline.

Bell said it is important to note that, while Konge initiated the idea for a public forum for council candidates and he and other candidates are also involved in organizing, a moderator has been selected to oversee the proceedings and will be fielding all questions.

The Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce, the NWT Chamber of Commerce and the Chamber of Mines will be submitting questions to the moderator, said Konge. Neither he nor any other candidates who are involved in organizing the night will see the questions in advance, unless they are sent out to all participants, he said.

"Just because I'm organizing it doesn't mean I'm trying to give myself an unfair advantage," said Konge. "I'm going to be on the same footing as everybody else."

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