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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Only a few months out of office after four terms as Yellowknife's mayor, Gord Van Tighem says his life is in a "transition period."

Former mayor Gord Van Tighem, seen in his home earlier this week, holds a collectible promotional plaque that was made by the Northern Frontier Visitors Centre during his tenure in office. Van Tighem says his life is not as busy as it was while he was mayor and he is getting used to being a regular citizen again. - Simon Whitehouse/NNSL photo

"When you go from working seven days a week, 365 days a year and many hours everyday to having something to do the odd day and two or three appointments a day versus up to 20; or going from 185 e-mails a day to six or eight, yeah, it is a transition."

He says the "evolution" of going from mayor to regular citizen is a mental exercise that he is still getting used to.

"It is also a matter of getting your mind to stop racing because you are used to doing a lot of research, making a lot of decisions, and giving a lot of information," he says. "Now the situation is where you can actually look at one task."

While he is still keeping in touch with some city staff members and Mayor Mark Heyck, Van Tighem says he is generally avoiding comment on the direction of the new council. Already council has removed senior administrative officer Bob Long and has scaled back the scope of the district energy system project - both files Van Tighem was promoting up to his last days as mayor.

"The new council has things that they want to do, so I have stayed away," he says. "That (Long's removal) was a decision by council and like any decision, there will be results and you will get to see if it was good, bad or indifferent.

"As far as my reaction, (council is) doing their job the way they see it. I'm a regular citizen observing it."

He still remains busy on a few boards, but fewer than when he was mayor. In elected office, it wasn't uncommon to be involved with 27 committees and about a dozen boards, he says, compared to the four he's involved with now.

The GNWT Industry Tourism and Investment department struck up a four-member, economic opportunities advisory panel in December, of which Van Tighem is a member. He is looking forward to bringing his career expertise as former mayor, past president of the Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce and former banker to the panel in order to help find ways to travel the territories and engage with various individuals, groups and businesses to identify what may lie ahead for revenue growth after the diamond mines close.

"When you look at the statistics that are available for the territories, it doesn't show a lot of growth and when you look at the gross domestic product of the NWT, it doesn't seem to go up in a big amount," said Van Tighem. "So we are looking at how can we promote different businesses? Are there industries that should be here that aren't? Are there industries here that could be more involved? Are there people working here that could be living here?"

So far the group has been in consultation with community groups in Hay River and Fort Smith. Between now and March, Van Tighem expects to be travelling to Norman Wells, Inuvik, Fort Simpson, Behchoko, as well as meeting with various groups in Yellowknife to explore some of the economic questions. A report is to be drafted and presented to the legislature in May to gain MLA support.

Van Tighem is also helping seniors as a new member of the Aven Manor board, which governs property management for senior residences and providing other services. As well, he continues his work as a board member for both the NWT Wildlife Federation and Canadian Wildlife Federation, which he has been involved with for more than a decade.

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