Meet 2 city councillors vying to be the next mayor of Yellowknife

Two of the four candidates in the running to be Yellowknife's next mayor are familiar to local politics: councillors Rebecca Alty and Adrian Bell.

They are looking to take over for outgoing mayor Mark Heyck, who is not seeking re-election. Also running are Jerald Sibbeston and Bob Stewart.

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Both Bell and Alty are similar in terms of their political experience, having served two terms on council. Both have also served as deputy mayor.

Where they differ is in their priorities for the city.

Working with partners is key for Alty

Alty's platform focuses on two areas. The first: improving planning within the city itself.

In particular, Alty wants to keep momentum going on the city's current 10-year plan to end homelessness.

"We've done plans, but we haven't been very good at tracking them," she said.

"With my daytime experience at Diavik that's really what I do is plan, track, implement I want to bring that type of a system to city hall."

Alty also wants to work with groups to tackle social issues within the city.

"Whether it's the territorial, federal, Indigenous governments, not-for-profits, local businesses, [I want to work with them] on stuff that's a little bit more than just the city stuff; so, homelessness and substance abuse and working with our partners on initiatives to address those."

'I want to talk about diversification,' says Bell

Bell, meanwhile, has plans on how to reduce Yellowknife's cost of living. He has 11 ideas on how to make things cheaper.

"Some of [my ideas] are quite focused on electricity rates," Bell explained.

"Some others include moving forward with a proposal that has been talked about for a couple years now with respect to loans for things like pellet stoves, attic installation, and other energy-saving installations to homes."

Bell is also looking at other opportunities for the city to make money outside of the mining sector, which he says is in decline.

"I want to talk about diversification," he said.

"I want to provide the leadership to go out there and pursue funds, a lot of which are flying over our heads to places like Whitehorse, where they've found ways to pursue tourism opportunities, innovation opportunities, supporting young entrepreneurs and small businesses."

Both candidates say they want to listen to the people of Yellowknife.

Advanced voting in this year's election runs Oct.1-5 at the Office of the Returning Officer inside city hall between 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Election day ison Oct.15.

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