Whitehorse, Dawson City election candidates face off in forums

Mayoral and council hopefuls appealed to voters at forums held Wednesday night in Whitehorse and Dawson City, a week ahead of municipal elections in the Yukon's two largest communities.

Electors in Whitehorse go to the polls Oct. 15 to choose a mayor and council among a field of 14 candidates, which include the incumbent mayor, Bev Buckway, and most of the current council.

That same day, voters in Dawson City will cast ballots for a mayor, choosing between incumbent John Steins and former mayor and MLA Peter Jenkins. All the town's councillors have been acclaimed.

At the Whitehorse election forum, hosted by the city's chamber of commerce, Buckway and challenger Al Fedoriak faced off on issues such as parking.

Meters, tickets a concern

The business community has raised concerns about a lack of parking space downtown, the high cost of parking meters, and the high frequency in which parking tickets are being issued.

"We shouldn't use parking meters to generate revenue," Fedoriak said at Wednesday's forum. "We should use parking meters to circulate the vehicles in front of the businesses."

Fedoriak said he wants to see a parkade built — an idea Buckway said is too costly right now.

"The cost of putting in a parkade would be at least $50,000 per stall," she said, adding that businesses and other governments have not expressed interest in leasing or buying spaces in a parkade.

As for the cost of the meters and frequency of tickets, Buckway said she has no problem with either.

"If a bylaw officer walked past and didn't give somebody a ticket, they would be accused of not doing their job," she said.

Buckway said a study on the downtown parking will happen later this year.

Council in hotseat over deficit

Among the 12 council hopefuls vying for six council seats, city finances took centre stage at Wednesday's forum.

Some of the rookie candidates pointed fingers at the current council for allowing the city to go into deficit.

"I pledge to bring the budget under control," candidate Graham Lang said at the forum.

"Your property taxes are increasing, and they will continue to increase unless changes are made to the council."

Other candidates, like Ron Swizdaryk and Skeeter Miller-Wright, said the city must make its budget affordable.

But incumbent Doug Graham said the criticism is too harsh, as the city balances its budgets every year by law. The recent deficit, he said, happened in the interim.

"The half-a-million-dollar deficit was simply a result of the downturn in the economy and the lack of investment returns on our reserves," he said.

"So overall, the budget in the city, as much as I squawk about it, is in pretty good shape."

Council candidates also debated transit, parking, and green space issues.

Dawson mayoral hopefuls make pitches

Meanwhile, the Yukon Order of Pioneers Hall in Dawson City was full to capacity Wednesday night to hear Steins and Jenkins make their pitches on a number of civic topics, such as the ongoing push to make the town a UNESCO World Heritage site.

"I played a role in the past, made a pitch at one time during my previous tenure as mayor," Jenkins told the audience at Wednesday's forum.

"I've visited a lot of World Heritage sites around the world and know what it takes. [I] advocated and moved forward on the city's part previously, and will continue to do so in the future."

Steins said the town is currently on the UNESCO shortlist, "so all it takes is a champion to move that forward.

"I'm certainly willing to be part of the champion team to make it move forward," Steins pledged.

The forum failed to produce any fireworks between Jenkins and Steins.