Whitehorse Daily Star

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Photo by Chuck Tobin

THE SWEET TASTE OF SUCCESS – Re-elected city councillors Samson Hartland and Jocelyn Curteanu share a laugh Thursday evening in council chambers.

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Photo by Chuck Tobin

Laura Cabott, Steve Roddick

Voters give council a moderate overhaul

Change wasn’t in the air for mayor last night – but it certainly was for the six seats that surround him. There will be three new ones.

By Chuck Tobin on October 19, 2018

Change wasn’t in the air for mayor last night – but it certainly was for the six seats that surround him. There will be three new ones.

Coun. Betty Irwin was denied her fourth consecutive term, Coun. Roslyn Woodcock denied her second.

Former city councillor Jan Stick topped the polls like she did back in the 2006 municipal election.

Right across the city, Stick was the favourite in each and every poll – all 13.

Newcomer Steve Roddick, Stick’s teammate through the campaign, finished second.

Laura Cabott stepped her way into municipal politics with the third-highest count in the city.

Councillors Samson Hartland, Jocelyn Curteanu and Dan Boyd held their seats, finishing fourth, fifth and sixth respectively.

Curteanu spent the evening in council chambers at city hall after the polls closed at 8 p.m., like many of the 20 candidates seeking one of the six seats.

Even after the results confirmed she was about to embark on her third consecutive term of three years, Curteanu said she was nervous.

She acknowledged what she described as hard work campaigning by the three frontrunners.

“But it also says there is change that needs to happen,” said Curteanu, who was pushed out of her first-place honours of three years ago – but re-elected nonetheless.

She said it’s apparent the voters of Whitehorse are looking for, and accepting of, a city council taking on more social responsibility, moving deeper into the issues of matters like affordable housing that are traditionally left to the territorial and federal governments.

“It looks like the community is supportive of us evolving our role,” she said while sitting in the chamber’s public gallery with her family.

“It really looks like there is support for the city to have a more active role.”

Delving deeper into the social issues could have budgetary implications, and council will have to be certain any foray off the beaten path of fixing potholes, sewer mains and transit schedules has the support of taxpayers.

“Obviously, change is in the air, with the newcomers being the top three and the incumbents being the bottom three,” said Hartland. He was returned to his second-consecutive term, but third altogether, with his first coming in 2000 as the youngest member on council.

He said it was something of a bittersweet victory: sweet with success, bitter by losing the companionship of incumbents Irwin and Woodcock.

Sitting beside Irwin for the past three years, beside who he described as a stalwart in the community for decades, was a privilege, Samson said.

“But I am excited about the opportunity to work with new people, learn new perspectives, new ideas.”

It was a busy council chambers last night. Candidates, their families and the curious like Community Services Minister John Streicker, NDP Leader Liz Hanson and all senior city officials gathered to watch the polls come in.

From the very first return 20 minutes after 8:00, the writing was on the wall. The paint wasn’t dry, but the writing was on the wall.

Stick, Roddick, Cabott, Curteanu, Hartland and Boyd were on top from the very start to the very end.

With the snag at the Vanier Catholic Secondary School polling station in Riverdale delaying the final tally for about hour, until 10 p.m., there was a glimmer of hope for Danny Macdonald, a Riverdale boy all his life.

With 800 votes to come from Vanier, Macdonald trailed Boyd by 274 votes – but it wasn’t to be.

“I figured I would be in the mix,” he said. “But there you are, not quite. I just came up short.”

Like other unsuccessful candidates, Macdonald remained upbeat, and like the others, he mentioned the freight train that Stick and Roddick had become as running mates.

Roddick – Macdonald’s friend – worked extremely hard, he said, just like others observed.

Eileen Melnychuk was in the hunt, but never got close enough to crack the top six, finishing the night in 11th.

“I think Whitehorse is coming out the winner,” she said of the newly elected council.

“It was a great campaign. I got to bring up a lot of important issues.”

Melnychuk said it was, however, a bit of a grind. In the afternoon, you would be in an all-candidates’ forum before the Yukon Anti-Poverty Coalition.

After supper, you’d be debating the issues in front of the Hillcrest Community Association, she recalled.

Melnychuk said the issues are not the same from community association to community association. Where traffic is on everybody’s mind in Riverdale, it’s water and sewer infrastructure, the Alaska Highway and the old tank farm capturing the attention of voters in Hillcrest, she said.

“All of us really learned a lot from each other,” Melnychuk said of the slate. “We emailed each other today and said what a great experience it was.”

Roddick said he did work his tail off. He hustled to meet people, he said.

Roddick said they helped him understand the issues, and he in turn was able to show them, to communicate he understood what they were saying.

Teaming up with Stick as one voice was a natural, he said.

“I am working with her because we agreed on so many of the same things.”

As one candidate summed up Stick’s first-place finish: “She’s a household name.”

First elected to city council in a 2005 by-election, Stick was returned to office in the 2006 general election, finishing on top by a long way, just like last night.

Family priorities kept her out of the 2009 election, but she returned to politics in 2011 as the NDP MLA for Riverdale South, though she was unsuccessful in her bid for re-election to the territorial legislature in 2016.

Stick roared back last night.

Her final tally of 3,946 votes put her 831 votes ahead of her second-place teammate.

Stick said it’s hard to measure the impact of the decision by herself and Roddick to run on the same platform, in what some saw as a move toward a more territorial style of politics.

They received feedback from those who liked the approach, and those that didn’t, she said.

“I am glad we did it,” Stick said of running with Roddick. “I am really glad we did.”

Stick said she and Roddick talked about whether it was a good idea. With the same values and the same ideas, they just felt their voice would be stronger together, she said.

Roddick, said Stick, did indeed work his tail off.

“I will give him full credit for working hard, for really working hard and it showed,” she said.

Stick said her motivation, while sounding somewhat cliché, is truly to give back to her community, to make it a better place for everybody.

“That is what is important to me,” she said.

Like many of the candidates, Cabott was in council chambers from the start of returns coming in to the end, in the company of family and friends.

Her mother, Mae Cabott, was up from Maple Ridge, B.C., for the last two weeks to support her daughter’s campaign efforts.

The elder Cabott is no stranger to community service, having served more than once on city council in Maple Ridge, along with her involvement on school boards and other community organizations.

Her daughters, said Mae, grew up knowing the importance, the responsibility, of supporting their community.

Laura said she’s all in.

She wasn’t sure if she would get elected, and she took nothing for granted, particularly with what she described as a solid slate of 20 candidates, including five incumbents.

But she broke into municipal politics with a bang and a third-place finish in the polls.

Cabott said last night results indicated the electorate is looking for change. It’s a reflection of how the city is maturing, she believes.

“I think it says that people here in Whitehorse were engaged with this election, and I think people expect more from this council.”

See related story.

Comments (19)

Up 2 Down 0

north_of_60 on Oct 25, 2018 at 2:17 pm

Municipal elections are a popularity contest. It's like selecting Prom Royalty, not the Valedictorian. The Stick-Roddick gimmick got them votes, that's all it was. However, if they always vote the same on issues, it will make a joke of Council decisions, and then we will have a problem.

Up 5 Down 0

2 councillors 1 vote on Oct 25, 2018 at 12:57 pm

Address one and the other automatically falls in line?
StickDick

Up 8 Down 0

... NDP voted in the municipal on Oct 25, 2018 at 12:54 pm

Thanks for making a municipality political.

To Jan and Dick,
you just ruined municipal politics by running as a slate.
Maybe learn the difference between the different levels of government before politicizing decisions. We're now stuck dealing with the NDP instead of a municipal gov with 6 unique voices.

Up 6 Down 0

Jim Cleaver on Oct 24, 2018 at 4:51 pm

Yukoner 42, yes you are correct. I do believe that museums should not pay property tax. The only reason MacBride has to pay is because they are the only ones who are unlucky enough to own their property. Neither Transportation Museum or Beringia pay property taxes to the city. But of course, that is just my opinion. But as a municipal tax payer, the last time I checked we all have a right to voice our opinions on who we think should and shouldn’t be exempt. I was just clarifying what I believe constitutes a municipal tax payer.

Up 10 Down 0

Yukoner42 on Oct 23, 2018 at 9:11 pm

@Jim Cleaver
You were on Facebook not long ago saying MacBride museum should get a full exemption in property tax for their prime downtown realty. Yet here you are complaining about property taxes. Do you not understand that we all pay more in tax when others get exempted?

Up 17 Down 5

Yukon Watchdog on Oct 23, 2018 at 3:11 pm

I really don't get the Stick/Roddick campaign. Are we not supposed to have 6, count them 6, voices on city council? Why would anyone want two of the six agreeing on everything thus reducing the true voice of council to only 5 voices?

Yes, I voted. No, I did not vote for them because I wanted six full brains working; not 5 and a parrot.

I cannot tell you how disappointed I was that they (or do we say she/he) won. Why have only 5 voices at a table that seats 6? Are we to expect they will always vote in the same fashion as each other (and if so, what was the point of you BOTH running?????) Why are two getting paid to vote as one? Waste of my effin tax dollar right there!

I don't get it. I just don't get it. It's the beginning of party politics and I don't like it one little bit at the City Council table.

Up 4 Down 5

Moose on Oct 22, 2018 at 10:22 pm

@Community Gal The government is made up of people like you and I. It is not some foreign entity out to take your money and funnel it away somewhere. Though you are right, they are not business people. They are not only concerned about their bottom line and making money, they are concerned about what's best for everyone. That's the whole point of government - living in a civilized society which we all contribute to through paying taxes.
I totally agree that pork-barreling and back room deals need to be stopped as much as possible, but aside from that, waste is a matter of opinion. You might think it's important to keep paying for the monarchy while someone else thinks we should keep funding arts and culture. Who gets to determine what is a waste and what is not? And when they spend "your" money, they are spending everyone's money including their own. They live in the same society you do! Signed, an oxygen breather. Which has the same meaning as a tax payer.

Up 5 Down 2

Jim Cleaver on Oct 22, 2018 at 7:38 pm

Taxpayer on the municipal level refer to property owners as they are the ones who receive the rising tax notice every year. As far as I know, the City does not tax your wages, your power, your heat or your food. So if being taxed as a property owner makes one seem entitled, I guess there is no way around that. But the entitled few actually subsidizes transit, recreation facilities, grants and probably quite a few more items. The City also has their hand out to YTG and the Feds. Bottom line is they are spending taxpayers money and at some point have to realize they have to be accountable.

Up 6 Down 1

Feral on Oct 22, 2018 at 6:57 pm

I read these comments once every couple of weeks and for a bit there I was quite sure posters like bnr, josey, Jayne, max and that older sounding lady who has no money after taxes, may have been employees of the papers who write the articles...turns out they are folks who just like to anonymously comment online....who knew! Its kind of a relief really.

Up 18 Down 1

Community Gal on Oct 22, 2018 at 12:54 pm

@Moose - the point of referring to oneself as a "taxpayer" is an effort to remind politicians that they are paid from the pockets of you and I - Joe and Jane Doe public. They are not business people that generate a product by producing or manufacturing nor miners or loggers harvesting natural resources. I, as a taxpayer, want the powers that be to remember that they are spending my money. I want them to be prudent and small c conservative with those funds. I don't want to see waste and porkbarrelling and back-room deals. I want to remind them that, when they spend my money, I will be monitoring their performance and protesting massive new expenditures that don't meet the smell test. Hope that helps explain. Signed A Taxpayer, just like You

Up 5 Down 11

Moose on Oct 21, 2018 at 11:03 pm

To those people who always like to refer to themselves as a "taxpayer": Why do you do that? You simply sound entitled when you do. Literally everyone who lives in Canada is a taxpayer even though people pay differing amounts.

Up 5 Down 3

Josey Wales on Oct 20, 2018 at 7:56 pm

Hey George....funny that as I DO have a yellow raincoat.
Good on ya for calling me out, however I addressed the issue/my level of gobsmacking with the results...infer if you will an admission of defeat it is there.
Also too my disappointment in my towns folk, in another story.
So George....good lil monkey you are...but covered it.
Crickets may be in your head, sounding more volumous perhaps due too the void creating an echo...dunno?

That said, no more words from me on civic matters....zip.
Enjoy the shower George, and don’t let them know you have gold in your teeth.
We all good now, I can hang up my yellow coat and you can pursue curious George things...on your own?
.....absolutely gobsmacked, but wish to not read/sound like lying Hillary’s people south of us ....sign off civic matters I shall.
Many good folks here still, however our latest election suggests a village of idiots....many of them.
And yes I do still miss my town, just have zero faith anyone cares.

Up 20 Down 4

Max Mack on Oct 20, 2018 at 5:49 pm

I am very disappointed with the results of the Whitehorse municipal elections. There seemed to me to be an obvious attempt by Stick, Roddick, Cabott and Curtis to run as the "blue" team (colour of the US Democrats - any coincidence?). Unfortunately, Whitehorse voters - at least those that voted - fell for the trick.

Rather than sticking to the nuts and bolts of running the city, the new council will be same-as-the-old-council with another 4 years or so of progressive policies that will further erode my disposable income: more taxes, more utility fees, more user fees, more penalties, more regulations - with no discernible benefit to me as a taxpaying resident.

I congratulate all those that put their names forward, and especially those that were brave enough to do so even though they had little chance of being elected.
As for those that were elected, please remember that council is not your little plaything. The rest of us have to live in the world that you think you are "saving".

Up 8 Down 10

Henry Wensleydale on Oct 20, 2018 at 3:25 pm

PFFFT to Dave at 3:57 AM
LAST in his riding when he stood on his record Pasloski deserves all of the ridicule he gets.
Darrell Drugstore is actually one of the nicer things he's been called before, during and after the Yukon election.

Up 23 Down 12

Dave on Oct 20, 2018 at 3:57 am

Memo to Allan Foster. It’s time to be an adult and not use a childish derogatory term to describe the former premier of the Yukon, Darrell Pasloski. Disagree with the politics all you want but don’t demean the person, in today’s age people won’t stand for that.

Up 7 Down 10

Curious George on Oct 19, 2018 at 10:20 pm

*crickets... where is the loud words of josey wale, greeny, carter and all their drum beating friends how it was going to be a wash of political change in this town. To quote ol josey... well mimic ... no, no, no, you’ll not see ol curious George pronounce he knows all and speaks for all, not on the comment boards at least, I’ll leave that to the consistent fools who keep saying a big game but rarely comment when they’re totally wrong.

Up 7 Down 6

Joseum Wales on Oct 19, 2018 at 5:08 pm

I hope the new council members hold their own and bring forward the perspective of serving Whitehorse residents well.
It's unfortunate we lost some members but that can happen when there are so many options for the voters.

Up 13 Down 24

Jayne W on Oct 19, 2018 at 4:42 pm

Excited for this team of Council Members. A mix of male / female, different age groups, different political parties. The other great thing about this Council is that I am pretty sure 4 (3 for sure) live in Country Residential, so we can assume we are going to have great representation. Ward system anyone......

Up 29 Down 21

Allan Foster on Oct 19, 2018 at 4:22 pm

MEMO to David Laxton - it's time for you to follow Darrell Drugstore down the road
to political oblivion

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