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Another candidate for city council

Patrick Singh, 48, the downtown businessman and musician, is hoping to fill the city council seat vacated by Doug Graham. It’s not his first foray into the political arena.
patricksingh

Another hopeful has put their name forward for the city council byelection.

Patrick Singh, 48, the downtown businessman and musician, is hoping to fill the city council seat vacated by Doug Graham.

It’s not his first foray into the political arena.

Singh recently made an unsuccessful bid for a seat in the territorial legislature, running as the Liberal candidate for Whitehorse Centre.

He still has a bunch of “Who’s Your Paddy,” campaign buttons left over. A slogan he’s retained for this election.

Singh joins Cam Kos, Mike Tribes, Kirk Cameron Norm Hamilton and Ron Pumphrey, bring the total number of candidates to six so far.

Born in London, England, Singh moved to Canada with his family in 1974, settling in Edmonton.

Most of his family is still in Alberta, but Sing has made his home in the Yukon for the past 20 years.

Whitehorse and the Yukon are changing and it’s important that people have a voice and a say in those changes, said Singh.

“I want to make sure that the development of the city goes hand in hand with what people want,” he said. “There is a difference between governing and representing people.”

A father of a four-year-old son who lives in the Takhini Trailer Park, Singh doesn’t think entering public life will change his life very much.

“My world isn’t insular I’m a very public person,” he said.

In the summer, Singh runs a hotdog stand, and has recently opened a cafe downtown.

“I’m right there, accessible to everybody,” he said.

There are a lot of issues the city faces right now, said Singh.

He’d like to see the city become more sustainable and truly live up to its potential.

“It’s a vibrant and exciting place to be,” he said. “Whitehorse is the point of entry for the territory.

“I’d like to see Main Street and the downtown core become the jewel of the Yukon.”

As a small business owner himself, he’d like to see the city and the territorial government do more to support entrepreneurs.

“We need to build other sectors of our economy, so we’re not so reliant on government and mining,” said Singh.

They city will be accepting nomination packages from prospective candidates starting on Wednesday.

The deadline for nominations is November 10. The election is scheduled for December 1.

Contact Josh Kerr at joshk@yukon-news.com