There’s a running joke among Tony Lundgaard’s family that he’s just following in his grandmother’s footsteps.
After all, he’s worked in a couple of jobs that she did before. But now, Lundgaard is trying to get a seat on Whitehorse city council – a seat like his grandmother, Sharon Peter, had on the council of Na-Cho Nyak Dun.
Lundgaard, a citizen of Na-Cho Nyak Dun, said he was motivated by a sense the city needs a fresh approach to many of its problems. The city needs new ideas, and Lundgaard has a lot of them, he told the News.
His priorities are addressing traffic, supporting small businesses, a green energy transition and confronting the housing crisis, he said.
Lundgaard would try to restrict left turns down Second Avenue during rush hour, and try to use Fourth Avenue as more of a “feeder” road, he said.
He said he would also build a support system for small, local businesses. He said as an employee and customer, he’s been “treated like garbage” by large corporate businesses.
Lundgaard also said he will do everything he can to try to lower the cost of living. “I hate the cost of living,” he said. “I hate the cost of food. I hate the cost of housing. I hate how it’s incredibly hard to live here without a car...”
Heathbrook Badhwar became friends with Lundgaard four years ago. He said Lundgaard is someone he has been able to rely on.
“He has, like, a really unique perspective. He looks at the world in a very unique way,” said Badhwar, of Lundgaard. “When he talks to me about the things that he wants to bring to the table, he's bringing up ideas that I've never, never even knew existed. So, he has a very resourceful and very knowledgeable mind.”
Born and raised in Whitehorse, Lundgaard went to college in B.C. Unfortunately, he realized too late that the school he was attending was a “degree mill” which provided “bottom of the barrel education.” He moved back to Whitehorse around 2018.
Since then, he’s worked at multiple retail stores across Whitehorse, contract construction jobs, at the COVID-19 checkpoint in Mayo, and the Erik Nielsen International Airport. He’s also done work with a solar panel company in Whitehorse, inspiring his idea for installing solar panel roofs on top of parking lots in the city to generate electricity.
Lundgaard said many people have told him he’s unqualified to be a councillor.
“Well, I walked into the city council, city hall and asked, ‘What are the qualifications?’ They just handed me the paper, no questions asked. So I guess I am qualified,” said Lundgaard. “That is up in the court of public opinion, then."
Contact Talar Stockton at talar.stockton@yukon-news.com
