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Honest Al for city council

With Al Fedoriak, what you see is what you get. "I'm too old to lie," he said. He's hoping that his frankness will appeal to Whitehorse voters in October.
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With Al Fedoriak, what you see is what you get.

“I’m too old to lie,” he said.

He’s hoping that his frankness will appeal to Whitehorse voters in October.

Fedoriak is running for a seat on city council.

It’s the second time that he’s taken a run at municipal office.

In 2009, he challenged Bev Buckway for mayor, losing by almost 1,000 votes.

This time, though, Buckway isn’t running. There are already three candidates vying for her current position: Scott Howell, Dan Curtis and Rick Karp.

In the last election, Fedoriak wanted to see Karp run against Buckway, but since Karp wasn’t ready, Fedoriak took a crack at it.

“And you saw how well that went,” he said.

He’s not seeking the mayor’s seat this time because Karp is running.

“Why would I run against him if I thought he was the right person?”

But still, he thinks council needs “new blood.

“Perhaps its time for the old guard to step aside,” he said.

In his view, the municipal government is doing things wrong.

“Councillors should be taking things from the people and giving them to management, rather than taking direction from management and giving it to the people,” said Fedoriak. “We’re doing things backwards.”

The millions that city council gave to the Great Northern Ski Society to keep Mount Sima afloat is a prime example of the problems with the city, he said.

After he questioned the wisdom of pouring more money into the resort, he got an email from one councillor explaining that the money was found through “creative accounting” and didn’t cost taxpayers anything.

“If that’s the mentality of council, then we have a problem,” said Fedoriak.

Fedoriak has lived in Whitehorse for 37 years. He and his wife raised their kids in a house he built in Porter Creek.

Originally from Alberta, Fedoriak first came to the Yukon in the 1950s to work in the mining industry.

He later moved back south, joined the army and then the Edmonton police.

When drugs started to become a problem in Edmonton in the 1970s, he decided that Whitehorse would be a better place to raise his family.

He worked in the “bus business,” first for the Yukon government and then privately.

He retired in 2007 but remained active in Rotary clubs both in the Yukon and internationally.

As a city councillor, he wants to make sure that Whitehorse remains a good place to raise kids.

The current push for smaller lots and higher density is a mistake, said Fedoriak.

“How can you raise a family if you don’t have a yard.”

He thinks the territory and the city are marking up the price of lots too much.

In the spring, a country residential lot in the Whitehorse Copper subdivision sold for more than $200,000, double the price it was when it first went up for sale by lottery in 2007.

That was a bit of an anomalous situation.

The four lots that went up for sale in the Ingram subdivision last spring were only marked up by 3.5 per cent above development costs.

Regardless, the government shouldn’t be making money on lot sales, said Fedoriak.

“It’s basically a tax,” he said.

The city has made a few mistakes but Fedoriak said he still thinks it’s a good place to live and raise a family.

“I think if people want good, honest government, if they elect me that’s what they’ll get,” he said. “You’ll know how I voted and you’ll know why.

“If you approach me for something, I’ll give you an honest answer.”

Municipal elections are scheduled for October 18.

Contact Josh Kerr at

joshk@yukon-news.com