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Jocelyn Curteanu eyes fourth Whitehorse council term

Aims to use skills and experience to address city growth
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Jocelyn Curteanu is seeking a fourth term as a Whitehorse city councillor. (Submitted)

As Whitehorse keeps growing, Jocelyn Curteanu wants to continue her work as a city councillor.

Curteanu is seeking a fourth term on council as one of 17 candidates running for six councillor seats in the Oct. 21 election.

Shortly after deciding to submit her nomination papers, Curteanu said she is running again to ensure experience is represented on council.

She said it’s important to have a balance of both experienced and new perspectives on council as well as different backgrounds.

“The upcoming council term will be built on past work so having experienced councillors who understand the processes, can provide that corporate history, and speak to the context of past decisions can significantly assist the council as a whole in ensuring that it makes informed decisions going forward,” she said.

Curteanu and Dan Boyd are the only current councillors seeking re-election as councillors. Two others - Laura Cabott and Samson Hartland - are running for mayor.

Curteanu highlighted housing, development, climate change, transportation and community safety as major issues in this election.

The housing shortage is not only impacting prices on home purchases, but also leading to bidding wars on rentals, increased homelessness and has meant losing workers and youth to other jurisdictions, she said.

She argued while efforts have been made to encourage the building of homes, more work is needed.

Support for First Nations projects, encouraging private development, incentives targeting rental options and finishing work on a new Official Community Plan are among the measures that could help address it.

On development, Curteanu said she wants to look for efficiencies in the permitting process. She suggested this could be done through technology, efforts to reduce red tape and improved coordination between departments.

Speaking to climate change, Curteanu said the city needs to ensure it’s ready to deal with the impact of climate change on infrastructure and operations.

Curteanu also cited the importance of giving residents viable alternatives to vehicle use; highlighting the upcoming city-wide transportation study as well as continuing to implement the 2018 transit plan.

“Those initiatives along with planning road maintenance and upgrades through a bike-friendly lens, and maintaining and expanding our trail network with assistance from our government and community partners, would help ensure everyone can get to where they’re going in a safe, efficient, eco-friendly and affordable manner,” Curteanu said.

Pointing to community safety, she highlighted numerous reports of break-ins and thefts in recent weeks, adding that while law enforcement falls under the Yukon government’s jurisdiction, the city can take a more active role to support efforts.

“That could be anything from increasing the visibility and enhanced training of our bylaw officers, to simply improving lighting on certain streets,” she said.

Curteanu’s campaign page can be found on Facebook.

Contact Stephanie Waddell at stephanie.waddell@yukon-news.com



Stephanie Waddell

About the Author: Stephanie Waddell

I joined Black Press in 2019 as a reporter for the Yukon News, becoming editor in February 2023.
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