If you believe the third time’s a charm, then this may be the year Eileen Melnychuk becomes a Whitehorse city councillor.
Currently the executive director of the Yukon NGO Hub, Melnychuk has run for council twice before: in 2018, and in 2021. She’s also run for territorial politics three times, under the banners of both the Yukon and Liberal parties.
Despite her previous political bids being unsuccessful, Melnychuk said she wasn’t going to use that as an excuse not to run when seniors in the community asked her to.
“That's more important to me than feeling sorry for myself and saying, ‘Oh no, I can't do that again,’" said Melnychuk.
Melnychuk said Whitehorse seniors reached out to her asking her to run for council due to issues they faced with the cost of living and downtown safety. Both figure prominently on her platform, which focuses on three issues: livability, affordability and sustainability.
When it comes to downtown safety, Melnychuk said she’ll try to set up an advisory committee for council on the issue. Members could come from the Whitehorse Chamber of Commerce and the city’s business community, she said.
She said she would also look at the root causes of crime in the city, like homelessness and mental health issues.
“I think there's room for Whitehorse at the table, to be a partner with business owners, to be a partner with Yukon government and the federal government and First Nations certainly, to champion viable solutions to the problems we're facing,” said Melnychuk.
She said she would continue the work the current council is doing around recycling in the city, too. She also said she would advance the Chasàn Chùa (McIntyre Creek Park) plan to protect the environment in the area.
Melnychuk was born in Whitehorse but raised in Watson Lake. Since then, she’s lived all over the country, returning to Whitehorse in 2007.
She’s been involved with multiple Whitehorse organizations since then, including the Hospital Foundation, the Ukrainian Canadian Association of the Yukon, the Victoria Faulkner Women’s Centre, the Yukon Learn Society, and the Thrift Store Society.
Jessie Dawson knows Melnychuk through Dawson’s work as a leader with Kwanlin Dün First Nation.
Dawson said Melnychuk is a good listener, and does her research.
“She's very approachable. She's a hard worker, and she's very interested,” said Dawson, “like, if she says she's going to follow up on something, she usually carries through.”
Contact Talar Stockton at talar.stockton@yukon-news.com
