Arts and culture take center stage at Yellowknife election forum

Yellowknife's municipal elections forums have touched on a lot of pressing issues for the city so far but Thursday evening's forum focused on something that's received less attention so far arts and culture. It was hosted by the NWT Arts Centre initiative. What we're asking for now this election is for city government to have an improved and more holistic view of the arts benefits to our city especially as a new arts centre is turning from a possibility into a reality, and especially as the character of Yellowknife is changing. Candidates weighed in on what kind of arts and culture support makes sense for the city. One of the things I've talked about many times on my platform is actually reforming the Heritage Committee to the Heritage Arts and Recreation Committee. That way we could provide for, say, the artists-in-residence and Indigenous artists-in-residence, micro-grants for around our community, large installations in the downtown core as downtown revitalization and art go hand-in-hand. There was also talk of how Yellowknife's new tourist accommodation tax could benefit the arts sector. Since 2025, it's been bringing in hundreds of thousands of dollars beyond the target $1 million a year. Because it's exceeding that, I think there's a way to look at it and say, is there a way to reorganize that money and spend it differently? And the arts and culture in Yellowknife is in need of that. Secondly, I think if we link arts and culture to economic development more closely, we have a division called the Economic Opportunities, Investments and Partnerships Division. and I think it would be great to be able to move arts and culture portfolio over there so there's a more clear link between economic development and arts and culture in Yellowknife. It was the last forum before voters in Yellowknife select a new mayor, council and trustees for school boards on Monday. CBC North will be running a live page where you can follow results, news and analysis. Reporters will be in the field talking to candidates throughout the night. You can follow that coverage on cbc.ca slash north starting at 6.30pm on Monday. Sarah St-Pierre, CBC News, Yellowknife.