Stacie Smith, owner of Flowers North, announced her candidacy for Yellowknife city council in the upcoming municipal election.
In a post to her personal Facebook page this week, Smith wrote she will vie for a seat when nominations open on Aug. 31.
“I am a born and raised Yellowknifer. I am a business owner and I am First Nations. I work predominantly in the downtown core of Yellowknife. The social issues that present themselves on a daily basis need to be addressed instead of glazed over,” she wrote.
“It takes a village to raise a child but it also takes a community and the sense of community to sustain them,” wrote Smith.
Taxpayer dollars should be used to benefit the majority and be “customized for our unique Northern way of life,” she wrote.
Yellowknife is no southern metropolis, said Smith, and southern models are not entirely “functional” in a Northern context, she said.
Indigenous peoples are not represented adequately on city council, wrote Smith.
“In a city that is largely Indigenous there should and need to be Indigenous faces on our city council.
I am not afraid to speak my mind and be the voice for others,” she said.
“I would be proud to represent my home town!”