Yellowknife council advances community plan at final meeting of term

Yellowknife council advances community plan at final meeting of term Emily Blake Thursday September 24, 2026 at 3:03pm MT Updated: September 24, 2026 at 3:50pm MT Yellowknife City Hall. Emily Blake/Cabin Radio Share Yellowknife’s mayor and council passed a consequential second reading of the city’s new community plan as they closed out their four-year terms on Wednesday. In a final meeting before next month’s municipal election, council also passed a transportation plan with one councillor in opposition. Council unanimously approved both a vacant land tax intended to spur development and a major projects and opportunities secretariat to handle promised federal investment. The community plan came through second reading with several amendments. Two councillors, Rob Warburton and Ryan Fequet, opposed it. Warburton, who owns a real estate investment company, said he feels the plan “does not meet the moment we are currently in” and will make building housing in Yellowknife more difficult, expensive and time consuming. “We don’t need to make people do backflips before they start building anything,” he said. Advertisement. Advertisement. Warburton said the city should be more disciplined about what it includes in its community plan, such as not covering areas already regulated by other levels of government. He noted community plans for Hay River and Inuvik are much shorter. “Focus on outcomes, not paperwork,” he said. Fequet echoed Warburton’s concerns, saying he did not feel he could put his name on the plan in its current form. “I just worry that this is going to cause more headaches and more problems,” he said. Advertisement. Advertisement. The YK 2050 plan is a high-level document that outlines the city’s vision for development and will guide land decisions in Yellowknife over the next 25 years. To meet projected housing needs, YK 2050 includes plans for intensification and infill in existing neighbourhoods alongside greenfield development, mainly on land north and west of Frame Lake. A handful of residents spoke in opposition to the community plan at a public hearing earlier this month, largely raising concerns about development of green spaces and, in one case, intensification. Councillor Tom McLennan on Wednesday said he shared Warburton and Fequet’s frustrations with the plan and planning process, but felt supporting YK 2050 would be better than voting it down. Mayor Ben Hendriksen said while he had also hoped for a shorter…