Councillor Garett Cochrane will be Yellowknife’s next deputy mayor.
Cochrane told councillors on Monday that 2023 was a “short but tumultuous year,” but that he remains a “diplomatic, calm, reliable leader” with a lot of responsibility.
“Being that I’m the first gay Métis on council, who probably wouldn’t have had the chance like this 20 to 30 years ago, this is not lost on me,” he told Cabin Radio.
“I think at its best, the deputy mayor should be in many ways representative of what modern Yellowknife looks like and I, like everyone else who sits in these chairs, am at least a reflection of that.”
Cochrane is the nephew of former premier Caroline Cochrane, and was born and raised in Yellowknife and was elected to council in 2022 along with a wave of new, young creative people.
Cochrane replaces Stacie Arden-Smith, an Indigenous woman who ran unsuccessfully in the 2023 territorial general election.
“I want to send out a special thanks to the outgoing deputy mayor for her years of service in the role,” Councillor Cochrane posted on Facebook. “You are and will continue to be an inspiration, and I look forward to carrying on working with such a strong Indigenous woman.”
City of Yellowknife photo
