Silverio won a second term as city councillor for Yellowknife.(Facebook)

Candidates profiles

Rommel Silverio

My name is Rommel Silverio. When I came to Yellowknife in the 1990s, I was working three jobs to cover costs, including cleaning at Stanton. I decided to go back to school and garnered a Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing. I now manage patient care in that same hospital. Yellowknife has given so much to me, my wife, and our three children.

I feel a great sense of duty to take part in shaping Yellowknife future. Yellowknife is my home. It’s where my whole immediate family lives.  I want a healthy and forward-thinking Yellowknife, with a transparent and accountable city government.

I advocate public engagement to help me make decisions. Your input matters to me. I want everyone to have access to democracy so residents are empowered and invested in our city’s decisions. I want to give the general public more say. My job is to serve you.

I feel a duty to give back and serve the community because of how well the community has treated me and my family. I want to make Yellowknife a city where families will live and flourish for generations, just like my own.

Rommel is a Filipino-Canadian Registered Nurse who has been living in Yellowknife since immigrating to Canada in 1998.

Rommel has a passion for civic engagement and has been civic-minded from a young-age, serving on Youth Council in the Philippines while in high school and attending university for political science.

After moving to Yellowknife, he worked multiple jobs to establish himself; one being as a cleaner at Stanton Territorial Hospital. He worked his way through nursing school beginning in 2002. He now holds a leadership role as Patient Care Coordinator at the very same hospital.

Edwin Castillo fails in first try for council

As a 50–year resident of the City of Yellowknife, Edwin Castillo has spent more time in Yellowknife than almost every other candidate.

Now, Castillo is hoping to use his knowledge of the capital to shape the its direction as he bids for a spot on council this fall.

“I’m really one of the longest–living Yellowknifers among the candidates. Although I wasn’t born here, I was raised here, I’ve got the experience and I pretty well grew up in the process,” said Castillo.

A senior advisor with the Government of the Northwest Territories’ Office of the Comptroller General, Castillo has served on a number of boards on the city including those for Yellowknife Catholic Schools and NWT and Nunavut Lotteries.

Castillo previously ran in the 2015 territorial election in the Yellowknife North riding and is now hoping to bring the same priorities he touted in that election to the municipal race.

“Again in terms of my platform: fairness, service and community. You’ve gotta be fair to everyone and respect everybody, you’ve gotta provide the adequate services and you gotta do it in a community environment,” said Castillo

Castillo says that moving forward he supports the City of Yellowknife’s 10–Year Plan to End Homelessness but believes the city needs to look at that in a partnership with its 50-Year Vision plan, released in 2009. He would also like to see the city prepare for a future beyond the diamond mines by “diversifying the economy and mitigating risks.”