“Now’s the right time” Lyle Goldie runs for city council

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. – Lyle Goldie is running for Fort St. John’s city council in the upcoming election and hopes to use his background in oil and gas—alongside experience with the city’s arts and culture scene and local nonprofits—to shape his voice on the council.

Goldie, currently in timber sales as an Indigenous Relations specialist, says taking a larger role in the city’s leadership has been on his mind since the last election and was a “natural evolution” from his current roles in both professional and nonprofit worlds. 

“I still have a lot of ambition and love for this community, to really take it to the next level…especially coming out of what we’ve been able to accomplish with the Pride organization over the years,” Goldie said. “Now’s the right time.”

President of the North Peace Pride Society, Goldie lists this as one of his major roles in nonprofits within the community. He also serves on the Fort St. John public library board and on the inaugural board for CLIC. Goldie has also worked with the Arts Council on behalf of the Pride society.

It is this experience with the artistic world of Fort St. John that Goldie believes will help make his voice distinct, should he be elected to city council. As a part of local government, he wants to see opportunities in this colourful side of the community grow. 

“I come from more of the arts and culture background,” Goldie explained. “We do a really good job promoting our hockey, our sports teams—and also providing more opportunities for people in the creative and artistic aspects of our community that really make it great.”

“We’re going towards that. It would be great to see that continue,” he said.

His desire to be a voice for arts and culture in the city, Goldie says, is balanced by his resource extraction background. 

“[I want] to be able to be a fresh voice that comes from something slightly different but still has that oil and gas background…it provides a nice balance, essentially.”

Goldie’s career in Fort St. John, though, began in archaeology. His excitement and appreciation for the region moves beyond its current eclectic character and into its “incredible” 11,000 years of history. 

He is also an advocate, somewhat unsurprisingly considering his professional experience, for continued relationships with Indigenous communities in the area.

“Investments by the First Nations communities around the area is amazing… and we should continue working further with them.”

This variety of passions, both personal and professional, contribute to the qualities that Goldie wants to bring to the future council table.

“I think [being a councillor] is about coming together and building a consensus and working as a team. It is about bringing everybody to a table and listening… I find that those skills would be really beneficial for council.”