Announcing her run for Yellowknife Centre MLA on Monday, community development activist Arlene Hache said she plans to bring "lived expertise to the decision-making table" and address the challenges facing the city's downtown core.

In a Monday news release, Hache focused on Yellowknife's downtown, arguing violence in the area has reduced the safety of vulnerable residents living on the street and negatively impacted tourism.

"The sense of community I and others have known has been replaced by fear and dread as the downtown core struggles to survive increased levels of violence that have erupted in the absence of any measure of accountability," she said.

Territorial leadership has fallen short of addressing the issue over the past four years and has portrayed it simply as a matter of unavailable resources and addiction, she said. For Hache, her personal history and connections to the area would help her better lead efforts to make Yellowknife Centre "safer, healthier and more inclusive."

"This is a world I know. Not only have I dedicated my life to working with Yellowknife's street-entrenched community, I myself lived on the streets of Yellowknife," she said. "I know what it takes to help people lift themselves out of poverty and regain their sense of self-worth."