After more than 10 years on city council, Edmonton Coun. Andrew Knack has announced he will not seek re-election in the next municipal election.
Knack, the councillor for Nakota Isga in west Edmonton, made the announcement on Monday afternoon.
“Today I am making one of the toughest decisions that I’m ever going to make. I have decided not to seek re-election as a city councillor on Edmonton city council,” Knack said in an emotional address from the Art Gallery of Alberta.
“This is truly my dream job and the choice to give up this dream is not done easily.”
Knack, 40, was first elected to council in 2013 and has represented his west Edmonton ward ever since. He said the time has come for new representation in the ward.
“This city, my home, is full of incredible people who are always ready and willing to help one another and I know some of those people are what is needed to help make our city an even better place than it is today,” he said.
“I think there are times where folks in elected roles think like they’re the only ones who can do it.… And sometimes people stay a little bit too long past that point.
“At some point, you have to make space for others.”
When asked what’s next, Knack replied: “a day off.”
“Anyone in elected roles knows that there never really is truly a day off,” he continued. “Even Christmas Day I’m checking my emails.
“I don’t know what’s next. There’s a few different things I’m thinking about – a couple different ideas that we’re still exploring in more detail – but nothing has been finalized at this point.”
Knack was also asked if he has future plans of running provincially or federally. He said if anyone had asked him that one year ago, he would have said absolutely not because the idea of partisan politics does not bring him joy.
However, his response Monday was a bit different.
“For the first time ever, I’ve thought about what the idea of provincial politics could look like and how we work on that. But (it’s) way too early to say.”
When asked what he’s going to miss the most about the job, Knack said everything.
“How do I pick? It’s public hearings … it’s sitting through council meetings and learning from these incredibly thoughtful colleagues that I have and it’s going out to the community events,” Knack said.
“It’s everything. I have yet to finish a day where I’m like, ‘Why am I still doing this?’ I still finish every day just so honoured that I’ve had the chance to serve.”
Mayor Amarjeet Sohi said Knack brings decency to politics and described the outgoing councillor as thoughtful and passionate.
“Andrew and I have agreed on many things, but we have also vigorously debated and disagreed on a number of things,” Sohi said. “But when we walk out of the chamber hall, we could always shake hands, we could always be respectful of each other.
“That really speaks to his decency and how he values respect and thoughtfulness.”
Political analyst John Brennan describes Knack as a solid city councillor who always does his homework.
“He reads all of the reports. He comes to council committee meetings and council meetings prepared. And on the big issues of the day, he writes substantive blog posts,” he said. “You can tell he genuinely likes his job.”
Brennan said he was surprised to hear the news on Monday morning, and added there will be a hole left by Knack in the next council because veteran councillors are often tasked with showing the new councillors the ropes and giving them back stories on the issues.
“I think the next council will suffer from not having Andrew Knack on the council to be a mentor to new councillors,” Brennan said.
“I give him credit. Not every politician knows when it’s time to leave the stage and I give Andrew full credit for deciding this was the moment, it’s time for me to leave and pass the baton to somebody else to run in Nakota Isga.”
During his time on council, Knack served on the accessibility advisory committee, City of Edmonton youth council and Edmonton Transit System advisory board. He is also responsible for four council initiatives, including NextGen, seniors, public engagement and transportation innovation.
He said some of the projects he’s most proud of working on over the years include getting a new rec centre approved in west Edmonton, back alley renewal and of course, the Valley Line West LRT.
“It’s going to be a transformative project, not just for the west end of the city, but for the entire city.”
Before being elected to council, Knack managed a retail business in West Edmonton Mall.
The next municipal election is scheduled for fall 2025. Knack will finish out the term and said there’s still a lot of work to do.
“We have many important issues to deal with and even if we can’t solve every complex issue in that time, we have to try,” Knack said.
“Serving you has been the greatest honour of my life and I look forward to seeing what’s next in our city.”