Edmonton’s first municipal political party has officially entered the election race.
It comes after legislation changes that the provincial government hopes will add more transparency to local elections — however, some are raising concerns there still isn’t enough clarity.
The Bill 20 legislation allows local political parties and slates on the ballot beginning in 2025, but only in the province’s two largest cities, Edmonton and Calgary.
In nine months, Edmonton’s City Hall chambers will be filled with a different set of councillors — ones that could be associated with a political party.
This week, the Principled Accountable Coalition for Edmonton — also known as PACE — was officially registered as a political party in the city.
The party is a merger between Principled Accountable Coalition for Edmonton (PACE) and Transparent and Active Partnerships Edmonton/TAPYeg — two separate entities that joined together in in the fall of 2024.
Sheila Phimester is the party president and said the idea for it came to her after seeing last October’s changes to the zoning bylaw.
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“Setting a policy for the city should be based on practical, fiscally-responsible decision making and that’s what we intend to make our candidates follow,” said Phimester.
The said claims current municipal elections are not transparent. Candidates do not have to disclose who is donating to their campaign until after the election. PACE hopes to make it more clear for voters.
“I really believe that by the time we get to the ballot and people see PACE underneath that person’s name, they’re gonna say ‘Yeah, I know what they stand for,’ and that has not been the case in the past,” said Phimester.
Ward Nakota Isga Coun. Andrew Knack, who has been on city council since 2013 but is not seeking re-election this time around, said the current provincial legislation doesn’t make it clear who’s behind the political parties.
He hoped the provincial government would’ve changed that part of Bill 20.
“If you’re thinking of voting for a party, or a candidate in a party, and the party’s not willing to tell you who donated, I would challenge people to say, ‘Is that person or is that group really willing to be transparent with you?’ If they’re not even willing to do what should be a bare minimum expectation,” Knack said.
Knack says he and many other past candidates, or current city councillors, disclosed their donations before advanced voting in the last election.
He hopes to see that again for this fall’s election.
By the time people head to the polls, Knack believes voters will ultimately have the biggest say on the future of municipal parties.
“I think at the end of the day, Edmontonians are going to soundly reject parties because I don’t think we want that. I think they see what happens in the legislature and what happens federally.
“Nobody is looking at that and saying, ‘That is working really well, let’s have that here.'”
The information on who donated to a campaign won’t be publicly available until a few months after the autumn election.
“Campaign disclosure statements for local parties that received contributions or incurred expenses are required to be submitted by March 1, 2026 and must include the total amount contributed, including the name and address for each contributor whose contribution exceeds $50,” said the City of Edmonton in a statement.
Submissions will eventually be posted on the Edmonton Elections website, with the addresses removed.
The next municipal election will take place in October 2025.
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