It was on October 18, 2021 that former city councillor and MP Amarjeet Sohi was declared the next mayor of Edmonton, taking over after Don Iveson decided not to seek reelection.
That night saw the return of four Edmonton city council members — Aaron Paquette, Andrew Knack, Tim Cartmell and Sarah Hamilton — and eight new faces joined the mix: Erin Rutherford, Jennifer Rice, Keren Tang, Ashley Salvador, Anne Stevenson, Michael Janz, Jo-Anne Wright and Karen Principe.
The year that has followed has seen council hit several bumps along the road.
“It wasn’t surprising they got off to a bit of a rocky start,” political analyst John Brennan told Global News.
Brennan said that rough start included the new council taking away promised funding from the Edmonton Police Service, suddenly deciding to cancel the aerial spraying program for mosquitos without an alternative plan and pools remaining closed during the beginning of a hot summer.
Councillors have also been criticized for requesting multiple repetitive reports from city staff, costing the time and money.
“With eight new councillors, it takes a while to learn how city hall works,” Brennan pointed out.
There has been forward movement as well, according to city stakeholders.
“We’re starting to make some progress on our downtown health which obviously needs continued work,” said Edmonton Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Jeffrey Sundquist.
He said the chamber wants to see that focus on getting bodies back into downtown offices after more than two years of many people working from home.
“We also want to make sure that we’ve got good value for money on the tax base,” Sundquist added.
Edmonton Global CEO Malcolm Bruce said the city has made progress on attracting top talent, cutting red tape for businesses and making the city greener.
“By 2027 we want to see at least 5,000 vehicles duel fuel — so hydrogen and diesel— or single fuel like hydrogen on the roads, driving around with all the supporting infrastructure,” he shared.
Bruce represents Edmonton and surrounding communities worldwide and says there has been good cooperation throughout the region over the past year.
The next big challenge will see council set a budget for the next four years — it’s expected to be a tight one with very little money to spend.
“That is going to be a problem right off the hop,” said Brennan.
“They’re going to have to closely examine the city budget, see what it is they can trim.”
Budget discussions begin at the end of the month and are expected to last through mid-December.
The next municipal election is slated for the fall of 2025.
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