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ChazYEG said:
This same article was published in the Edmonton Journal yesterday. I do see a somewhat more conservative vote coming out, but I also see this article being repeatedly published in different outlets as an indicative that there's quite a few people who want us to believe that this election will swing to the conservative side and, in the way, demobilize the progressive vote.

It is politics, part of the game, and we will see a lot of the progressives play the same sort of move. The only thing that makes me a little bit concerned is that there are way too many progressive candidates and with the electoral system here being "first-past-the-pole", it can work in favor of Nickel, in Edmonton, who wouldn't need to have a majority to still be elected and throw a decade of planning in the trash can.
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Even if Nickel somehow becomes mayor, if the majority of Councillors are progressive then he won't be able to move his 'agenda' forward. That is the power of the 'weak mayor' system - they have the same voting power as any other Councillor.
 
Can people share theirs thoughts on Sohi? I'm an early fan of Watson's platform. What would sohi best bring to the table and will there be an overlap between him and other candidates?
 
thommyjo said:
Can people share theirs thoughts on Sohi? I'm an early fan of Watson's platform. What would sohi best bring to the table and will there be an overlap between him and other candidates?
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Roughly speaking, I'd expect Sohi's platform to overlap a lot with Watson's, but he'll likely be more pragmatic and a little less idealistic (which can be a good or a bad thing). He's also much more connected to the political circus, considering that he was a member of the Cabinet a while back.

I'm very sympathetic with Watson's platform and I am an early (unofficial) supporter, but I'm considering shifting my attention to Sohi, as I believe him to be the best option to beat Nickel and to have a stronger presence to force the council's hand into action on several fronts, being an experienced politician.
 
sohi also knows how the city works and doesn’t work. it is a big organization and understanding and effectively managing it is a huge learning curve. it is a much different animal than the private sector. he also knows much of the history around ongoing city business. when you are overseeing and not running (administration does the running and council technically only has a direct relationship with one city employee - the city manager) those things can be big advantages in being effective from day one. at a high level i also like much of cheryll’s platform but my guess is amarjeet’s would be similar in many areas. for me it will come down to who is best able to implement their platform while managing/directing the city as much as the platform itself.
 
She has been quiet so far and that will change, but Kim Krushell offers much of what Sohi does. In fact Iveson, Sohi and Krushell share similar perspectives on many issues. Krushell has the city government experience of Sohi, but she also has some private sector experience in tech industry I believe. I also like Watson.

I like Sohi's political views, but I don't see him in the role of city leader. I wish he was still MP as he would have served Edmonton well. I was surprised when he first ran federally as a high profile candidate that he only won by 93 votes. Yes, this is Edmonton but we still elect ND's federally. And as a high profile minister, he lost by a huge margin in his second election (much of that blame can be directed at Trudeau though). But still, he did poorly.

I also didn't love the fact when Sohi was elected to city council in Oct 2013, he announced he was running federally only 14 months later into a 4 year term. But he didn't resign his seat. If he had lost federally, he still would have had his council seat. And now that he lost federally, he is eyeing municipal politics again but still hasn't committed.

I think Sohi has had his time and opportunity to serve and I appreciate his service. That said, if it's looking like it will be a two way race between between Sohi and Nickel, it will be any easy choice for me.
 
After my previous post (sorry for all the posts, ha) I went for a walk and ran into my neighbour and long time councillor Michael Phair (1992-2007) - first openly gay person elected to office in Alberta and one of first in Canada.
So I asked him who he is supporting - I remember he endorsed Iveson.

Phair has worked with Krushell and Nickel on council and Sohi in other areas and he is behind Sohi. Just sharing.
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Michael Oshry seems to be a bit lost in the discussion around this race so far. Will be interesting to see if he brings anything of note to the table when he gets his campaign going.
 
^^ that one might have crossed the line... :(

^ it sounds like oshry is doing quite a bit of consultation while finalizing his platform. it will be interesting to see what rises to the top in trying to take the pro-business flag nickel is trying to champion while retaining some of the progressive/reform flag watson is waving.
 
Going to be an interesting election. I think the concerns over progressive vote split leading to a Nickel victory are well justified now with Sohi officially in.

I personally would strongly prefer no Mike Nickel as mayor, but I don't mind him that much on council actually. It's good to have someone with an opposing perspective on council, even if he largely borders on contrarianism more often than not.

For those with more knowledge: is there much benefit to Sohi's connections with the Feds? Seems to me a guy who was formerly a cabinet minister would be a huge for knowing how to push things forward at a federal level to the benefit of Edmonton.
 
nv96 said:
Going to be an interesting election. I think the concerns over progressive vote split leading to a Nickel victory are well justified now with Sohi officially in.

I personally would strongly prefer no Mike Nickel as mayor, but I don't mind him that much on council actually. It's good to have someone with an opposing perspective on council, even if he largely borders on contrarianism more often than not.

For those with more knowledge: is there much benefit to Sohi's connections with the Feds? Seems to me a guy who was formerly a cabinet minister would be a huge for knowing how to push things forward at a federal level to the benefit of Edmonton.
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In theory, his ties to the Feds don't have necessarily a lot of impact, other than the fact that he has a few doors open to him that wouldn't be that open for, say, Nickel, for example.

That said, reality is not always adherent to theory, so having a Mayor with strong ties to a federal government that is coming out of this pandemic stronger than before, with an UCP that is dwindling in support and fractured inside can be good, yes. It is somewhat dirty politics, but I can imagine the Liberals wanting to gain some terrain here and having Edmonton's mayor can be a good vector to funnel money and influence to the Prairies, under the most diverse pretexts (FIFA World Cup, Pandemic Recovery, etc...).

It can also serve as a counterbalance for the Calgary-centric provincial government that we currently have.

I would also bet that the Alberta NDP will try to surf on to this, if we elect Sohi, considering that they're already leading the current polls at the provincial level.

I think that the best part of having a former Cabinet Minister as mayor is that he has the kind of political thick skin and a lot of experience dealing with heavier, dirties politics than the municipal in Ottawa, so I see in him the strength to steer the boat, more than be a hostage of the council. For lack of a better word, I see in him a potential for strong political leadership that I don't see in any of the other candidates. The kind of strength to stand up to the provincial government (and even the Feds, if needed), to be vocal about some things that good, well intentioned people like Iverson, for example, won't...

Not saying that he has necessarily the best platform (I'm still convinced that would be Cheryl Watson's), but I do believe he's the best "anti-Nickel" and the wisest choice, right now.
 
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