[quit]

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.

The fact that he was a Cabinet Minister for Infrastructure and Communities is massive. The networking he would have made both with the party and the private sector during that time would be huge if he were to be elected mayor in Edmonton. I imagine he gained a lot of knowledge about how things progress and the interactions between governments - the insider knowledge on FPT relationships and the crossover to municipalities is a huge boon for him. I think if he carried a different portfolio while he was in Ottawa, it might be a different story, but not everyone gets that kind of experience and then has a chance to apply it back in their community. Sohi has a wonderful story and background: you can tell he has a strong work ethic that he would bring with him to the job of mayor. I'm excited he is running.

 

[IanO]

Sohi Enters Race as the Provisional Favourite: Poll | Edify.

Edify’s second mayoral poll indicates Sohi has an edge over Kim Krushell; remainder of field falls away.

edifyedmonton.com

 

[TAS]

... 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...).

Sohi is a big advocate of the FIFA World Cup (a plus!)and the federal government is fully behind it so I don't think getting federal money is going to be an issue. It's the province I am most concerned about and that will be needed.

As federal natural resources minister, I'm sure the Liberals hoped Sohi would be able to advocate for the government's record in Alberta. After all, they bought a pipeline. They bought a pipeline! And yet the narrative Sohi and the Liberals could not overcome was that the government was anti-pipeline. THEY BOUGHT A PIPELINE. They certainly didn't need Alberta votes and that was not popular elsewhere in the country. I didn't think Sohi was particularly effective in making the case in Alberta (although a very difficult thing to do) and despite any personal popularity he had in the riding, he lost big.
I thought Notley and Nenshi did a better job of speaking up for pipelines across the country compared to Sohi. Edmonton's Anne McLellan when she was natural resources minister was also quite effective in advocating for Liberal government policies in Alberta and vice versa back in Chretien's days - she was a lawyer and law professor though so I think came equipped with a better skill set and experience to make the case.

 

[archited]

I had a 1 1/2 hour one-on-one chat this morning with Kim Krushell. She is by far the best choice for the Edmonton Mayoral post. I'll fill in with details when I have more time to expound on reasons why.

 

[kcantor]

I had a 1 1/2 hour one-on-one chat this morning with Kim Krushell. She is by far the best choice for the Edmonton Mayoral post. I'll fill in with details when I have more time to expound on reasons why.

just curious as to how many of the other candidates you’ve had 1 1/2 hour one-on-one chats with that allow you make that declaration this early?

 

[archited]

Just two others, Ken -- Cheryll Watson and Amarjeet Sohi. But then those are the only three candidates that are viable as Mayoral options in my opinion. Actually, any of the three wouldn't upset me. Kim is easily the most intense... but more by way of a comparison later when I have time.

 

[IanO]

I'd be fine with any of those names for very different reasons.

 

[Avenuer]

I'd be fine with any of those names for very different reasons.

Anyone But Nickel (ABN).

 

[Avenuer]

Just two others, Ken -- Cheryll Watson and Amarjeet Sohi. But then those are the only three candidates that are viable as Mayoral options in my opinion. Actually, any of the three wouldn't upset me. Kim is easily the most intense... but more by way of a comparison later when I have time.

To your knowledge, do Krushell or Watson have UCP connections / donations? I am quite confident Sohi would have zero connections to them, considering his previous ties to the Federal Liberals.

 

[ChazYEG]

To your knowledge, do Krushell or Watson have UCP connections / donations? I am quite confident Sohi would have zero connections to them, considering his previous ties to the Federal Liberals.

I would be surprised if they have donations, but I wouldn't be shocked (or disappointed) if I found some connections to UCP MLAs and MPs, especially Watson, considering that she is not a career politician and, as a successful businesswoman, she probably has good relations with people in all sides, which is something I believe to be important for our Mayor, considering that we have a UCP Provincial government and a Liberal federal government...

 

[archited]

To your knowledge, do Krushell or Watson have UCP connections / donations? I am quite confident Sohi would have zero connections to them, considering his previous ties to the Federal Liberals.

Kim Krushell defines herself as middle-of-the-road candidate, leaning neither left or right. In the U.S. she did work on the (Bill) Clinton campaign and defined herself as a Democrat. She opined that as Mayor it serves no ones interest to be overly "political". She says that she indeed feels that in that position she would be fiscally conservative but very proactive on attracting new business -- especially in the tech sector -- and she feels that Edmonton has some ground to make up there as compared to other cities. She was born and raised in Laguna Beach in southern California and has excellent connections to tech throughout Silicon Valley. She absolutely loves our tech proforma for RoadShowz, Inc. and StreetSeenz, Inc. and she is going to help with tech connections to some of her friends in the U.S.

As to the Mayoral race she feels that, when things heat up through the summer, the race initially will come down to herself, Sohi, and Nickel -- she said that the City can absolutely not enable a Nickel victory but that if Sohi won she would be happy to help support him in whatever role he needed help with. She believes that Watson does not have the name recognition working for her and for that reason alone will not be able to compete with the three names that are out there. Kim has four terms as City Councillor under her belt and therefore is well acquainted with how the civic system works. Her sole motivation is to do well for the City, attracting investment, technology and development. More when I have another moment.

 

[TAS]

@archited - one question I would have liked you to ask Krushell is regarding the city's major blunder with the metro line lrt route. The intersection where it crosses from NAIT onto 106 street was a poor decision made even worse by the fact that NO traffic assessment was done when the route was changed to the current version we are now living with. All of council at the time (including Krushell, but she gets extra credit since this was in her ward) was oblivious to the fact there was no traffic assessment on the impacts of this particular lrt route yet it went ahead anyway. Nobody on council asked to see it obviously to question administration, which didn't have one. I remember looking at the route when it was being built thinking that seems like a crazy section where it cuts through the intersection. But I thought council must know what it's doing. I'd love to hear Krushell's take on that since she was at the table during those decisions.
Maybe I will fire off that question to her and share what I hear back. Maybe I'm off base.

And just a minor correction to your post above - Krushell does not have 4 terms under her belt, she served 3 term (2004-2013). But definitely lots of civic government experience. I think she worked in another councillor's office before that, too.

Finally, while on topic of Krushell - nice profile of her from Edmonton Global from 3 years ago. Watch the 2 minute video if you have time.

The rise of Kim Krushell, tech entrepreneur and champion | Edmonton Global

Edmonton Global is a foreign direct investment (FDI) and international business development agency. Discover opportunities in the Edmonton region.

edmontonglobal.ca

 

[archited]

Actually @TAS we did talk about the Metro Line and also about the Valley Line (south and west). One of the frustrations voiced by Kim was the fact that the City was buying into '80s/'90s technology when they should have been looking at LSM technology for propulsion. And in that regard the operational software for the Metro line did not match the hardware capabilities of the cars themselves -- a frustrating bug-bear for her. Beyond that there was a rush to spend Federal dollars on the expansion without due consideration for -- in particular -- crossings. One of the unaligned concerns at the time related to "changing systems" from the Northeast line, which, in terms of cars, happened anyway. Kim aligns herself with my view that in terms of transportation modes we should look at a full range of possibilities, including new lines with LSM and remote control systems, ERRS loops for downtown local people movers, Gondolas, Maglev for airport-to-downtown direct service and River Valley Access Systems at key points for both downtown and for the western residential precinct. She regrets council mistakes of the past and that is one of the reasons that she is running for Mayor.

 

[CplKlinger]

@archited Given her views on train technology, what is her stance on Edmonton's long-term LRT vision? Does she want these routes to be realized in a more modern fashion? Or does she want to revisit the plan altogether? And could you please expand on why you prefer her over Sohi?

 

[archited]

@CplKlinger Kim remains open-minded about future transportation possibilities. The west extension of the Valley Line out of necessity will continue what has been built to the south. Similarly, the Central line will have to continue what exists to date with the exception that she would like to revisit existing crossings to make the line more efficient. She is tuned into modern, centrally monitored, self-driving bus technology and sees the need to look at "on-demand" bus service to make the entire system more people-friendly and more convenient to use. She sees an urgent need to create better lanes for bicycle/scooter use and building a contiguous network that expands to all areas of the City completing routes in the core first. New Rapid Transit lines should look to have the latest technology and she sees Japan as a model from which to gain insight. She sees Edmonton's hinterland as key to building a modern City with obtaining better connections to places like Grande Prairie, Red Deer, etc. -- the stronger those connections the more benefit pours to both ends of new routes. I think that she outshines Sohi in two main areas -- 1.much better understanding of technologies and the possibilities therein and 2. a much deeper appreciation of how Council needs to work (more experience) and the personality to achieve consensus in advance of actual Council meetings to speed up decision making. She is extremely smart and knowledgeable. She is eager to set Edmonton in the right direction. She has significant global connections. She is largely apolitical so she doesn't have "left vs right" baggage. Having spoken to all three of the front runners (not including Nickel) she has the moxy, the skill, and the know-how that Edmonton needs. She is articulate and passionate -- the debates coming up will prove that to all who are keenly interested to see Edmonton advance. She is keen to see technology that will improve Edmonton's infrastructure vis-a-vis bricks-and-mortar Retail and Hospitality particularly in nodal points -- the urban core, TODs, and main streets such as Jasper, 124, Alberta Avenue, and Whyte. And, most importantly, she is eager to enlist help from the likes of you and me. There is still more...