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TAS said:
Nenshi was considering a run for alderman first before mayor, but given there wasn't an incumbent mayor running and that his biggest challenger was alderman Ric McIver (our current transportation minister) he opted for mayor despite little name recognition and political experience at 38 years old.
The Nenshi-McIver relationship has at times had the same ongoing 'tension' as Iveson-Nickel, as our mayor (then 28 years old) first defeated Nickel in 2007 when the two ran against each other for council (Nickel was the incumbent, too).
McIver tried for UCP leadership, but lost to Prentice in 2014. Nickel also tried for a UCP seat, but surprisingly didn't even win the nomination in his riding to run for that party in the last election. So now this longtime politician with lots of experience is running for mayor again - he lost his two previous bids for mayor in 1998 and 2001 - both against Bill Smith. Third time a charm? Or will this mark the end of his political career? Or maybe a crack as MP or school board trustee?
Click to expand...
I have no personal grudge against Nickel, but I do hope that he doesn't succeed in his bidding for mayor. He is exactly the kind of person Edmonton doesn't need to lead us towards a more promising future. His platform is very representative of a nostalgic feeling, the reverence for the past and the resistance to let go from (sometimes brilliant, sometimes not as much) past practices that will no longer do us any good.
If anything, between an experienced Nickel and the throwback to 1970's platform and an unexperienced (in politics) Watson, with a more daring and visionary platform that wants to put us on-par with other cities leading the 21st century, I'll take the second one 11 times out of 10. But we also need to elect a council that will make this platform a realistic vision for the future.
 
I think its definitely a loss to not have experience in some ways. Will probably take 2 years to get up to speed. But also, I think we can underestimate the value of other experiences instead of politics. Watson's experience raising capital for Intuit in the Valley seems super valuable to many of the things we talk about on this site (attracting business, investment, talents). Few politicians have that level of venture experience i assume!

Watson has my early vote. Waiting to see more detailed platforms from everyone this spring. But she's a strong option IMO. Especially against a Nickel.

My fear is that too many candidates will feel similar and nickel will be on his own. The votes will split for similar platforms and nickel with exclusively win the jaded/pro car/anti downtown vote. Why im glad Knack didn't run.
 
The other thing to keep in mind is that there is only one way to get experience leading a city, and that is... to lead a city.

Incumbents already have a huge advantage, so anytime a newbie runs they are taking a risk. As long as a person has done the work to learn and build connections with their community, a bit of fresh blood (even for the mayor's seat) is a good thing.
 
Here is the link to see who is running in upcoming election.

www.edmonton.ca

Edmonton Elections | City of Edmonton

Every 4 years, Edmontonians elect a mayor, council and school trustees. There are many ways you can participate in the Edmonton Election, whether it's voting, applying to be an election worker, or being part of a campaign.
www.edmonton.ca www.edmonton.ca

The central ward, O-day'min, has 5 declared candidates - most have websites to look into their platforms and experience in detail. Caterina is not listed here, so he must not have filed his nomination papers yet, but he did make an announcement earlier.

All wards have at least two candidates so far except Tim Cartmell, who is only candidate in his ward.
 
edmontonjournal.com

End of an era? Progressive mayors in Calgary and Edmonton to make their exits

There's a palpable desire in Edmonton and Calgary for change — at least according to the small-government types aiming to take over at city hall
edmontonjournal.com edmontonjournal.com

"In both cities, there is perhaps some room for a more conservative, no nonsense mayor: Someone who will cut spending, reduce taxes and reconsider bike lanes and transit infrastructure.

Jared Wesley, a University of Alberta political scientist, argues there are issues on the ballot that could bring more conservative-leaning voters to the polls, a potential boon for candidates such as Farkas and Nickel.

A ballot question on equalization, championed by the United Conservative provincial government, should be one such mechanism that energizes conservative voters municipally."
 
Related to above, Mike Nickel has several social media posts including a cartoon of Andrew Knack criticizing him for his support of bike lanes and he argues that these lanes are responsible for tax increases. He's certainly trying to get a lot of political mileage out of bike lanes.
As it stands, we have more than 14,000km of roadways in Edmonton and growing, 5,000km of sidewalks and 15km of protected bike lanes. Hmmm, where's the money going?
 
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TAS said:
As it stands, we have more than 14,000km of roadways in Edmonton and growing, 5,000km of sidewalks and 15km of protected bike lanes. And people are believing this?
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You don't UNDERSTAND, it is a WAR on CARS. When GERMANY occupied 15km of FRANCE, this was STILL considered part of World WAR Two!

Really though, you're absolutely right. It's almost comical how a long-time politician like Nickel can still build his entire political identity around one type of infrastructure. Can you imagine if someone ran on a platform to ban the redevelopment of parking lots? Or stop the "war on landfills" by removing the organic and recycling streams from our waste system?

I honestly don't get how someone could seriously think "He doesn't want to address the issues with our transit system or make Edmonton more attractive for businesses, but as long as he makes cyclists pay..."
 
I like that the city used words from different Indigenous languages to name our wards. The central ward - O-day'min - was named for the strawberry, or heart of the city. The 2-minute video is good if you have the time.


Screenshot_20210511-062902_YouTube.jpg
 
End of an era? Progressive mayors in Calgary and Edmonton to make their exits
There's a palpable desire in Edmonton and Calgary for change — at least according to the small-government types aiming to take over at city hall

Author of the article:Tyler Dawson

nationalpost.com

End of an era? Progressive mayors in Calgary and Edmonton to make their exits

There's a palpable desire in Edmonton and Calgary for change — at least according to the small-government types aiming to take over at city hall
nationalpost.com nationalpost.com
 
IanO said:
End of an era? Progressive mayors in Calgary and Edmonton to make their exits
There's a palpable desire in Edmonton and Calgary for change — at least according to the small-government types aiming to take over at city hall

Author of the article:Tyler Dawson

nationalpost.com

End of an era? Progressive mayors in Calgary and Edmonton to make their exits

There's a palpable desire in Edmonton and Calgary for change — at least according to the small-government types aiming to take over at city hall
nationalpost.com nationalpost.com
Click to expand...
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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