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Alberta Politics

7 City Council races to watch in Edmonton

With most attention focused on Edmonton’s mayoral election, it is important to remember there are a number of contest for City Council that could produce interesting results on election day. There are seven Wards that I will be keeping a close watch on when voting ends on October 21.

Andrew Knack Edmonton Ward 1
Andrew Knack

Ward 1
After three-terms, councillor Linda Sloan  announced only weeks before the nomination day that she would not seek re-election. This must have been a big surprise to her lone-challenger Andrew Knack, who had already been campaigning for months. This is Mr. Knack’s third attempt at winning a city council seat and he is not unchallenged. Health economist Bryan Sandilands, community activist Jamie Post, past-Wildrose Alliance candidate Sharon Maclise, and former CTV reporter Sean Amato have also entered the race. I suspect Mr. Knack’s head-start could be hard to overcome.

Ward 2
With three-term councillor Kim Krushell choosing not to seek re-election, there is an open race in north Edmonton’s Ward 2 . Both Don Koziak and Bev Esslinger will have name recognition from their previous political adventures. A perennial election candidate, Mr. Koziak placed a close second behind Ms. Krushell in 2010 and has run for office many times in the past, including as the Edmonton-Glenora Wildrose candidate in the 2012 provincial election and the mayoral election in 2007. Ms. Esslinger is known from her time as a public school trustee and as last year’s unsuccessful Progressive Conservative candidate in Edmonton-Calder. Candidate Nita Jalkanen could also play a factor in this race as a vocal opponent of the downtown arena project.

David Dodge Edmonton Ward 3
David Dodge

Ward 3
Is first-term councillor Dave Loken politically vulnerable? Challenger David Dodge hopes so. The low-profile Mr. Loken is facing a strong challenge from Mr. Dodge, the former president of the Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues. Mr. Loken has an incumbent advantage, but it could be a close race.

Ward 5
The race to replace four-term councillor Karen Leibovici has drawn a crowd. Businessman Michael Oshry, former City Hall insider Terry Demers, transit worker Allan Santos, community league president Rob Hennigar, beer man Jim Gibbon, and former Catholic schools trustee Rudy Arcilla are among the nine candidates. My money is on the cool and confident Mr. Oshry.

Heather Mackenzie Edmonton Ward 6
Heather Mackenzie

Ward 6
Sixteen candidates have entered this race to represent north central Edmonton’s core neighbourhoods. Public school trustee Heather Mackenzie, former Edmonton Journal columnist Scott McKeen, police offcer Dexx Williams and community league president Derrick Forsythe are who I would pick as leaders of the pack. But leading the pack might not be enough. Many of the candidates in this race can expect to receive a few hundred votes each by simply being on the ballot, which could siphon votes away from the front-runners.

Ward 10
Filling Don Iveson‘s shoes in Ward 10 will be a tall order (both literally and figuratively). Community organizer Michael Walters has been pounding the pavement and waging a well-financed campaign for months. As a past provincial election candidate, Mr. Walters also has name recognition in the area. He is facing challenges from university instructor Richard Feehan and businessman Hafis Devji, but they may have a difficult time catching up. My prediction: Mr. Walters’ sweeps Ward 10 on October 21.

Ward 11
Who will replace Kerry Diotte in Ward 11? Hoping to leverage his name recognition and local outrage over potholes, two-time mayoral candidate and former city councillor Mike Nickel is attempting to stage a political comeback, but he is not alone. Mixed martial arts company owner Harvey Panesar (watch his video below), retired citizenship judge Sonia Bitar, and Mujahid Chak could be the biggest obstacles to Mr. Nickel’s return to politics.

Categories
Alberta Politics

A/V Club: Edmonton Election Videos

With Edmonton mayoral candidate Kerry Diotte stirring up controversy over a  YouTube video which his campaign has now removed, I thought I would take a look at some of the other election videos floating online. Here are a sample of YouTube videos of varying quality produced by some City Council candidates which have probably not received as much attention as Mr. Diotte’s video.


Amarjeet Sohi, City Council candidate Ward 12

Harvey Panesar, City Council candidate in Ward 11


Jim Gibbon, City Council candidate in Ward 5


Dexx Williams, City Council candidate Ward 6


Mike Nickel, City Council candidate Ward 11


Sam Hachem, City Council candidate Ward 4

If I missed any candidate videos, please post a link in the comment section below.

Categories
Alberta Politics

Beer man Jim Gibbon runs for Edmonton City Council

Jim Gibbon Edmonton City Council Ward 5
Jim Gibbon

Jim Gibbon, the founder and president of Amber’s Brewing Company, announced this week that he will run for City Council in west Edmonton’s Ward 5.

Speaking over the phone this week, the owner of the popular local craft beer company explained his reasons for wanting to run in the October 21 elections. Last year, Amber’s Brewing was forced to find a new location because of a sharp rise in rent at its former location in the Ritchie neighbourhood in south central Edmonton. Mr. Gibbon looked for a new location in Edmonton and enlisted the help of Ward 8 City Councillor Ben Henderson, who he described as being a great help.

But after meeting with city staff, who proved to be less helpful in responding to his requests to rezone a potential new location for the brewery, which could have included Petrolia Mall, he decided to look outside Edmonton. According to Mr. Gibbon, city staff told him it would take 18 months to properly rezone a new location, which was an unrealistic time frame for the local business to wait to find a new home. After inquiring with the City of Calgary, who told him they could quickly rezone a space for his brewery if he moved south, Mr. Gibbon told me he looked north to the City of St. Albert, where Amber’s is now brewed in a brewery owned by the Hog’s Head Brewing Company.

“We chase business out,” said Mr. Gibbon, who wants to make the city more friendly and flexible to local entrepreneurs who want to lay down roots in Edmonton.

Not just a simple beer man, Mr. Gibbon is a director of Edmonton’s Heritage Festival and holds a Masters in Business Administration, Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Sciences from the University of Alberta. Mr. Gibbon is the nephew grandson of Ray Gibbon, who served as mayor of St. Albert from 1968 to 1974 and as interim mayor in 1989.

In Ward 5, Mr. Gibbon faces five other declared candidates: former Catholic school trustee Rudy Arcilla, past provincial Liberal Party candidate Arif Khan, former city council executive assistant Terry Demers, Dan St. Pierre, and Michael Oshry. Ward 5 is currently represented by Councillor Karen Leibovici, who is running for mayor.