MayorSohi

Hundreds of people braved the cold yesterday to attend Remembrance Day ceremonies. In his speech at City Hall, Mayor Sohi reminded those gathered of Edmonton's military history of more than 100 years, and the Loyal Edmonton Regiment history going back to 1908. Lt.-Col. Bryn Wright, commanding officer of the Loyal Edmonton Regiment who was deployed in Afghanistan in 2011 reminded people that many from Edmonton’s military community are now deployed in Europe and the Middle East including more than 40 people from his regiment alone.

A motion by Ward tastawiyiniwak Councillor Karen Principe to have candidates pay for criminal record checks conducted by the Edmonton Police Service was voted down 11-2 with Councillor Jennifer Rice being the other support vote. Principe thought the checks would provide public peace of mind and didn’t anticipate the backlash her motion received. Candidates for Provincial MLAs and/or Federal MPs aren't required to automatically hand over such information.

Councillors Aaron Paquette and Erin Rutherford voiced their concerns with the motion and Mayor Sohi said political parties backing candidates in future elections will probably be vetting those candidates.

Criminal checks have become common for many positions so its understandable why the motion was brought forward.

One of the things that politicians and bureaucrats at all levels of government need to be constantly reminded of when planning how to best serve the needs of their jurisdictions ...taxpayers are the one and only source of money you have to work with. Reading about Edmonton's "fiscal gap" in the article below indicates that past and present mayors, councillors and bureaucrats have found it too easy to spend other peoples' (taxpayers) money and have overspent on questionable projects. With the lack of funds and inability to pay for the expenditures, they have in effect now saddled the citizens of Edmonton with the obligation to pay the debt through their taxes, which will probably be increased.

Other ways of servicing the current debt are being considered, and hopefully it doesn't override the greatest need, which is for the mayor, councillors and bureaucrats to be fiscally responsible and only budget what can be paid for without burdening taxpayers with increased taxes. The next civic election is about a year away and hopefully there will be a slate of candidates whose platform includes being fiscally responsible.

The next civic election is scheduled for on October 20, 2025, just a little over a year from now but who may or may not be running is it already a topic of discussion. City councillor Andrew Knack announced his intention not to run for reelection in Ward Nakota Isga and other councillors will be making their intentions known in the weeks and months ahead.

The bigger question that is being asked is will Mayor Sohi run again? Edmonton's fiscal situation and other issues have been a cloud over Mayor Sohi's first term and whether or not that cloud will blow away the next few months will probably go a long way in determining what Mayor Sohi will do.

If individuals or businesses don't pay their taxes, the government is quick to get after the money owing. Mayor Sohi says the Province owes the City $80 million in unpaid taxes and has launched the Fair Compensation Project website to inform Edmontonians about the money owed to the city by the province. If Sohi's calculations on the amount owing is correct then the Province needs to pay up quickly.

The majority of about 400 Edmonton residents that were recently polled expressed their desire for a new mayor and city council after the next election. The poll, done in late August and early September, revealed 60 per cent of Edmontonians think Sohi should be replaced, 26 per cent think Sohi and councillors deserve to be re-elected while 14 per cent didn’t know. As regards city councillors, 57 per cent of those polled said it is “time for a change”, 26 per cent felt their councillors should be re-elected and 17 per cent said they didn’t know.

One of the biggest concerns of those polled was the 8.9 percent property tax rate and with more difficult budget decisions coming this fall its almost guaranteed that the tax rate will be a major concern when Edmontonians have their say at the ballot boxes in October 2025.

Political writer Dave Cournoyer thinks Mayor Sohi and councillors need to do a better job of communicating the direction he wants to lead the city in,” Cournoyer told CityNews.

Lorne Gunter is a seasoned columnist who also looks at Mayor Sohi's trip to Paris where homelessness is front and centre. Gunter raises two very important questions; what successes does Sohi have to share and Sohi's successes an example of others' successes he'll learn from. My concern is this trip is going to cost Edmontonions much, much more than the $8,454 budgeted for the trip.

Mayor Sohi is off to Paris June 19 to 23 for a meeting run by Ruff Institute of Global Homelessness and UN-Habitat. Mayors and experts from around the world are meeting to discuss challenges cities are facing, and the best practices and innovative solutions to address homelessness. Sohi is one of two Canadian delegates, representing both Edmonton and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.

According to his staff Sohi’s office budget allows for one international trip per year and this will be Sohi's fourth overseas trip as mayor since April 2022. The travel and hotel budget, for Sohi and one staffer, is $8,454 who are flying economy and will stay in “budget accommodations,” according to his office.

It isn't the cost of the trip for two to Paris that should concern us but the cost to Edmonton taxpayers after the two return. When I see a meeting run by names like Ruff Institute of Global Homelessness and UN-Habitat the first thing I want to know is who are they affiliated with and connected to, what agenda and policies are they behind and wanting to push at this meeting and what will be the cost of acting upon the recommendations?