Less than six weeks from Edmonton’s municipal election, campaigns are heating up for the city’s mayoral candidates. Traditionally, after the Labour Day long weekend is when we see campaigns ramp up to full force.
A Leger poll released at the end of August ranked mayoral voting intention:
Andrew Knack – 12 per cent
Tim Cartmell – 10 per cent
Michael Walters – 7 per cent
Rahim Jaffer – 5 per cent
Omar Mohammad -4 per cent
Tony Caterina – 2 per cent
Political analyst John Brennan said Jaffer, Mohammad and Caterina have an outside shot, but suspects the mayoralty campaign will be a horse race between Cartmell, Knack and Walters.
Brennan said it’s going to boil down to what people want.
“We saw from that poll, especially for Edmontonians who are 55 and older… The most important thing to them is the that their taxes keep increasing,” Brennan said.
“This is why taxes and fiscal responsibility is a big issue.”
The candidates have their own solution for that, as well as other issues Edmontonians are concerned about.
Andrew Knack
The Leger poll also showed Edmontonians think the city is on the wrong track.
Andrew Knack was first elected to council in 2013 and has represented his west Edmonton ward ever since. He said he isn’t looking for a complete overhaul at city hall but will listen to citizens and let that play into every decision he makes.
“My focus as city councillor, and what I would continue to focus on as Edmonton’s next mayor, is to deliver on what Edmontonians are telling me to do,” Knack said.
“I’m the only councillor that’s running, that’s been either a current member or former member of council that’s delivered clear cost savings over the years to help provide greater affordability.”
Knack said he will vote against the pack when he needs to.
“I’m trying to make decisions that are best for Edmontonians.”
Knack said while he was door-knocking he heard three common concerns, with affordability at the top of the list.
“I already made a motion last December to reform how the city’s going to do the next four-year budget process. So, as mayor, what I want to make sure we’re doing is taking that process and getting out across the entire city,” Knack said.
Tim Cartmell
Tim Cartmell, who has represented his southwest Edmonton ward on council since 2017, said he stands out as a candidate because he is the only one running with a party: Better Edmonton.
Cartmell said if he and his team are elected, they will work together to tackle the city’s big issues.
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“A mayor is a single vote,” Cartmell said.
“Nobody else can bring the combination of a team that supports them, the knowledge and experience to lead teams, the knowledge and experience on how city council works, and as an agent of change, because I have not supported largely what a lot of people didn’t want to see happen.”
Cartmell said the best way to address affordability is through supply and working with Greenfield partners that are working with new neighbourhoods.
“Switch our infill focus to those great big places where we can actually add thousands, if not tens of thousands of residential units.”
Cartmell said the way to do that is to “exploit” big, open spaces to build infill and create the housing supply that is needed.
“Take away this, quite frankly, ideological focus on established neighbourhoods, and move to Blatchford, east downtown, the old northlands site.”
Michael Walters
Former city councillor Michael Walters said he will bring the type of leadership Edmonton needs, starting with making the city more affordable.
Walters was first elected to Edmonton city council in 2013 and was re-elected in 2017. He did not seek re-election in 2021.
He said the city needs to build as many housing units in as many places as possible, in a responsible way. He said sites like Blatchford and the old coliseum site are good examples.
“I think it’s just building as many units as we can. I think most importantly, we made a commitment to citizens that when we built and invested billions of dollars in LRT construction, we were going to put a lot of housing along those lines to make those transit-friendly neighbourhoods,” Walters said.
“We need to get back to that commitment.”
Walters said the city has become uncompetitive with neighbouring municipalities.
“As our tax rates go up, it’s like triple the impact for the business sector. So we’re losing investment to our counties around Edmonton,” Walters said.
“We are going to have to be way more financially responsible in the coming years, and that means we keep taxes low.”
He said that is part of the affordability challenge, because there also needs to be money available to build the things people love about cities.
Rahim Jaffer
Former Conservative MP Rahim Jaffer said through his campaign people are talking non-stop about affordability and people aren’t finding the value with what they’re paying for taxes. He said he would address those concerns as mayor.
Jaffer said he brings a different element as a former MP.
“The city needs partners at the table,” Jaffer said.
“One of the major partners with the city is the provincial government. It shouldn’t matter who’s in the throne of the provincial chair.”
He said the city’s mayor should be able to coordinate effectively with the provincial government and the federal government.
“That relationship is completely broke and I hope to really focus on fixing that because that is something I have a fair amount of experience with,” Jaffer said.
Jaffer said he will be releasing his full platform the second week of September.
Omar Mohammad
A political outsider, pediatric dentist Omar Mohammad said the way to help with affordability is to freeze property taxes for everyone in the city.
“I believe I am the only talking about freezing property taxes… Balancing both operating and capital budgets, stop the borrowing and putting us further into debt,” Mohammad said. “What we have to do is pause all non essential major capital projects.”
He said we have 50 to 70,000 people coming to Edmonton every year. “We need to increase our residential and non-residential tax base, have more taxpayers pay into the pot as opposed to the other way around.”
Mohammad said another key piece of his platform is housing-first solutions to help people get out of homelessness and be provided with wraparound services.
Mohammad said he also stands out because he is not a career politician and if he is mayor, would represent the change Edmontonians are looking for.
“(Edmontonians) see the decline in our city and like most Edmontonians, I don’t believe the same politicians that put us into this mess really deserve another chance at making things worse,” Mohammad said.
Tony Caterina
Former Edmonton city councillor Tony Caterina is focusing his campaign on affordability.
Caterina served on council from 2007 until 2021, when he lost to current councillor Anne Stevenson.
He said he is showing that by not overspending in his campaign, explaining that he’s not buying signs and products that will end up in the landfill. He wants his supporters to tie white a ribbon to their door.
Caterina said that is also how he would run the city — he wouldn’t overspend.
“The overspending that has happened the last four years also drives taxation up,” Caterina said. “My focus is on basically five core services that the city should provide and should provide very good service before anything else.”
He said those items are policing, fire infrastructure, waste management, snow and ice control.
“Anything outside of that is nice to have.”
Caterina said he would also work on safety and security, as well as infill housing solutions.
To find a full list of all election candidates on the City of Edmonton website.
Edmonton Chamber of Commerce Mayoral Debate
The Edmonton Chamber of Commerce will be hosting a mayoral debate on Sept. 12th, which will be broadcasted on Global News. The top five candidates based on the Leger poll have been invited to debate.
The Leger polling showed voter intention for Caterina at two per cent, ranking him in sixth place. This means he will not be invited to the debate.
Caterina said while he isn’t disappointed he isn’t invited, he does think it’s unfair, but said his message will be loud and clear.
“I’m careful with my money, I’m very careful with taxpayers money,” he said. “I want to show that example and that’s how I am going to govern.”
https://globalnews.ca/news/11390524/edmonton-mayor-candidates-2025/
