Tuesday, October 19, 2021

‘Historic moment’: 8 women elected to Edmonton city council

For the first time ever, there are more female Edmonton city councillors than male ones.

© Dean Twardzik, Global News
Edmonton City Hall pictured on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2020.

Emily Mertz 12 hrs ago

Read more: Edmonton election results coverage

With all polls reporting Tuesday morning, eight female candidates had been elected:

Keren Tang in Ward Karhiio

Ashley Salvador in Ward Métis

Sarah Hamilton in Ward sipiwiyinkiwak

Karen Principe in Ward tastawiyiniwak

Jo-Anne Wright in Ward Sspomitapi

Anne Stevenson in Ward O-day'min

Jennifer Rice in Ipiihkoohkanipiaohtsi

Erin Rutherford in Ward Anirniq

"I'm feeling great," said councillor-elect Stevenson. "It's a bit surreal but really wonderful.

"It's definitely a historic moment and so exciting.

"I think it really speaks to what Edmontonians have been wanting to see for a while and some really strong candidates stepped up and we've made history."


GOOD RIDDANCE TO THE LAZIEST CITY COUNCILLOR EVER
Video: Veteran Edmonton city councillor Tony Caterina not reelected, ousted by Anne Stevenson

"I think it will change how things are done in council," said councillor-elect Wright, "bring a different perspective."

Video: Which Edmonton city councillors kept and lost their seats in the municipal election

Outgoing councillor Michael Walters congratulated everyone who has worked hard behind the scenes to get more diverse voices on council. He also praised Esslinger for her work on council, at times, being the "sole voice in the wilderness" as the only woman on city council two terms ago.

ANOTHER GOOD RIDDANCE 
Read more: Edmonton election 2021: Incumbent Bev Esslinger loses seat in Anirniq

"That's a big deal to have that kind of diversity on council," Walters said.

"We hoped, we dreamed, for something like this," said Katherine O'Neill with ParityYEG, a group that supports women and non-binary individuals in obtaining leadership positions in the community.

Read more: Unique project honours 100 years since first woman elected to Edmonton city council

"2021 is actually the 100th anniversary of the very first woman to be elected to Edmonton city council. Her name is Izena Ross.

"To achieve something this historic tonight... is beyond expectations," O'Neill said.

"It helps with the diversity of thought, diversity of perspective. I think it's set our council up for success."

Read more: Will Edmonton see more women on council come October?

Before the Oct. 18 election, there were two women on council.

Video: Edmonton mayoral candidate Kim Krushell concedes race

A total of 24 women put their name forward for councillor in the 12 wards, and three stepped up to campaign for the mayor’s seat.

Voters in every ward, with the exception of Nakota Isga in the west end, had the option of choosing a female candidate.

Video: Unique project honours 100 years since first woman elected to Edmonton City Council

Esslinger said Sept. 6 there’s a number of reasons why more women haven't historically put their names forward.

“One is fundraising. Often they’re really good about raising money for everyone else, but not asking for themselves. And I think the other one is just the social context we live in."

“Some women, they also have to balance on top of that family life. What if you have kids?” said ParityYEG's vice-chair of governance Cindy Caturao.

Read more: Navigating Edmonton city council as a parent

Councillor-elect Stevenson is a mother and city planner.

She said when she was contemplating a run for council, she was surprised by some of the things she heard.

“I did have the question come up a number of times, you know, ‘Why would you run when there’s already another woman running?’ And it really struck me that we’re still trapped in this idea that women are not part of public life,” she said.

“The biggest impact when you’re a woman running for any leadership spot is online harassment,” Caturao explained.

“The utter garbage that women and non-binary individuals experience being a political candidate online.”

Video: New battle of Alberta aims to elect more women to city hall

Edmonton Elections said more than 229,000 Edmontonians voted in the 2021 election, including ballots cast on Oct. 18 and during the advance vote period.

Official results will be confirmed by noon on Oct. 22.

-- With files from Sarah Ryan, Global News

Amarjeet Sohi elected Edmonton's 36th mayor, 4 incumbent councillors defeated


CTV EDMONTON -

Amarjeet Sohi will be Edmonton's 36th mayor as four incumbent councillors went down to defeat in the city's municipal election Monday night.

The CTV News decision desk projected Sohi to be the winner just after 9 p.m.

Sohi won with 45 per cent of votes and was followed by former councillors Mike Nickel (25 per cent), Kim Krushell (17 per cent) and Michael Oshry (six per cent).

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Election roundup: New mayors in Red Deer, Parkland County, Morinville

"I know that these last few years have been tough," said Sohi. "I'm honoured with the privilege to lead us towards a new chapter with better days ahead."

"Let's get to work. Let's build a city that's a place of opportunity for all."

His platform focussed on addressing homelessness, addictions and mental health as well as dealing with the realities of climate change.

He told CTV News he planned to reach out to other members of city council in the coming days.

"We will get to work right away," he said. "We have very serious challenges."

Sohi is the city's first person of colour to be elected as mayor.

He was elected as councillor in 2007 and re-elected in 2010 and 2013. He left local politics to run as a federal Liberal, winning in 2015 and serving as a federal cabinet minister before being defeated in 2019.

"This city is going to change," Nickel told supporters in conceding defeat.

"But there will always be a tomorrow and even if I am not there, tomorrow will always be yours."
MIXED NIGHT FOR INCUMBENTS

Incumbent councillors had a mixed election night with four councillors being returned to office but also an equal number coming up short.

Incumbents Aaron Paquette in Dene, Andrew Knack in Nakota Isga, Tim Cartmell in pihêsiwin and Sarah Hamilton in sipiwiyiniwak were all re-elected Monday night.

But, incumbent Tony Caterina lost his council seat to Anne Stevenson in O-day'min, and finished in fifth place.

Jon Dziadyk was upset by Karen Principe in tastawiyiniwak, who won with 38.9 per cent of the vote.


In Sspomitapi, Moe Banga finished in third place behind new councillor-elect Jo-Anne Wright.

And, two-term councillor Bev Esslinger lost to Erin Rutherford by 266 votes in Anirniq.

Before Monday night, 62 out of 65 incumbents, or about 95 per cent, had been re-elected as mayor or councillor in Edmonton over the last seven elections going back to 1998.

The closest race of the night was in the open ward of Ipiihkoohkanipiaohtsi where Jennifer Rice held a 39-vote lead over Rhiannon Hoyle at the end of Monday night.

Edmonton Elections said Monday that there a number of outstanding special ballots still to be counted.

Ashley Salvador in Métis, Michael Janz in papastew and Keren Tang in Karhiio round out the newcomers to council.

Women will represent two-thirds of city councillors, the most in Edmonton's history.

Voter turnout was 37.5 per cent with 235,826 ballots cast from 629,066 eligible voters. The 2017 municipal election drew a 31.5 per cent turnout.

Voters also cast ballots on the federal equalization program and daylight savings time as well as for senate nominees.

Final results for those ballots will come on the morning of Oct. 26 though some cities, including Calgary but not Edmonton, released results Monday night.

New mayors elected in historic victories in Calgary and Edmonton

Oct 19, 2021
CBC News

Jyoti Gondek is to become Calgary's first female mayor and Edmonton voters have elected Amarjeet Sohi, the city's first mayor of South Asian origin.




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Amarjeet Sohi is Edmonton's next mayor; record number of women elected

Author of the article: Ashley Joannou, Dustin Cook, Jonny Wakefield
Publishing date:Oct 19, 2021 
Ballot processors prepare municipal election ballots to be counted at the Prince of Wales Armoury on Monday, Oct. 18, 2021 in Edmonton. 
PHOTO BY GREG SOUTHAM /Postmedia

Amarjeet Sohi is Edmonton’s next mayor, making him the first person of colour to lead the city.

Sohi, who beat out nearest competitor and former city councillor Mike Nickel in Monday’s municipal election , will lead the most diverse council in Edmonton’s history, with eight women and four people of colour at the table of 13, both new records in council chambers.

The mayor-elect said the diverse council will better reflect Edmonton as a whole and lead to better decisions as a result.

“I always believe that our public institutions including our city council should be reflective of our city. For far, far, far too long women, Indigenous and racialized Edmontonians have not had a space at the table and I’m glad that now that is happening and now we can work together,” he said in an interview with Postmedia.
“I think diversity is important in many ways, not only in the reflection of the city, but also diversity means people coming from different perspectives, from different lived experiences coming to the decision-making table to have those innovative and different perspectives in solving issues and I’m absolutely excited to be working with the new council.”


In keeping with his campaign’s populist tone, Nickel’s camp gathered at a sports bar in Oliver, where supporters and sports fans mingled as the clock ticked down to the close of polls. Compared to Sohi’s event at the Matrix Hotel, the scene at 1st RND was rowdy, with supporters chanting “Mike” whenever news crews carried live hits from the restaurant.

Nickel thanked his friends and supporters in defeat.

“We fought. We fought the good fight,” he said.

“This has not been a waste. We’ve given voice to thousands of thousands of Edmontonians who wanted real change in this city.”

But he warned people who voted for the status quo that “tough times are ahead.”

Late Monday, outgoing mayor Don Iveson issued a statement congratulating Sohi on his win.

“I’ve had the pleasure of working with mayor-elect Sohi during his time as city councillor and have always appreciated and been inspired by, how hard he has worked for our community. I have no doubt Edmonton will thrive under his leadership,” he said.

In total, 11 people put their names forward for the mayor’s job.

Mayoral candidate Kim Krushell takes a photo with a supporter at her headquarters on election night at the Edmonton Inn & Conference Centre in Edmonton, on Monday, Oct. 18, 2021. 
Photo by Ian Kucerak Postmedia

Supporters of Kim Krush ell, who placed third, continued to watch campaign coverage on a large TV at her headquarters on election night at the Edmonton Inn & Conference Centre.

“We didn’t do a negative campaign and I’m proud of that,” Krush ell said. “We did a clean campaign. I’m fine with whatever the democratic process gives us.”

Two dozen supporters of candidate Cheryll Watson, who placed fifth, gathered in her campaign office on Jasper Avenue watching Sohi’s speech on a projection screen.

“I feel incredibly proud of the campaign we ran,” Watson told Postmedia. “I hope that people remember one thing — that strong, smart, committed women can do this. My team pushed me hard to challenge the status quo and to provide an alternative to the traditional representation they normally see.”

Fourth place finisher Michael Oshry, speaking with Postmedia by telephone, said he’s proud of the campaign his team ran even though he’s disappointed with the result.

“I wish Amarjeet (Sohi) the best of luck,” he said.

Record number of women on council

Among the eight women elected Monday, Sarah Hamilton, will be returning for a second term as councillor in Ward sipiwiyiniwak.

“We’ve been talking about it for two, maybe three election cycles now, the need to have more representation of women on city council,” she said.

Hamilton highlighted the work of councillor Bev Esslinger, who helped establish policies like parental leave and made women’s issues more visible.

“Edmonton is a young city and I think the diversity that we’re seeing on council with this election represents the changes that are happening in the city,” she said.

Keren Tang was elected for Ward Karhiio, making her one of the first non-white women to ever win a seat at city hall.

“This is a really important issue for me, it’s one of the reasons I wanted to run back in 2017. I wanted our leadership to reflect our communities in this city and I didn’t see that,” Tang said.


Ashley Salvador celebrates winning her seat as city councillor in Ward Métis on Monday, Oct. 18, 2021 in Edmonton. 
PHOTO BY GREG SOUTHAM /Postmedia


Political newcomer Ashley Salvador will represent Ward Métis after winning a wide-open race with no incumbent Monday night.

As of late Monday, Salvador held a healthy lead over her closest competitor, Caroline Matthews, among 10 other candidates officially on the ballot.

Southeast Edmonton will be represented by Jo-Anne Wright who beat out incumbent Moe Banga in Ward Sspomitapi and Karen Principe unseated incumbent Jon Dziadyk to win Ward tastawiyiniwak.

In Ward O-day’min, the city’s most crowded contest, newcomer Anne Stevenson took the wide-open race over her nearest competitor, Gabrielle Battiste. Incumbent Tony Caterina trailed in fifth place.

Although two races were too close to call, a woman will represent both wards on council. In the northwest Ward Anirniq, Erin Rutherford led incumbent Bev Esslinger in a tight race with three polls still to come.

In Ward Ipiihkoohkanipiaohtsi, Jennifer Rice had a razor-thin lead over Rhiannon Hoyle also with three polls outstanding.

Edmonton Elections said late Monday that no more results were expected until Tuesday morning.

Elsewhere in the city, Aaron Paquette won a second term on city council and the seat for Ward Dene.

“I’m going to put everything I’ve got into the next four years to make sure that our communities in the northeast and Edmonton is poised to face the upcoming and exciting challenges,” Paquette told Postmedia Monday evening.

Incumbent Tim Cartmell was also re-elected to a second term. At late Monday, Cartmell held a sizeable lead in Ward pihêsiwin over his lone challenger, Guiscela Perez Arellano.

“I’m very thankful for the opportunity to get back to city hall and I’m excited about getting there and working hard,” Cartmell told Postmedia Monday night. “It’s a great night, a great result, we’ll celebrate a little bit tonight and get to work tomorrow.”

Northwest Edmonton voters again chose Andrew Knack to represent them at city hall, this time giving him a seat in the newly-created Ward Nakota Isga.

The two-term Ward 1 councillor showed a significant lead over his two opponents with some polls still to be counted Monday night. Challengers Dave Olivier and Steve Weston trailed the incumbent by a wide margin, with Weston coming in last place.

Former Edmonton Public Schools trustee Michael Janz was elected as city councillor in Ward papastew.

He had a sizable lead over the current runner-up Susan Field late Monday, who was slightly ahead of Kirsten Goa

.
Voter lineup at a polling station in the Sspomitapi riding (formerly Ward 12) at Father Michael Troy School in Edmonton, October 18, 2021. 
Ed Kaiser/Postmedia


Advance polls see high turnout

Historically, municipal elections in Edmonton have low voter turnout. In 2017, only 31.5 per cent of eligible voters cast a ballot. However, higher-than-usual turnout at 10 days worth of advance polls earlier this month could be a sign that the 2021 election bucked that trend.

About 10 per cent of eligible voters cast their ballots as part of advance polls. That’s more who cast ballots through advance polling than in the last two civic elections combined.

According to Edmonton Elections, 63,834 voters cast ballots across 12 advance polling stations. The number of early voters is up from 26,198 in 2017, and 21,024 in 2013.
New boundaries/names

Monday’s election was the first using both new boundaries for the 12 wards and new names.

Earlier this year, council approved the 12 new Indigenous names for the wards. The co-chairman of the Indigenous naming committee that made the recommendations said at the time that all of the Indigenous languages within Treaty 6 are represented and many of the names were chosen to directly suit the area of Edmonton which they represent.

Edmonton public to get at least seven new school trustees

Along with municipal officials, Edmontonians were also asked to vote for school trustees in either the public or Catholic division.

The vote for school trustees to make up the public school board ended with many new faces in charge. Only two of the nine incumbents sought re-election this year. A full list of the winners can be found here .

The opposite is true for the Catholic board where six of the seven incumbent trustees were acclaimed and retook their seats. Only ward 77 in the city’s southeast has candidates fighting for a win on the ballot.

All six trustee candidates for Conseil scolaire Centre-Nord, the francophone school division including the city of Edmonton, were acclaimed.

Final Senate and referendum results coming next week

Along with choosing their local municipal politicians and school trustees, voters at polling stations around Alberta were given a second ballot to vote on provincial referendums and Senate picks .

Albertans were asked if they want the province to adopt year-round daylight saving time and whether Canada’s commitment to the principle of making equalization payments should be removed from the country’s constitution.

Alberta does not have the power to change the equalization formula on its own but Premier Jason Kenney has called equalization a symbol of the “unfairness” Alberta faces in confederation and said that if the majority vote to remove that section it will give Albertans “leverage” when trying to negotiate a “fair deal” with Ottawa.

Others have argued that constitutional amendments should not be used as threats to achieve something else and that proposing a change that Alberta can’t actually achieve is inappropriate.

Albertans also don’t have the authority to elect senators — senators are appointed by the federal government — but the top three of the 13 candidates on the ballot will be put forward by the Alberta government for consideration by Ottawa.

For both the referendum and Senate questions, Albertans will have to wait until next week for the final results.

Elections Alberta will release the official full results on Oct. 26. While some municipalities have plans to release their individual results earlier, Edmonton officials have said the city’s results will be part of the grand total next week.


– With files from Anna Junker, Lisa Johnson, Lauren Boothby, Hamdi Issawi, Blair McBride, Kellen Taniguchi

Amarjeet Sohi elected Edmonton's first mayor of South Asian origin

New city council will have 8 women; 4 incumbent

 councillors defeated

Natasha Riebe · CBC News · 
Amarjeet Sohi, at his acceptance speech with his daughter Seerat (left) and wife Sarbjeet (right), will be elected as the next mayor of Edmonton. (CBC)

Former city councillor and federal Liberal cabinet minister Amarjeet Sohi will become Edmonton's first mayor of South Asian origin.

Sohi, who was born in Punjab, India in 1964, rolled to a commanding victory in Monday's municipal election. With more than 98 per cent of voting stations reporting, Sohi had a lead of 45,273 votes over Mike Nickel, his closest challenger.

Sohi will lead a council with eight women, up from two on the previous council.

Four incumbents went down to defeat — Tony Caterina, Jon Dziadyk, Moe Banga and Bev Esslinger.

Sohi, 57, delivered his victory speech at the Matrix Hotel in downtown Edmonton with his wife, Sarbjeet, and their daughter, Seerat, by his side.

He spoke about immigrating to Canada at the age of 18 with little in the way of material possessions. 

"I had a mission and dreams to build a better life in a new home, dreams that sometimes seemed impossible," he said.

"And today because of you, because of everyone in this room, we have made the impossible possible."

Sohi also acknowledged the challenges Edmontonians have been facing in the past few years and said he's committed to building a thriving city.

He vowed to tackle racism and discrimination "on our streets and in our institutions," and said vulnerable city residents won't be left behind.

"So let's get to work; let's build a city that's a place of opportunity for all."

Sohi had more than 45 per cent of the overall votes, compared to Nickel's 25 per cent.

Voter turnout was 36.6 per cent, Edmonton Elections said.

Sohi was up against 10 other candidates in the mayoral race.

Asks for help from province

He is set to become Edmonton's 36th mayor, replacing Don Iveson, who served two terms as mayor starting in 2013 and didn't run this time around.

Kim Krushell was in third place with more than 17 per cent of the vote. Michael Oshry was in fourth place with six per cent of the vote. 

Like Sohi, Nickel, Krushell and Oshry are all former city councillors.

Sohi said the city will need help from the provincial government to continue fighting the fourth wave of COVID-19, to help end homelessness and to help support mental health.

Edmonton will also need help from the province "to fight a drug-poisoning epidemic that's claiming the lives of neighbours, friends and family members at a record and unconscionable rate," he said. "It must stop." 

Council has a new look

Incumbent Tony Caterina lost to Anne Stevenson in Ward O-day'min, while incumbent Jon Dziadyk lost to Karen Principe in Ward tastawiyiniwak.

Incumbent Moe Banga lost to Jo-Anne Wright in Ward Sspomitapi.

Stevenson and Principe will be joined on council by other newcomers Michael Janz in Ward papastew, Ashley Salvador in Ward Métis and Keren Tang in Ward Karhiio.

Voters re-elected incumbents Aaron Paquette in Ward Dene, Tim Cartmell in Ward pihêsiwin, Andrew Knack in Ward Nakota Isga and Sarah Hamilton in Ward sipiwiyiniwak.

On Tuesday morning, with all polls reporting, results were in for two of the tightest races of the election — wards Anirniq and Ipiihkoohkanipiaohtsi.

Erin Rutherford has been named the winner In Ward Anirniq, defeating incumbent Bev Esslinger by 266 votes. 

In Ward Ipiihkoohkanipiaohtsi, Jennifer Rice narrowly defeated Rhiannon Hoyle by 39 votes. 

All results are unofficial. They are to be confirmed by noon on Oct. 22.

Former MP, bus driver

First elected to Edmonton city council in 2007, Sohi spent eight years as a councillor before making a run for federal politics as a Liberal in 2015.

He was elected Member of Parliament for Edmonton Mill Woods. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appointed Sohi to his first cabinet as minister of infrastructure and communities.

Sohi took over the natural resources portfolio in 2018. He has been an advocate for investment in Edmonton's LRT system.

A former bus driver for Edmonton Transit, Sohi has been teaching collaborative and inclusive leadership at MacEwan University since 2019.

Nickel concedes defeat

Nickel, a vocal critic of LRT expansion and the city's spending decisions, campaigned on tax cuts and enhancing safety and community policing.

He conceded defeat in a speech to his supporters, and said that he "and no one else" bears responsibility for the loss.

"We fought the good fight," said Nickel, 56.

"To all the volunteers and donors, let's be clear. This has not been a waste. You have given voice to thousands upon thousands of Edmontonians who wanted real change, who wanted real change in this city.

"This campaign was about freedom and opportunity for the ordinary Edmontonian. And this campaign gave voice to change."

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'2 to 1': Calgary mayor-elect Gondek will be bolstered by majority-progressive council, say pundits

'I heard a lot of people saying they really wanted change'

Elise Stolte · CBC News · 
Left to right: David Hartwick, Anila Lee Yuen, Shane Keating and Zain Velji. CBC spoke with several community leaders and pundits Monday evening. (CBC)

Calgary city hall  watchers anticipate a more cohesive city council following Monday's vote, with many newly elected councillors sharing priorities with mayor-elect Jyoti Gondek.

One pollster estimates progressive-leaning councillors outnumber conservative-leaning candidates by roughly two to one, and others see an opportunity for Gondek to quickly push forward on key priorities such as COVID-19 response and infrastructure investments.

"What I think it is for mayor-elect Gondek, is a great starting point," campaign strategist Zain Velji told CBC Calgary's News at 11.

"She's got six to seven solid votes on most things she wants and if she runs her office like a political office she can sway three to five more."

Velji previously worked on Naheed Neshi's campaign.

Looking at those leading or elected, it's clear this council will also have more women and candidates who are BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and people of colour) than recent councils. It has only three incumbents but the mayor and two new councillors have previous council experience. 

CBC News talked with with several community leaders, strategists and pundits as the final votes were counted. Here's what they had to say.

Former Ward 3 city councillor Jyoti Gondek, shown giving her victory speech Monday night, will be Calgary's next mayor. Gondek, who has a PhD in urban sociology, worked in consulting and led the Westman Centre for Real Estate Studies at the University of Calgary's Haskayne School of Business before entering politics. (Radio-Canada)

A progressive-leaning council

There are no party affiliations in municipal politics. But based on each winner's platforms and endorsements, pollster Janet Brown says she sees a fairly left-leaning council.  

"On balance, I think we've got more progressive councillors than we do conservative councillors, maybe by a two-to-one margin," said Brown. "That will be good very news for Gondek because this will be an easier council for her to wrangle and get on side with her priorities."

Gondek won with more support than any of the polls predicted. She had 45 per cent of the vote with 256 of 259 polls reporting. But that didn't surprise Brown.

"As soon as the results started coming in, I sort of laughed at myself and I thought: 'You know, this happens election after election.' We think it's going to be a close race ... but Calgary doesn't really have a history of electing conservative mayors."

The political action group Lead Calgary endorsed candidates whose platforms prioritized cutting property taxes and restoring fiscal responsibility. That includes winners Dan McLean (Ward 13), Peter Demong (Ward 14), Andre Chabot (Ward 10), Terry Wong (Ward 7) and Sean Chu (Ward 4).

It will be a mixed council that represents the political diversity of Calgary, added Velji, saying the actual vote split will likely shift from issue to issue. But Gondek is also hard to paint as either right or left.

"We really don't know how she lands on certain things."

WATCH | Hear what CBC Calgary's political panel had to say about last night's election.

CBC Calgary's political panel breaks down the vote

13 hours ago
12:27
CBC Calgary's political panel included Maclean's Jason Markusoff, political strategist Zain Velji, and pollster Janet Brown to discuss last night's election. 12:27

Newcomers but with experience  

"I heard a lot of people saying they really wanted change, and I think that's what we're seeing now," said David Hartwick, a longtime volunteer with the Northern Hills Community Association.

In the ward races, voters turfed two incumbents and other races were close. Joe Magliocca and Diane Colley-Urquhart each lost, coming third in their races, while Gian-Carlo Carra squeaked in a win by just 152 votes.

Ward 4 incumbent Sean Chu, who has served as a city councillor since 2013, led his closest rival DJ Kelly by a margin of 706 votes with 28/30 stations reporting as of 5:30 a.m. on Tuesday, according to Elections Calgary.

But Hartwick says those worried about a loss of institutional memory should take heart. Gondek is not a newcomer and two of the newly elected councillors have council experience. Newcomers Andre Chabot and Richard Pootmans have five previous terms on council between them. 

  • WATCH | Calgary mayor-elect Jyoti Gondek delivers her victory speech:

Gondek makes history claiming Calgary's top job

14 hours ago
7:12
Jyoti Gondek stepped onto the podium as Calgary's first woman elected as mayor. 7:12

Out-going councillor Shane Keating was quite worried about the high turnover. But not Monday night.

"I've very excited and extremely happy," he said, looking at the results.

"You know, we've seen four years of this picking and snipping," he said. "I've always said that if you get the right people, it doesn't matter of political affiliations. I think you're going to have a great council coming forward.… We have individuals who have master's degrees. We have individuals who are who are educators, engineers or have another master's degree in administration."

Keating will be replaced in Ward 12 by Evan Spencer, who previously worked in his constituency office.

Making history 

Calgary's new council will have six women compared with three on the previous council.

"That's obviously not parity but it's a whole lot better than we've done in recent past. At present, six of 15 are racialized Calgarians. That's a high water mark for a city that has a pretty big history of electing only white people," Maclean's correspondent Jason Markusoff said on News at 11.

Gondek's parents immigrated from Punjab, India. Edmonton also elected a mayor of south Asian descent in Amarjeet Sohi, who was a former councillor and a former cabinet minister.

Anila Lee Yuen, who grew up in Calgary as a child of south Asian parents, says that's a big deal for young people who need to see themselves in community leaders. 

"Twelve-year-old me, my eyes would be just bulging out of my head right now because they look like me," said Lee Yuen. "The leaders of our province — our mayors look like me.… They grew up with similar cultural context as I did, and I never thought that that would happen when I was 12. And they've got good policy."

Gondek is also Calgary's first female mayor.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Elise Stolte

Journalist

Elise Stolte has 15 years of experience telling the stories of her community and has been recognized for feature writing, social-impact and community-based journalism. She previously worked for the Edmonton Journal and joined CBC Calgary this summer.


Jasmine Mian, former Olympic wrestler,

 wins vacated Ward 3 seat

Jasmine Mian will be one of several newcomers on city council after successfully winning her bid to fill the seat vacated by Jyoti Gondek


Author of the article: Dylan Short
Publishing date:Oct 19, 2021 •
Jasmine Mian

A political newcomer once known for representing her country will now represent the north Calgary Ward 3 at city hall for the next four years.

Jasmine Mian will be one of several newcomers on city council after successfully winning her bid to fill the seat vacated by Jyoti Gondek who handedly won the mayoral race on Monday, defeating her main competitors Jeremy Farkas and Jeff Davison by a wide margin.

Mian said she had been going door to door to attract voters to her message of navigating the pandemic and continuing to support developing communities in north-central Calgary and that voters gave her a clear response.

“I think that I was given a very clear mandate by the voters of Ward 3 to run a positive campaign to collaborate with the rest of the councillors on some of the big challenges we have,” said Mian.

Mian, who represented Canada as a wrestler at the 2016 Olympics, said representing her constituents will be the honour of a lifetime. She said her first priority, once the new council is sworn in, is to continue to navigate through the COVID-19 pandemic. She noted that the most important ward-specific issues are ensuring services and infrastructure continue to grow.

Mian was among eight candidates vying for the Ward 3 seat.

Coming up just short with the second most votes was Brent Trenholm. Speaking to Postmedia before polls closed, he said he had knocked on over 20,000 doors in the past year and felt he had the support to be successful.

“It’s been a lot of fun,” said Trenholm, as votes were still rolling in. “It’s been a long grind . . . But, I’ll accept what’s there. And wish the next person well.”

Trenholm thanked everyone who voted for him, as well as his campaign team for supporting him. He said Mian will have a tough job over the next four years.

Braid: Gondek rides to stunning win in

 unprecedented reboot of city hall

This is the look of Alberta's great cities today — tolerant, forward-looking and ready to deal realistically with social problems


Author of the article:Don Braid • Calgary Herald
Publishing date:Oct 19, 2021 • 
  Jyoti Gondek at her campaign headquarters after being elected as Calgary Mayor on Monday, October 18, 2021. PHOTO BY AZIN GHAFFARI/POSTMEDIA
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As election results poured in Monday night it was soon clear that Calgary’s new mayor is Jyoti Gondek, who only a couple of months ago stood barely above 10 per cent in polling support.

With Amarjeet Sohi’s victory in Edmonton, the province will once again have two relatively progressive mayors as counterpoints to Premier Jason Kenney’s UCP government.

This time, both mayors are people of colour. They are also Canadians of Punjabi heritage. And Gondek will be Calgary’s first female in the job since we started electing mayors in 1884.

If this doesn’t finally obliterate national stereotypes of Alberta as some kind of racist backwater, perhaps nothing ever will. But this is the look of Alberta’s great cities today — tolerant, forward-looking and ready to deal realistically with social problems.

Gondek says her first job will be to “meet with all the councillors elected tonight and talk about how we can collaborate to move the city forward.

“I also look forward to working with the provincial government. Our future requires us to work together.”

But she also said that when necessary, she’ll speak firmly for Calgary in dealing with a government that has often been bitterly critical of city hall.

Gondek overtook Jeromy Farkas on her way to a thumping victory. And her biggest ally, although he surely didn’t mean to be, may have been Jeff Davison.

Davison was surprisingly strong and likely took considerable support away from Farkas.

Davison also painted himself as a true conservative, but one who can collaborate and build rather than pick fights and say no to almost everything that comes out of city hall.

The result showed exactly what was happening when Farkas sent his open letter last Friday , asking supporters of Davison and Brad Field to support him instead.

Farkas must have known that he was losing votes to these more reasonable choices, and made one last desperate attempt to hold the conservative vote.

In the end, Field also did remarkably well after a long campaign that went largely unnoticed for months, but finally showed him as a caring and able candidate.

Farkas is just the latest in a string of ideological conservatives who have failed to win the mayor’s chair. Ric McIver, now a provincial minister, lost to Naheed Nenshi in 2010. In 2017, Nenshi beat Bill Smith, who proudly offered himself as a conservative.

Now, Farkas goes down despite ardent support from UCP types and Calgary’s old conservative guard. It shows that many Calgarians want their city government to be independent of the province, and focus mainly on urban issues rather than partisan agendas.


Jeromy Farkas talks on the phone minutes after giving a concession speech at Heritage Park Calgary on Monday, October 18, 2021. Jim Wells/Postmedia

But there was one big win for Kenney — the referendum calling for removal of equalization from the Constitution carried with a 58 per cent majority in Calgary.

All other municipalities have yet to be tallied and the final result will be announced by Elections Alberta on Oct. 26 .

But even with Edmonton expected to oppose the move, Calgary’s 58 per cent, along with expected majorities in rural Alberta, should carry the question for Kenney.

Otherwise, the voters’ choices failed to move council in a conservative direction. Several progressive councillors were elected, along with comeback kids Richard Pootmans and Andre Chabot .

Scandal-ridden Joe Magliocca got clobbered in Ward 2 by Jennifer Wyness . Veteran Diane Colley-Urquhart lost decisively in Ward 13 to Dan McLean .

In an election where 10 seats were empty, even incumbents lost despite being almost invulnerable in previous elections.

The voters clearly wanted to clean house. What they came up with, according to Stephen Carter, Gondek’s campaign manager, is a “pragmatic group” that will be able to work together.

Carter is a comeback story of his own. He played a role in Nenshi’s first victory in 2010 and was behind Alison Redford’s drive to be Alberta’s first female premier, serving as her chief of staff for a time before she was forced to resign.

Now he’s back in the game and could well play a senior role in Jyoti Gondek’s city hall.

It will be much different from Naheed Nenshi’s last council, but hopefully infused with new energy and a wish for genuine collaboration in the city’s interests.

Don Braid’s column appears regularly in the Herald
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Opinion: What the global gas and coal crisis means for clean energy

Energy shortages and price spikes are roiling markets around the globe. The situation looks especially dire in Europe, which is facing industrial shutdowns, and in China, where there have already been blackouts.

© Lindsey Parnaby/AFP/Getty Images The Prax Lindsey Oil Refinery is pictured in North Killingholme, north east England on October 4, 2021.

Opinion by Henning Gloystein for CNN Business Perspectives 

If winter heating demand spikes, the crisis is only going to get worse. There will likely be more disruptions, in which governments will prioritize households over industry. This means they will order energy-intensive businesses to reduce output or even temporarily shut down to save energy for homes. The economic damage will be significant, as will the potential for political backlash.

This continued risk of supply disruptions and high prices for fossil fuels — which drive up electricity costs — are a signal to countries that it's time to invest in clean and domestic energy resources. Politicians from Beijing to Brussels are aware of this. As a result, the current gas and coal supply crisis will accelerate, not slow, the green energy transition.

That's not to say, however, that the gas industry has no role to play, or that renewables are without problems. It will take years, perhaps decades, until renewable power capacity can be fully backed by storage solutions like clean hydrogen. Until then, gas is a better partner to the planet than coal-fired power stations.

Phasing out coal

Coal meets just over a quarter of the world's primary energy demand but is responsible for nearly 40% of global carbon dioxide emissions. The share of natural gas is only slightly smaller than coal's, at about 23%, but the industry only emits about half the CO2 emissions of the coal sector. Gas is a relatively low-polluting and reliable energy source that can support renewables during the clean energy transition.

In China, the government has launched an ambitious program to switch household heating from coal to gas to reduce pollution. The UK has been one of the most successful major economies in switching to gas and phasing out coal, reducing its share from about 40% of electricity generation about a decade ago to almost zero today.

Both policies are laudable for reducing pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. The problem is that the gas and renewable industries struggle to fill the supply gap left by coal that has been phased out of power systems. Most industrialised countries have similar plans to phase out coal, and many governments plan to use more natural gas in the coming years. The problem for governments to solve will therefore be how to act on climate change while ensuring affordable and reliable energy access.

Investing in renewables

In the short term, any country or region wanting to engage in a green transition must diversify natural gas supply and expand storage capabilities. This can be done by developing a mix of pipeline gas and shipped liquid natural gas imports, or by signing long-term import deals with a large and diverse group of suppliers around the world to protect the importer from disruptions. Longer term, the investment focus must be on zero emissions technologies, like solar and wind backed up by clean hydrogen, large-scale batteries to store electricity generated from renewables, pumped hydro-storage facilities and new nuclear power reactors. All of these technologies already exist.

Other technologies include steel made with clean hydrogen, which replaces coal to fuel furnaces; synthetic fuels not made of petroleum, but from hydrogen or biomass like wood pellets, waste paper or agricultural waste; and technology to capture emissions before they reach the atmosphere, known as carbon capture and storage (CCS), which would allow fossil fuels to continue operating since their greenhouse gases would be prevented from entering the atmosphere.

Despite a sense of climate urgency, there is some time get to zero emissions. Even the more ambitious policies to reach zero greenhouse gas emissions target 2050.

But until these technologies are affordable and available at scale, governments must ensure they don't neglect the remaining need for fossil fuels — especially natural gas.
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