Former Liberal MP Sohi aspires to be Edmonton’s next mayor

By Jeff Labine. Published on Sep 3, 2021 3:46pm

Edmonton mayoral candidate Amarjeet Sohi, a former Liberal MP, outside a coffee shop on Aug. 26 (Jeff Labine/iPolitics)

Amarjeet Sohi doesn’t miss federal politics.

The 57-year-old former bus driver is one of 10 candidates vying to succeed Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson in the municipal election on Oct. 18.

Sohi served two terms as a city councillor after getting elected for the first time in 2007.

In 2015, he won as the Liberal candidate for Edmonton—Mill Woods. He played a key role in Justin Trudeau’s government by taking on the portfolios of Infrastructure and Communities, and Natural Resources.

Sohi would only serve one term in the House of Commons after losing to Conservative MP Tim Uppal in 2019.

Sohi said little about his next political move until last May, when he announced his mayoral campaign.

With a federal election underway, Sohi said his sights are set solely on Edmonton.

“I honestly don’t miss being part of partisan politics,” he told iPolitics. “I really enjoyed working as a member of Parliament, as a minister, … but I did not enjoy the lifestyle of going back and forth (to Ottawa) and travelling throughout the country.”

Sohi’s return to municipal politics comes during significant changes in both Edmonton and Calgary.

Iveson and Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi, both seen as progressive mayors, won’t be running again. Iveson made his decision public in November last year, and Nenshi made his intentions known in April.

The mayors of Alberta’s largest cities often butted heads with Jason Kenney’s provincial government.

A significant point of contention was the United Conservative Party’s decision to reduce Edmonton and Calgary’s base funding of $500 million per year, which is split between the two, by $45 million, thus ending years of negotiations to give the two cities more say in how they spend their money, according to a CBC report.

“We had no sense that the city-charter fiscal framework was going to be ripped up today,” Iveson told reporters afterward.

When asked how he’d handle the situation, Sohi said he’d start by making sure Edmontonians understand what’s at stake.

“If city-infrastructure funding is being cut back, that means you’re going to see cracks in roads, traffic is going to see gridlock, transit systems will not be expanded,” he said. “Those are the kinds of conversations I want to have with Edmontonians and the province. (I want to) find commonalities around those issues.”

If elected, Sohi said he’d try to collaborate with all the city’s partners, including the provincial government.