All Edmonton mayoral front-runners promise to publish donor lists before election
Mike Nickel, Amarjeet Sohi only front-runners to publish donors' names so far
Edmonton mayoral candidates are not required to disclose their donors before election day, but all of this election's front-runners have now committed to doing so.
As of Wednesday evening, Mike Nickel and Amarjeet Sohi had published donor lists online.
Campaigners for Kim Krushell, Michael Oshry and Cheryll Watson confirmed to CBC News that they will disclose donors before Monday, when Edmonton voters go to the polls.
Nickel had previously told the Edmonton Journal that several of his donors had been "targeted" and that he would not be "giving more ammunition to these folks to target my supporters."
He published his list on Wednesday night.
Krushell has committed to releasing her donor list in the next few days and Oshry will be releasing his this weekend.
Watson will be following Don Iveson's precedent of releasing the information the day before the election.
Diana Steele has also published her donor list online. Brian (Breezy) Gregg, Malik Chukwudi and Vanessa Denman self-financed their campaigns.
Augustine Marah said he will be disclosing his short list of donors after the election. Rick Comrie, who, like Chukwudi, is now endorsing Nickel for mayor, also said he does not plan to disclose donors before the election.
The names of some people who contributed to Comrie's crowdfunding campaign are visible online.
Promised transparency
Angela Duncan, interim president of the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association, said she was happy to see candidates disclosing but disappointed that only one of the Edmonton mayoral front-runners had published his donors list as of Wednesday morning.
Multiple candidates who have not yet disclosed their donors have campaigned on running a more transparent and accountable city government.
"I would really encourage them to put their money where their mouth is and disclose their donors," Duncan said.
"Financial disclosure a couple of hours beforehand does not allow voters to make informed decisions."
Leah Ward, a political strategist and director of campaigns at Metric Strategies, said that while some motivated voters may comb through donor lists before going to the polls, the disclosures are most useful for candidates' political opponents.
"I would suggest that those who choose to release their donor lists so late in the game are doing it to achieve the appearance of transparency and not in the true spirit of that," said Ward, who has not worked for any of the Edmonton mayoral campaigns.
Who is donating?
Sohi's list, which was published on Oct. 8 and lists donations as of Oct. 6, reveals more than 1,000 donors who gave $50 or more, including former Edmonton mayor Stephen Mandel and former Edmonton MP Anne McLellan. Sohi's website says a final list will be released by the end of the day on Oct. 17.
Nickel's website says he has raised more than $414,000 from nearly 1,000 people. Some of his donors include former Edmonton MPs Kerry Diotte and Peter Goldring and two members of the Ghermezian family.
Real estate developers and business owners from other industries appear on both lists, with some donating to both campaigns.
Incumbent city councillor Andrew Knack is among Steele's 35 donors.
Some local council candidates and candidates for municipal races in other cities have also embraced proactive disclosure.
For the first time this year, the AUMA encouraged candidates to sign a voluntary pledge that included a promise to disclose campaign contributions and spending before the election. Candidates have been sharing their pledges on social media.
"I think it really has had an impact," Duncan said. The AUMA is not tracking how many candidates have signed pledges, nor whether candidates honour them.
Under the previous NDP government, municipalities were given the option to require pre-election disclosure, but last year, the UCP government removed that ability by making changes to the province's elections act.
Sean Amato
CTV News Edmonton
Updated Oct. 13, 2021
EDMONTON -
Several days after mayoral hopeful Amarjeet Sohi publicly released his donors list, the other frontrunning candidates still had not shared theirs.
CTV News Edmonton reached out to Mike Nickel, Kim Krushell, Micheal Oshry and Cheryll Watson and they all promised to release their lists before election day.
Nickel said he’d release his list on Wednesday - but it wasn’t received before 5 p.m.
“We’ll release it. No one has really asked us to release our donor list, but we’re happy to share it,” he said at his campaign office.
“Maybe you would like a complete donors list? How about that? As opposed to one in transition? So maybe a donors list at the end is better than one at the beginning?” He asked CTV News Edmonton.
“The results are what matter at the end, so let’s get you your list.”
A spokesperson for Nickel said the information would be available sometime Wednesday night or maybe Thursday.
Sohi’s list was released on Oct. 8 and he promised to update it before election day.
“We have made that public because we want to be transparent to Edmontonians. I’m so proud to have the support of close to 1,300 Edmontonians who have donated to my campaign,” he said.
Sohi’s team didn’t pinpoint an exact number, rather listed a range of each donation. His total so far is somewhere between $400,000 and $1 million.
Outgoing mayor Don Iveson raised $618,000 in 2013 and $396,000 in 2017, according to statements he released.
SOHI'S $400K A 'SEVERE HINDRANCE' TO OPPOSITION: MENSAH
“I think it's a severe hindrance to the other candidates trying to compete with (Sohi),” local political scientist Chaldeans Mensah said of the former federal minister’s 2021 campaign cash.
Mensah applauded candidates disclosing early, calling it smart politics.
“You’d be in the good books of the public that you’re not going to be beholden to any specific interests,” he said.
Sohi stopped short of criticising his opponents for not disclosing as early as him, but said it’s important for voters to have time to review all of the lists.
“I hope that other candidates will do the same well before the election, because Edmontonians need to know where the money is coming to support each of the candidates,” he said.
Krushell agreed with Sohi and said hers will be available before the Oct.18 vote.
“We’ll definitely be releasing it. It’s part of my transparency and accountability and we have no problem in releasing it, so It'll be this week,” she said.
Candidates are required to release a final list of contributions and expenditures to Edmonton Elections before March 1, 2022.
Diana Steele, Brian “Breezy” Gregg, Augustine Marah and Vanessa Denman are also running for mayor. Rick Comrie and Abdul Malik Chukwudi have both dropped out of the race.
With files from CTV News Edmonton's Dan Grummett.
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