EDMONTON – A group of mayoral hopefuls was asked how well they’ll be able to work with other councillors at an election forum Wednesday night – and one candidate made it clear his top priority is not to make friends.

“Clearly things are not working downtown at city hall. We need good ideas,” candidate Mike Nickel said.

“People want leadership right now. We’re not looking for a roommate here. We need good ideas. We need good plans…It’s important to have disagreements on council. That policy competition makes for a better product at the end of the day.”

Nickel made those comments during a virtual forum hosted by Edmonton Public Library Wednesday night.

During his time as councillor, Nickel was accused three times of breaking council’s Code of Conduct, but efforts to publicly reprimand him failed by council vote every time.

Nickel did not address those disputes, but he’s previously said they were a result of his political opponents trying to silence him.

Diana Steele, Rick Comrie and Amarjeet Sohi were asked the same question.

“I know how to work with my council colleagues. I listen to them. I build relationships with them. I respect them,” Sohi said, referencing his work in advancing LRT projects.

“That’s how council works, by working together on building a stronger community.”

Steele has not been on council before, but she has served as the president of her community league.

“I am confident that whoever is elected to council will align with me. We’ll all see it the same way, and we will all get along,” she said with a smile.

Comrie sidestepped the question and spoke about taxes, economic development and public meetings.

“Who’s been forgotten is the taxpayer. So here I am, fighting for the taxpayer,” he said.

Brian Gregg, Cheryll Watson, Kim Krushell and Michael Oshry were also at the forum but were not asked about maintaining council relationships.

About 1,200 people watched the debate online.

It was the latest in a series of forums hosted by community organizations, as the City of Edmonton is not hosting official debates in 2021.

Edmontonians vote on Oct. 18, 2021.

EDMONTON – After 14 years at City Hall, Don Iveson says it’s “odd” to see election signs and door-knockers and to not be a part of that.

His passion for politics is clearly not gone, although he insists his desire to hold his current seat is.

“It’s time, and I feel good about the decision to move on in my career and my life,” he said in a sit-down interview two weeks before his last day leading the city.

“It’s been quite a ride. The economy was firing on all cylinders and then some when I came in, and we’ve been through a couple of really rough recessions and the pandemic as well.”

Iveson was born in St. Albert in 1979. He grew up in south Edmonton, the only child of an education professor and a sculptor.

He studied political science at the University of Alberta and then the University of Toronto, before winning a seat on Edmonton City Council in 2007.

That’s when he unseated council incumbent Mike Nickel. Nickel became an outspoken critic of his younger rival, and is now trying to succeed Iveson in a hotly-contested mayoral race.

On Oct. 29, 2013, Iveson was sworn in as Mayor of Edmonton.

IVESON ON SUCCESSES

Expanding the city’s LRT network with the Metro and Valley lines, taking steps to reduce Edmonton’s pollution and increasing housing and services for the city’s homeless population are things Iveson is proud of.

Those initiatives are not done, but the city is in a better place now than eight years ago, he believes, and there’s a clear path forward in the city plan passed last year.

“In order to make sure that, as we grow up, that the city is still affordable and inclusive for people. All of that is captured in the city plan and I’m particularly proud of the work that our community did (on that document).”

Iveson is also happy that he’s been able to get Edmonton’s neighbours on board with more regional initiatives, like transit and economic development.

“(Metro-area leaders) used to spit when you said the word Edmonton, right? Now everyone has bought in, we’re shareholders in Edmonton Global, which is pitching Edmonton’s regional brand to the world now…we’re strong together under the Edmonton banner,” he said.

IVESON ON REGRETS

On what went wrong and what he’s learned, the outgoing mayor takes a humble approach.

“I’m so much more convinced that I don’t have all of the answers. When you win the election and become mayor you think, ‘I have a mandate, I have all of the answers.’ It’s a very humbling position to be mayor. Especially in this system where you need to bring people along to accomplish things,” Iveson said.

He’s also disappointed in his relationship with the UCP provincial government.

Iveson said the premier’s “broken promise” in the 2019 budget that reduced transfer payments by $150 million over four years hurt Edmonton and forced council to scramble to fund planned projects.

“I thought we had an understanding. I talked about it with the premier several times. I thought we had a deal…It was a huge loss, and a huge loss for the municipal sector. All across the country mayors were like, ‘You guys had the best deal going and it just went away.’”

WHAT’S NEXT?

The now-bearded mayor – who laughingly admits his hair went grey fast on the job – is now reflecting, and still considering what to do next.

Iveson has picked four council candidates to endorse, but he has not yet said who he’d prefer as the next mayor. He did offer some advice to whomever takes over though.

“The most important thing in wielding the informal power of this office is about building and maintaining alliances, and also knowing when to walk away from them,” he warned.

So where exactly is Iveson walking away to? He still won’t say, but he’s not moving quickly.

“I have no specific plans at this point, other than I know I need a couple of months off before I do anything else.”

Rumours about a run at another level of government have swirled around Iveson – but he insists he hasn’t decided what he wants. He’s also not ruling out more “Iveson” election signs.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Jeremy Thompson

EDMONTON – Twenty-six more Albertans have died due to COVID-19, according to the province’s latest data update that also saw 1,263 new cases reported Wednesday. 

The deaths are spread across seven days and in patients ranging in age from in their 20s to over 80. The total number of COVID-19 deaths in Alberta rose to 2,804.

There are now 1,083 COVID-19 patients in hospital, including 247 in intensive care units. The patient counts for hospital and ICU represent the 13th highest totals of the pandemic for both counts.

The province’s active case count continued its recent downward trend, falling slightly to 18,912. 

Among eligible Albertans, 84.6 per cent have received a first dose of vaccine and 75.2 per cent have had two doses.

Those who have yet to receive any shot continue to make up the majority of new cases, active cases and severe outcomes including hospitalizations and deaths.

Over the past 120 days, patients who are not fully vaccinated have accounted for 92 per cent of those in ICU and 71 per cent of deaths due to COVID-19.

The next data update is scheduled for Thursday afternoon.

EDMONTON – Edmonton’s outgoing mayor is standing firm on his decision to endorse candidates in the upcoming civic election – despite some blowback from others on the ballot.

Don Iveson has approved four candidates for council and one for school board trustee.

“I don’t begrudge other civic leaders, even if they have a partisan background weighing in and endorsing on a human to human level,” Iveson said in a sit-down interview with CTV News Edmonton.

“I think it’s useful for leaders with credibility to use that credibility to say, ‘This is a person who, you know, if you trust me you might want to consider trusting them.’”

Iveson chose Anne Stevenson in Ward O-day’min, Ashley Salvador in Ward Métis, Ahmed Knowmadic Ali in Ward tastawiyiniwak and Karen Tang in Ward Karhiio.

On Tuesday, he also selected Julie Kusiek for school board trustee in Ward F.

Incumbent candidates Tony Caterina and Jon Dziadyk both responded with jabs back at Iveson after he endorsed their opponents.

The situation made tensions in the outgoing council more obvious — as both councillors said they’re not surprised Iveson doesn’t support them.

IVESON MAY BE BREAKING COUNCIL RULES: KRUSHELL

Former councillor and mayoral candidate Kim Krushell responded with a “no endorsement pledge” of her own and she even suggested Iveson may be breaking the Council Code of Conduct.

“To make an endorsement while in a position of power is an attempt, either implied or explicit, at influencing the outcome of an election,” she wrote on her blog.

Krushell referenced the council’s code – Bylaw 18483 – which states that councillors can “participate freely and in politics” but only if they do so in a personal capacity and not “as elected officials.”

But Iveson argues he won’t be in a position of power after election day – and he’s not asking for anything in return.

“I have no skin in the game other than being a private citizen, like, you know most everybody else in a couple of weeks,” he said.

“They are personal endorsements and people of character who will uphold that culture of independence and high debate here that I think we need more of and they don’t, they don’t owe me a thing.”

The mayor is not the only high-profile politician to offer a stamp of approval.

Several NDP MLAs have endorsed candidates across Alberta. A UCP Press Secretary is running for a council seat, as is a former president of the Alberta Party.

NDP leader Rachel Notley has defended her MLAs on the issue and claimed there is no official party effort to get a “slate” of NDP-beholden candidates elected.

Iveson points out that former councillors Michael Phair and Janice Melnychuk endorsed him, and he claims they didn’t come calling to collect on that favour.

“That was incredibly helpful to me as an independent to come into the system, and they’ve never tried to collect anything for me on that. So I think endorsements freely offered for people of integrity and high capacity are in the public interest, where there’s no other hidden agenda (are OK), and there’s absolutely none in my case.”

Iveson hasn’t announced whether he will run for political office again or not.

The election is Monday, Oct. 18.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Jeremy Thompson 

EDMONTON – Air quality advisories remain in effect for the Edmonton region and surrounding areas, as well east-central Alberta.

The Edmonton region has seen the Air Quality Health Index go from 4 (moderate risk) to 7 (high risk) overnight.

We’re expecting the smoke to continue to be a big factor through this morning and then conditions should gradually start to improve this afternoon.

Wind will become northwesterly and pick up to around 20 km/h (with some occasional gusts on top of that).

I think you may still be smelling smoke around Edmonton right through until the early evening.

But, Thursday should be a much clearer day.

We continue to get some rain and wet snow in parts of western and NW Alberta.

Elsewhere, we may see some scattered showers push through central and NE parts of the province today and again this evening.

No heavy, steady rain is expected. Just some brief, spotty showers.

Temperatures will struggle back to a high near 10 degree this afternoon and with skies clearing overnight, many neighbourhoods in Edmonton will wake up to some frost on Thursday.

But, with sunny skies and the smoke gone, we’ll get up around 12 or 13 degrees Thursday afternoon.

Friday has a similar temperature setup – frost risk in the morning, 12 or 13 in the afternoon.

Saturday’s shaping up to be the warmest day of the long weekend. Edmonton should get to the low to mid teens in the afternoon.

Sunday slips to a high near 12 under mostly cloudy skies and Thanksgiving Monday has a high of 8 or 9 degrees.

Here’s the forecast for Edmonton:

Today – Mostly cloudy and smoky. Air quality gradually improving through the afternoon/evening.

Slight risk of a shower. Wind becoming NW 20 midday & this afteroon.

High: 10

Tonight – Smoke moving out. Slight risk of a shower.

9pm: 6

Thursday – Sunny with a few clouds.

Morning Low: -1

Afternoon High: 12

Friday – Partly cloudy.

Morning Low: -2

Afternoon High: 13

Saturday – Partly cloudy.

Morning Low: -2

Afternoon High: 15

Sunday – Mostly cloudy.

Morning Low: 2

Afternoon High: 12

Monday – Mix of sun & cloud.

Morning Low: -1

Afternoon High: 9