Edmonton's new mayor and city council were sworn in at a ceremony on Oct. 29.
Andrew Knack officially became mayor, and Erin Rutherford, Aaron Paquette, Jon Morgan, Keren Tang, Ashley Salvador, Reed Clake, Anne Stevenson, Michael Janz, Mike Elliott, Thu Parmar, Jo-Anne Wright, and Karen Principe officially became councillors at an event that featured a choir, drummers, and powwow dancers, with many supporters looking on in the audience.
In a speech in front of the crowd, Knack said he and his fellow council members would use the next four years to address affordability concerns, work with the province to solve homelessness, and welcome more people as the city continues to attract plenty of interprovincial and international newcomers. He also said he would meet with the mayors of other municipalities in the region.
The new council then went into council chambers for its inaugural meeting, where it approved the terms for deputy mayor and acting mayor, determined which councillors would be on standing committees and civic agencies, decided on the seating arrangement, and approved its calendar until the end of 2026.
Knack did not introduce a motion at the inaugural meeting. Some mayors use a first motion to set a symbolic tone for their term (for example, former mayor Amarjeet Sohi immediately directed administration to create an anti-racism strategy). Instead, Knack said council would first develop a strategic plan to guide the term.
"Once we have that, we know where we're headed," he said. "Frankly, we want to make sure we're fine tuning a few things, so I'm working on something right now around day-shelter spaces ... we have a meeting coming up on November 3 that would give me an opportunity to ideally make a motion."
New councillors
Morgan, the new councillor for Ward Ipiihkoohkanipiaohtsi, said a priority for his ward is to twin 41 Avenue SW. "There's a lot of infrastructure and transportation issues within the ward, especially in Heritage Valley."
Clarke, the new councillor for Ward Nakota Isga, said safety, community engagement, and transportation are three of his top priorities.
Edmonton's new mayor, Andrew Knack, speaks as the new city council sits on either side of him on Oct. 29. (Stephanie Swensrude)
"The west end's been hit so hard, to get around is really tough, that's whether you're driving or you're taking your bike," he said. "We've got to look at some ways to help with that."
Parmar, the new councillor for sipiwiyiniwak, said she wants to start her term by focusing on building relationships with her fellow council members, other levels of government, and community partners. She also wants to address fiscal responsibility and safety.
"It's really important — people deserve to feel safe in Edmonton," Parmar said.
Elliot, the new councillor for Ward pihêsiwin, said he acknowledges that there is "a bit of a history" between himself and Coun. Janz. In 2022, Elliott filed a code of conduct complaint against Janz, alleging Janz had authored social media posts that violated the code. The integrity commissioner at the time ruled that Janz did not violate the code.
"The first time I saw Michael (Janz), I said, 'The Mike of a couple years ago is not the Mike of today,'" he said.
Elliott added that he has undergone mental health treatment in recent years. "I have another opportunity at life, and having gratitude and learning to work with people, not against people, is very important to me," he said, his voice breaking with emotion. "I'm hoping that people don't judge me on my past and accept me for who I am, and we can actually mend bridges and build together."
Incumbents
Despite many pundits suggesting that incumbents would struggle in this election, all incumbent councillors except for Jennifer Rice won their bid for reelection.
Janz said that some issues, like infill and bike lanes, were made out to be culture war issues when they're actually affordability issues.
"People know that this was a 'pocketbook' election," he said. "If we can offer more housing close to where they want to live, if we can help people go from a two-car family to a one-car family — for the vast majority of people, that's really, really exciting."
While the new councillors said they were excited to take on the challenges that lay ahead, Rutherford said the task was also daunting.
"It's both exciting, and it absolutely felt like there's still a lot of work to do that we didn't finish in the first four years," she said.