Amarjeet Sohi out as mayor, the first Timbit arrives

In a wild mayoral upset, Sohi is now the federal Liberal candidate in Edmonton-Southeast

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We spoke to Sohi in depth last Friday on the latest episode of Speaking Municipally. This news has a couple pretty big impacts for the upcoming municipal election.

First, it means the Mayoral field is opening much wider. I'm expecting Andrew Knack, who previously announced he would not be running in Nakota Isga to step up and announce his candidacy for Mayor. He spoke briefly to the Journal to this effect. When I asked him again in the video above, he said he was still considering it. I wouldn't be surprise if others decide to jump in to a hot, open mayoral race.

Second, if Sohi was to win, section 163 of the MGA requires council to select a new Mayor. They could vote to keep the existing Deputy Mayor list, in which case Karen Principe would be the mayor during the campaign, and Anne Stevenson would be the first mayor if Sohi is elected MP.

Or council could choose any other member from their ranks like Knack, Cartmell or –– if they're interested in doing the funniest thing ever –– Jennifer Rice.

The first Timbit

Caroline Matthews has tipped her hand in this flyer she sent out. The candidate in Ward Métis has revealed that she will be the first Timbit in Tim Cartmell's Party.

You can see she's copied Tim Cartmell's wordmark (but applied her own name to it) and mimicked Tim's talking points.

If I was to offer some free advice to the Timbit party though it would be this: if your wordmark really requires colour to have an impact, maybe implore your candidates not to cheap out and print flyers in black and white.

Former Edmonton Police Association president Michael Elliot is also expected to make an appearance in the Timbit party. He has officially filed his notice of intent paperwork, but hasn't launched anything officially yet.

However just like Diana Steele in Nakota Isga, Michael Elliot is remembered as making light of the day in which a shooter entered City Hall and opened fire.

Many who were employed and elected within City Hall at the time have told me that day was stressful and traumatic and they would have difficulty working well with people who made jokes while they were hiding under desks and in locked offices.

Other notices filed

Candidates continue to file notice of intent to run across the city (but most are not meaningfully starting their campaigns). If you have tips about who these people are and where they're running, please email troy@tpavlek.me and let me know!

Candidates filed since last update:

• Nicholas Rheubottom

• Darrell Friesen

• Imran Bashir

• Chun Feng