'Decisive victory': Iveson welcomes Sohi as Edmonton's new mayor

Edmonton -

Outgoing Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson welcomed his successor Amarjeet Sohi back to Edmonton City Hall on Tuesday.

Sohi won Monday night’s mayoral contest by a more than 46,000 vote margin over second-place finisher Mike Nickel.

Iveson said he was “thrilled with the results,” calling Sohi’s win “a decisive victory.”

“I want to thank Edmontonians for rejecting the politics of fear, and anger and division and embracing hope and a continued progressive vision for this city,” said Iveson.

Sohi and Iveson became friends after both were elected to city council in 2007.

“Our friendship is pretty strong,” Sohi said, citing their shared values.

“Our journeys are quite different from each other but we share a goal … building an Edmonton where we feel we all belong.”

Sohi becomes the first person of colour to occupy the mayor’s chair in Edmonton after having previously served two terms as a city councillor.

He also tweeted that Premier Jason Kenney called him earlier on Tuesday to offer his congratulations.

“This is not the first time I’ve worked with Premier Kenney,” the mayor-elect said, citing his time as federal minister of natural resources.

“I will engage with partners in a very respectful way.”

Iveson said that kind of respectful engagement deteriorated along with the level of debate in the outgoing council.

“A council is not meant to agree all the time,” he said. “The expectation is they disagree without being disagreeable … that broke down with the previous council.”

Iveson remains the mayor until Oct. 26 when Sohi will formally take over the job.