'Decisive victory': Iveson welcomes Sohi as Edmonton's new mayor
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.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'Nonsense:' Doug Ford slams lawsuits filed by Ontario school boards against social media platforms
Premier Doug Ford says that lawsuits launched by four Ontario school boards against a trio of social media platforms are “nonsense” and risk becoming a distraction to the work that really matters.
Several flight attendants from Pakistan have gone missing after landing in Canada
Multiple flight attendants from Pakistan International Airlines have abandoned their jobs and are believed to have sought asylum in Canada in the past year and a half, a spokesperson for the government-owned airline says.
Multiple bridges in Calgary shut down for police incident
Calgary police have shut down a number of bridges into and out of the downtown core as officers deal with a distraught individual.
Tipping is off the table at this Toronto restaurant
A Toronto restaurant introduced a surprising new rule that reduced the cost of a meal and raised the salaries of staff.
King Charles calls for acts of friendship in first public remarks since Kate's cancer diagnosis
King Charles III gave public remarks for Maundy Thursday, addressing the importance of acts of friendship, following his and Catherine, Princess of Wales’ cancer diagnoses.
Record-breaking N.B. lottery winner kept winning ticket on dresser for nearly a year
A New Brunswicker will go to bed Thursday night much richer than he was Wednesday after collecting on a winning lottery ticket he let sit on his bedroom dresser for nearly a year.
A dog and a bird formed an unlikely friendship. Their separation has infuriated followers
Peggy is a stout and muscular Staffordshire bull terrier, and Molly is a magpie, an Australian bird best known for swooping on humans during breeding season, not for befriending dogs. But in an emotional video posted online, Peggy’s owners announced that the animals had been separated.
Rainfall warnings of up to 90 mm among weather alerts in effect for 7 provinces
Rainfall warnings of up to 90 millimetres, air quality advisories and other alerts have been issued for seven Canadian provinces, according to the latest forecasts.
Gangs netting up to US$3 trillion a year as Southeast Asia human trafficking becomes a global crisis, Interpol says
Human trafficking-fuelled fraud is exploding in Southeast Asia with organized crime rings raking in close to US$3 trillion in illicit revenue annually, the head of Interpol has said in comments that reveal the huge profits being earned by cartels.