Edmonton election ward profile: Karhiio

EDMONTON -

Six candidates are battling for your vote in southeast Edmonton’s Ward Karhiio.

The new ward evenly splits sections previously encompassed by Ward 11 and 12. Ward 11 was represented by Mike Nickel while Moe Banga was elected to city council in Ward 12.

Karhiio runs north to south and is bound in the north by a section of 51 Avenue until 91 Street and the railway tracks separating Davies Industrial East and Roper Industrial neighbourhoods. In the east, the ward is bound by 50 Street and Township Road 510 in the south. Queen Elizabeth II Highway forms the western boundary.

Pronounced GAR-EE-HE-O, the ward name originates from the Mohawk language and translates to a tall, beautiful forest. Michel Karhiio was the chief of the Michel Band, enfranchised in 1958.

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Here’s a look at the candidates in Karhiio.

SANA KAKAR

As an architecture and urban planning professional, candidate Sana Kakar said he moved to Edmonton in 2014 because he saw it as a city that was perfect for raising a family. Now he’s running to maintain that belief.

When it comes to taxes, Kakar believes the city needs to be doing a better job at providing value for dollars and spending smarter.

“People are paying too much tax and the services are not at par,” Kakar said. “We need to look for other sources of revenue than tax hikes.

“We need to make our projects more efficient,” he added, “to save some money.”

He also believes the city could benefit from more consultation so that services can improve and people feel heard.

“People are complaining a lot about transit. People are complaining about this new waste management system,” Kakar said.

CHARAN SAGGU

Trained as an engineer, candidate Charan Saggu moved to Edmonton 31 years ago and could not find a job. He was forced to pivot careers to real estate, founding several residential and commercial brokerages in the city and hopes to bring an entrepreneurial spirit to city council.

“I had to learn and grow,” he told CTV News. “I adapted quickly and became good at what I needed to do.

“I will bring that same mindset to city council.”

His priorities are empowering small businesses, introducing competitive tax rates to encourage new business developments, and ending photo radar — which he describes as a “cash cow.” Instead of photo radar, Saggu wants the city to find other ways of keeping streets safe from speeding cars.

“Some of the speeds we see are so high,” he said. “We need better action.”

In his view, Karhiio needs better neighbourhoods that have green spaces, parks, and better policing.

“I want to see Edmonton as a world-class city,” Saggu said. “We are missing some investments.

“We need more parks, playgrounds, and walking paths,” he added. “We need to see all people, of all ages, served by the city.”

TOM SHAW

Candidate Tom Shaw told CTV News Edmonton that he never planned to run for city council until friends and family told him that after 40 years of living in the ward, being involved in community league leadership, and project managing for businesses, he should give it a shot.

“I’ve advocated for so long for my community that it just seemed like the right fit at the right time,” Shaw said. “I’m very community-minded.

“I understand our ward’s advantages and challenges,” he added.

His focus, if elected, would be to ensure neighbourhoods stay safe, reviewing the transit redesign, so it meets the needs of residents, and fighting for efficient core services like snow removal and roadway maintenance.

While he was a community league president, Shaw said he advocated successfully to create marked crosswalks in his neighbourhood and a public awareness campaign called ‘Check Your Block at Nine O’Clock.’

“I have a proven track record of advocacy,” Shaw said. “I’m at the heart of the community.”

KEREN TANG

Candidate Keren Tang is running for the second time and her biggest priorities include promoting resilient changes to address climate change, enabling a strong business-focused environment in the city, and ensuring neighbourhoods remain vibrant.

Tang originally moved to Edmonton to pursue a degree in public health policy at the University of Alberta. She has worked in the private and public sectors to help drive positive health promotion.

“My public health lens and experience will be really important,” Tang said. “Pandemic or not, public health will be a really important lens for city-building.”

Tang said that the Karhiio ward requires unique solutions since it contains mature neighbourhoods north of Anthony Henday Drive, like Mill Woods, and new growth developments south of it.

“The ward is going to continue to grow,” Tang said. “We need to think about how we can grow smartly.

“We need to fill in the gaps of services and infrastructure,” she added. “We can’t leave anybody behind.”

SHAMAIR TURNER

Living in Mill Woods her entire life, candidate Shamair Turner -- a School of Business alumna who now works in the field of risk management -- decided to run because she wanted to try to help her community.

“I want Edmonton to be a prosperous, equitable, and affordable city,” Turner said.

Among her platform promises, Turner said she wanted to focus on improving transit. In her view, the bus network redesign decreased system accessibility and did not consider how far people would need to walk during the winter.

“Neighbourhood routes are valuable in such a different way than they might be in terms of just walking to your main thoroughfare in a grid set up,” she added. “There’s a lot of frustration.”

Additionally, Turner said there needs to be more concrete action towards transit security -- especially as the Valley Line LRT that ends at Mill Woods Town Centre becomes operational.

Turner said that as climate change continues to impact Edmonton and the world, the city needs to do more than what the Community Energy Transition Strategy and other climate action plans prescribe.

“It’s not necessarily that the plans are not good, we definitely have to progress more,” she said.

“There absolutely has to be a pushing forward mindset of what more we can do.”

MUHAMMAD HERMAN GILL

Candidate Muhammad Herman Gill did not respond to requests for interviews from CTV News Edmonton.

Read profiles for mayoral candidates and wards on our municipal election page.