Safety, affordability, population growth: What Knack wants to prioritize as Edmonton’s new mayor

Andrew Knack will be the new mayor of Edmonton. He joined CTV Your Morning Edmonton to talk about his journey and what his next steps are.

Andrew Knack will be the new mayor of Edmonton. He joined CTV Your Morning Edmonton’s Kent Morrison with more on his journey and what his next steps are.

This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

Kent Morrison: How do you feel about this?

Andrew Knack: I know it sounds a little cliché, but it’s truly a privilege and an honour to have this chance to serve. It’s so exciting. Yesterday, I got to celebrate for a few brief moments and then I realized there’s a lot of work we have to do right now. So it’s been a lot of fun, but a lot of work ahead.

Kent: What was that wait like on election night, knowing you’re not going to know the results?

Andrew: It was hard because I’m so used to every other election I’ve been a part of. You learn the results, typically within an hour or so. To have to go to bed not knowing where it is, it was a little bit stressful. There wasn’t a lot of sleep that night. I think I slept two hours but I’m glad we have the result now and we can get to work on the important issues.

Kent: Less than a year ago, you were going to walk away from municipal politics. Now you’re in charge. Are you ready for that change?

Andrew: Yes, I’m very fortunate. But at the end of the day, I said this last night, it’s not about one person. There are incredible people across the city who want to do amazing things. My job as mayor is not to be the one to say we’re going to do it this way. No, we’re going to do this together. We’re going to go out in the community and say, “Let’s tackle these challenges, let’s make life safer, let’s make it more affordable.” These are the things we heard about at the doors and we’re going to do that as a team, as a team of councilors and also as a team of Edmontonians who want to work on these important issues.

Kent: Coming into this election, many voters said they were frustrated with the current council taking too long to make decisions. Among other things, a lot of the same council is coming back. You’re now moving from a councillor to the mayor. What’s going to be different?

Andrew: I think the need to bring everyone together to work on these issues, because we heard it very clearly. I will not be shocked if every new councillor and every returning councillor heard the same things that I heard, which is that Edmontonians want a safer city, a more affordable city and one that is keeping up with its rapid population growth. As long as we’re staying focused on those key themes. As long as everything we’re doing is moving forward on those issues, then I think that’s how we bring and get Edmontonians on board to work together on these solutions.

Kent: You’ve also said that you’re going to be more firm when dealing with the province. That relationship has not always been a work together handshake relationship. What does that mean?

Andrew: It means when needed. At the start, my plan is what I’ve been doing as a councillor for the last 12 years. Finding common ground, entering every conversation as one with collaboration at the forefront. But where we are not seeing action, where Edmontonians voices are not being heard, being willing to stand up and say that clearly to make sure Edmontonians know what we aren’t getting addressed, so that they can also use their voices to help make sure we’re getting the things that we need in the city. To build a safer city, a more affordable city, and one that is keeping up with our rapid growth.

Kent: You won with the majority of the votes, but low voter turnout around 30 per cent. That means the majority of the city did not vote for you. What do you say to those people who did not pick your name on the ballot or vote at all?

Andrew: I would say the same thing I said in 2013 when I first got elected, because I got elected with less than 50 per cent of the vote. I made a commitment then that my job is not just to represent those that voted for me, but those who didn’t vote for me or those who didn’t vote at all. That means actually being out in the community all the time. That means hosting regular town halls, finding ways to understand the different perspectives that exist and then use that to help inform the decisions that we make. I’ve been doing that for 12 years as a city councillor. It doesn’t mean we’re always going to agree because you’ll never find universal agreement on any single issue. But if you’ve actually taken the time to genuinely go and understand people’s perspectives about what issues matter to them and why they matter to them, that’s how you bring people along and how you gain more support. Not in an electoral sense, but more support for the issues that matter.

Kent: During this campaign, a lot was said about you like third party groups getting involved. What does this say about the state of our politics right now?

Andrew: I think what the election results said is that Edmontonians are clearly rejecting the idea of party politics. They don’t want that. That was made very loud and clear during the election. Now it’s a matter of, how do we take that voice that Edmontonians just shared with everyone and get the province to change the rules again on our local elections? We don’t need political parties in our local government. We don’t need third party advertisers. We don’t need big money in our politics. This campaign proved that you can do it with people. We did not have the money. We did not have the budget that the other campaigns had, but we had the people. This proves that when you have the people who are willing to volunteer their time and get out in a community, that’s what makes the difference. Let’s get rid of all of the other things. Edmontonians don’t want that. Albertans don’t want that. Let’s go back to the rules where we get rid of corporate and union donations, no third party advertisers, no political parties and just have debates on ideas instead of the partisan system, which is always meant to be so divisive.