Sohi, City Council say they will not be bullied over Christmas lights at Churchill Square

Even if mayor Amarjeet Sohi was not involved in the decision by the Edmonton Downtown Business Association (EDBA) to not light up a large Christmas tree in Churchill Square, hit with most of the criticism, largely, targeting his race.

“Some of them will resort to racism and threatening behaviour,” said Edmonton’s mayor, when asked about the backlash and racism by CityNews in a year-end interview.

But as Edmonton’s first mayor of coulour take the opportunity to engage Edmontonians, and show that these types of behaviours are not healthy, he hopes it shines a light on the work to be done.

“I love Edmonton. Edmonton has embraced me and I’m welcomed to this place,” said Sohi.

“But from time to time, you see, people’s bias come out and expressed, without even knowing that it is not rationale, it is not based on facts. That is why I’m deeply committed to building an anti-racist city.”

Mayor Sohi says he hopes $2 million city tax dollars spent on an anti-racism strategy, as well as other budget money used for truth and reconciliation will inspire Edmontonians during this season.

Christmas lights at Churchill Square. (Photo Credit: Jonas Gilbert, CityNews)

“These are transformational changes, it takes time. But I hope as we move forward, we will be embracing of each other. Supporting each other. Supporting as a community. We are all Edmontonians and we have a responsibility to take care of each other.”

Churchill Square, still has Christmas decorations and holiday lights with city administration, admitting, they did not do the best job of communicating with the public their decision to not take over the tree when the downtown business association pulled out.

“While we understand that some are disappointed by the evolution of these holiday celebrations, we want to reassure Edmontonians that there will be fun and family-friendly holiday activities throughout December — including the illumination of living holiday trees in both Churchill Square and Rice Howard Way. To be clear, these were our decisions and were not made by the Mayor or City Council,” said City Manager Andre Corbould and EDBA Board Chair Martin Kennedy in a joint statement in November regarding the Christmas lights.

“We are charting a new path. In retrospect, we should have communicated these activities better, and we apologize that some people were led to believe that Churchill Square would not be a festive place. However, that oversight did not justify some of the activities which followed.”

The Statement continued by saying, “A small number of people are using this situation to make racist attacks on the staff of the Edmonton Downtown Business Association and the Mayor. Those actions do not reflect the views of either the vast majority of Edmontonians or the organizations we lead. They are inappropriate. We do not tolerate online hate and bullying, and we will not be swayed by such behaviour.”

Churchill Square will also be hosting it’s first New Years eve celebration since 2016 with fireworks at 8:30 p.m. and midnight.