‘His heart was in the right place’: Edmonton mayor loses vote to cut his own salary

Amarjeet Sohi tried to roll his own salary back by about $3,000 a year Thursday morning, but his council colleagues voted to reject his motion.

Edmonton’s first-term mayor will be paid a base salary of $216,585 in 2024, a rate set by the city’s Independent Council Compensation Committee.

Sohi wanted to set it at $213,737, to align with what Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek makes.

The two positions used to have equal paycheques before pandemic wage freezes.

“I think as politicians we should not be determining our salaries,” Sohi told reporters after his motion failed.

“What I was trying to do is close the gap and the discrepancy. I think what happened is Edmonton froze (council salaries) only for two years, Calgary did for three years. That created the gap.”

Sohi said the motion was in response to questions and criticism from the public and some members of the media over why he makes more than Gondek.

City councillors, who will each make $122,363 this year, rejected the mayor’s motion by a vote of seven to five.

Councillors Tim Cartmell, Michael Janz, Aaron Paquette, Jennifer Rice and Mayor Sohi voted for the salary rollback.

Councillors Sarah Hamilton, Karen Principe, Erin Rutherford, Ashley Salvador, Keren Tang, Jo-Anne Wright and Andrew Knack voted against it.

‘It’s just $3,000’

“His heart was in the right place. I get why he’s asking that question,” Knack told reporters before defending the current process and his vote.

“Politicians should never be the ones making the decisions on their own wages. It should come from an independent body, making recommendations, and then ideally the only job of the politician should be to accept that recommendation, not to try to change it in any way.”

On the streets of Edmonton, reaction to the mayor’s attempt was mixed.

“I don’t think (council members) should be able to determine (their salaries), but it’s not a bad thing if he’s trying to make it less,” Mare Henriquez told CityNews.

“I don’t know how necessary it was. Though it is nice,” Ben Roth said.

“It seems a little show-boaty to me… and it’s just $3,000,” Gabby Potvin added.

Property taxes in Edmonton

Sohi’s salary pitch came as council works to squash next year’s proposed property tax increase. It started at 13 per cent, now it’s closer to eight per cent.

CityNews asked Sohi if his salary rollback attempt was a show of leadership ahead of a tightened budget for everyone, but he didn’t directly answer.

“I feel that I can put together a proposal that will balance and minimize the property tax increases at the same time continue to invest in areas where Edmontonians feel they want to see investment,” Sohi said.

The mayor also would not say if he plans to donate some of his salary to charity instead of the rollback, but hinted that another motion may be forthcoming.

Councillors are expected to vote on budget adjustments in early December.