Edmonton mayoral candidates mull early campaign donor disclosure, lobbyist registry
Posted August 26, 2025 7:37 pm.
Last Updated August 27, 2025 7:39 am.
What role, if any, does big money play in Edmonton’s mayoral race?
It’s a question voters will soon be able to partially answer, with some campaign financing disclosures due before the end of September.
Candidate are weighing whether to disclose their donors early.
“I believe Edmontonians have a right to know exactly who is backing us before they cast a ballot for their next mayor,” said Andrew Knack, Edmonton mayoral candidate.
Knack says he will release his disclosures soon and to keep updating the list.
He calls on other mayoral candidates to do the same. Knack says it builds public trust.
“There’s this feeling of a lack of transparency of what happens at city hall. There’s a lot of unanswered questions. There’s a concern about trust. So why I have been doing this as a candidate for forever is because I think people need to know that information. There’s nothing to hide on this,” Knack explained.
Rahim Jaffer also aims to release his donor list by mid-September.
And Tim Cartmell, whose 2024 list is already on Edmonton’s election website, is promising to follow the disclosure deadlines.
“Certainly for the first more-than-half of this calendar year, all of our expenditures and donations will be published for everyone to see,” said Cartmell.
Knack also promised to bring back a mayor’s lobbyist registry if he wins, something former mayor Don Iveson started but Mayor Amarjeet Sohi discontinued.
“It goes back to what I’ve been hearing from people. They want to have more information, they want to see that level of transparency and accountability … we need to make sure the mayor is setting the expectation and setting the tone. My expectation for the rest of council is they would follow through on that as well.”
With other levels of government already making a list of lobbyists public, Jaffer says he’s open to the same thing at city hall.
“If you want to know where the money is going, how it’s being spent, who is paying for certain services, I think it might be something to explore,” said Jaffer.
Michael Walters’ campaign says he will file the required donor and expense list by the September 30 deadline, and he supports a mayor’s lobbyist registry.
