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Five months after the municipal election, Edmonton’s new city council is settling into their roles.
Major projects are underway, including the $311-million Lewis Farms Recreation Centre. There are conversations about building new fire halls, and moving forward with construction projects.
While the 2025 election is fading into the past, two failed candidates are still vocalizing concerns and what they believe priorities should be for council.
One of them, Jesse Watson, ran and lost the councillor position for Ward Anirniq, currently held by incumbent Erin Rutherford.
Despite the loss, Watson has maintained momentum, raising concerns with council’s decisions on his social media platforms.
He said after the election, people continued to reach out to him asking if he would continue holding council accountable.
“When the city shares public information, as a former city employee there’s always the truth and then there’s the reality, and there’s always stuff missing that I think I can add some nuance to,” Watson said.
Watson has talked about issues all over the city, including LRT safety, issues downtown and in Chinatown, parking, construction and snow clearing.
He said when it comes to the city planning its four year budget, it should consider a different approach to getting community engagement. When it comes to taxes, he said the city needs to reflect differently.
“Even the way surveys are, it’s always a look at increase taxes, decrease services but it’s never a question of, ‘Is this service correct?’”
He said business recruiters from outside of the city are able to draw companies in because the tax rate is better.
“We are suffering from a lack of prosperity,” Watson said. “I think at the end of the day, it’s just a normal debate and conversation and making sure we can achieve a common goal.”
The other former candidate voicing concerns is Omar Mohammad. The dentist ran for mayor and is also vocal about concerns he said he hears from the public.
“Nonstop what I hear about the election and even now is about fiscal responsibility. People really want value for their hard-earned tax dollars spent… Fire halls and recreation centres are important, but not in exuberant amounts,” Mohammad said.
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“People really wanted their voices heard, and that doesn’t stop with voting day.”
Both Mohammad and Watson acknowledged council is doing the best they can.
“I believe they mean well, but that is why I believe the conversation is important because the more they can be informed, they can make the better-informed decisions of what Edmontonian want,” Mohammad said.
Edmonton Mayor Andrew Knack said he welcomes feedback and wants to hear from Edmontonians as whole.
“I need to hear from all of the voices, that includes (those) who are critical of the decisions we make,” Knack said.
“We cannot be scared of criticism, of people who want to challenge the decisions that we are making.”
The mayor stresses he always seeks this information, and continues to door knock. He also changed how engagement is done ahead of the four-year budget, moving town hall conversations up months prior to the council debate.
“We are about to host 12 in-person budget engagement sessions across the city, I am going to be out across the city with Edmontonian talking about our four-year budget… I want to hear from as many Edmontonians as possible,” Knack said.
This isn’t the first time a group has been critical of council.
Back in the 1990s, a group of young businessmen, who were called “the Stickmen” bought billboards highlighting issues they felt council was missing the mark on.
Political analyst John Brennan said back then, the news would pick it up and messaging would be circulated. He said a lot has changed since then.
“A billboard gets into the public consciousness, and in this case you only have people who are “friends” or followers of Omar Mohammad and Jesse Watson,” Brennan said.
Brennan also brought up PACE, the political party formed ahead of the municipal election and is still active.
He believes continuing to be vocal and critical of council could set up these former candidates for the next election in 2029.
“They’re seeing this as a way to maintain their standing, maintain their name out there and try to do a slow build over three and half years to maintain their name recognition,” Brennan said.
At the end of day, Brennan said being consistently vocal in-between elections is important.
“It’s always a positive thing when people are participating in our democracy.”
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
