Edmonton mayor, Amarjeet Sohi, discusses his Fair Compensation Project with Alberta Primetime host Michael Higgins.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Michael Higgins: Let’s start on that financial impact of Bill 20’s legislative changes adding, I understand, nearly $5 million to the total price tag of the next election in your city, and that includes the cost of hand counting ballots. But overall, why so much?
Amarjeet Sohi: I hear from Edmontonians all the time that they are struggling with their own affordability crisis.
The gas prices are up, the food prices are up, mortgage rates are up, and they want their governments to minimize cost as much as possible.
We, as city council, have been trying to do that ever since I got elected. We cut cost, we absorb additional pressures in the existing budget, and we have to cut more and manage our budget to bring the proposed tax levy down as much as possible.
But here …