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Mike Nickel

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Mike Nickel
Mike Nickel wearing suit and tie, looking right of camera
Nickel in 2016
Member of the Edmonton City Council
In office
October 29, 2013 – October 26, 2021
Preceded byKerry Diotte
Succeeded byKeren Tang
ConstituencyWard 11
In office
2004–2007
Serving with Bryan Anderson
Preceded byLarry Langley
Succeeded byDon Iveson
ConstituencyWard 5
Personal details
Born (1965-04-27) April 27, 1965 (age 59)
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Political partyUnited Conservative
SpouseLeanne
Children2
Alma materUniversity of Alberta
OccupationPolitician

Mike Nickel (born April 27, 1965) is a Canadian politician who served as an Edmonton city councillor from 2004 to 2007, and then again from 2013 to 2021.[1][2]

Early life and education

Nickel was born in Edmonton and attended the University of Alberta, earning a bachelor's degree in political science in 1989 and subsequently a master's degree in statistics and media studies.[3] During his time at university, Nickel served as president of the University of Alberta Students' Union from 1985 to 1986 and was active in the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity.[4]

Political career

In 1995, Nickel was a founding member of the Edmonton Stickmen, a group of young business people who were critical of then-mayor Jan Reimer for what they saw as anti-business policies.[5][6] Reimer was defeated in that election by Bill Smith, against whom Nickel ran unsuccessfully in the 1998 and 2001 municipal elections, finishing second and third, respectively.

In 2004, Nickel was elected to Edmonton's city council from Ward 5. While in office, he developed a reputation for opposing tax increases, councillor pay increases, and a wide variety of regulations that he saw as wasteful, inefficient, or interfering with the ability of businesspeople to make a living. He sought a second term in the 2007 election, but was defeated by Don Iveson, finishing third out of four candidates.[7]

In the 2013 Edmonton municipal election, Nickel was elected as the councillor for Ward 11 and Iveson was elected mayor of Edmonton. Both were re-elected in the 2017 election, in the same positions.[8]

While continuing to hold the elected municipal office for Ward 11, Nickel became a United Conservative Party nomination candidate for the electoral riding of Edmonton-South in the 2019 Alberta general election.[9] Nickel stated that he felt he had done all he could at the municipal level and would like to help the United Conservative Party with good urban policy, platform, and narrative.[10][11][12] He lost the nomination to Tunde Obasan,[13] who was defeated in the general election by New Democrat Thomas Dang.[14]

In July 2020, Nickel received several complaints from the public regarding several of his social media posts. This led to a report authored by the City of Edmonton Integrity Commissioner Jamie Pytel, which found that the posts were "disrespectful, lacked decorum, contained personal attacks, and misleading information", and that they contravened city council's Code of Conduct.[15] Nickel maintained the posts were truthful and inoffensive. Following the release of the report, city council voted 8–4 in favour of sanctions—one vote short of the supermajority needed, and Nickel was not reprimanded.[16]

After a long period of uncertainty about his intentions, Mike Nickel announced in January 2021 that he would be running for mayor in the 2021 Edmonton municipal election, marking his third run for the post.[17][18] He finished second with 25% of the vote, losing to Amarjeet Sohi.[19]

Nickel was again found in violation of city council's Code of Conduct by Commissioner Pytel in June 2021, for two separate matters. The first involved two social media posts in April, which Pytel said Nickel had posted in retaliation to people who had prior complaints against him; the second was related to Nickel using email addresses obtained through his duties as councillor for electoral campaign purposes. Given these two violations and Nickel's previous actions, Pytel recommended council censure Nickel as well as issue a letter of reprimand. Nickel's legal defence disputed the violations, saying that his "attacks" were directed at ideas and not people.[20] A hearing was held on June 24 regarding Nickel's use of the email addresses, where a motion to issue an official letter of reprimand was defeated 7–4, failing to gain the required supermajority.[21]

References

  1. ^ "Biographies of Mayors and Councillors | Edmonton Public Library". Archived from the original on July 5, 2011. Retrieved January 12, 2011.
  2. ^ "Mike Nickel - Ward Eleven Candidate". Archived from the original on June 14, 2015. Retrieved June 12, 2015.
  3. ^ "Edmonton city councillor Mike Nickel seeks UCP nomination". Global News.
  4. ^ "The Gateway, February 14, 1985, Page 1, Item Ar00101". Archived from the original on July 14, 2012. Retrieved March 29, 2007.
  5. ^ Rod Ziegler (May 26, 1995) "Stickmen take pokes at council". Edmonton Journal. Retrieved April 19, 2021.
  6. ^ Alexandra, Zabjek (August 16, 2014). "Mike Nickel wants to get To the Point with a new TV show". edmontonjournal. Retrieved April 24, 2021.
  7. ^ Ruttan, Susan (October 15, 2007). "Big Upset". Edmonton Journal. Archived from the original on October 18, 2007.
  8. ^ Edmonton, City of (April 6, 2021). "2017 Election Results". www.edmonton.ca.
  9. ^ "Alberta Election 2019 Riding Boundary of Edmonton-South" (PDF).
  10. ^ Riebe, Natasha (June 6, 2018). "City councillor Mike Nickel seeks UCP nomination in Edmonton-South". CBC. Retrieved June 16, 2021.
  11. ^ "Ward 11 Coun. Mike Nickel seeks UCP nomination in Edmonton-South". edmontonjournal.
  12. ^ "Coun. Mike Nickel seeks nomination for UCP in Edmonton-South". edmontonjournal.
  13. ^ Kornik, Slav (November 21, 2018). "Edmonton city Coun. Mike Nickel loses UCP nomination bid". Global News. Retrieved August 30, 2019.
  14. ^ van Diest, Derek (April 16, 2019). "Results: Edmonton-South kept NDP by incumbent Thomas Dang". Edmonton Journal. Edmonton. Retrieved August 30, 2019.
  15. ^ Pytel, Jamie. "Investigative Report into Complaints 2001 to 2010". Office of the Integrity Commissioner. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  16. ^ "Coun. Nickel narrowly escapes sanction after 'disrespectful, misleading' posts". CTV News Edmonton. September 2, 2020.
  17. ^ Ramsay, Caley. "Edmonton city councillor Mike Nickel running for mayor in 2021 election". Global Edmonton. Retrieved January 28, 2021.
  18. ^ Cournoyer, Dave. "Mike Nickel running for mayor for a third time". Daveberta. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  19. ^ "Edmonton Election 2021: Amarjeet Sohi Elected Mayor". globalnews.ca. October 18, 2021. Retrieved October 19, 2021.
  20. ^ Cook, Dustin (June 10, 2021). "Edmonton city councillor Mike Nickel again found in violation of code of conduct, facing sanction hearings for recommended censure". Edmonton Journal. Retrieved June 11, 2021.
  21. ^ "Mike Nickel escapes reprimand for violating council's code of conduct". CBC News. June 24, 2021. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
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