Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi is expected to announce his candidacy for the Liberal Party of Canada as early as this Thursday as his local support plummets.
Sources within the party told journalists about Sohi’s intent to return to the federal Liberals under Mark Carney’s leadership. Sohi previously served as a Liberal Member of Parliament for Edmonton Mill Woods from 2015 to 2019.
Sohi’s departure from municipal politics would trigger a by-election for the mayor’s office, and possibly the most expensive election in the city’s history.
Since being elected mayor in 2021, Sohi has been surrounded by controversial issues including tax hikes, high spending, and low favorability among voters.
A Maru Public Opinion poll from last year conducted for CityNews found that only a quarter of Edmontonians believed Sohi deserved to be reelected. That same poll indicates that at least 60% want to see Sohi himself replaced.
In 2025, Edmonton homeowners will see a 6.1% property tax increase, with another 6.8% hike expected in 2026.
While Sohi defended the increases as necessary to maintain core services and infrastructure amid inflation and rapid population growth, critics argue that these tax hikes overwhelm residents who are already dealing with an affordability crisis.
Sohi’s administration also faced backlash over a $100 million bike lane project, with taxpayer groups accusing him of wasting funds on infrastructure meant to benefit only a small portion of the population.
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation called the $100 million bike lane project wasteful, particularly when paired with rising property taxes.
Sohi has also committed Edmonton’s finances to his own climate pet projects, in his first year while he had a budget surplus, he announced that he intended to invest those funds in “bold climate action”
While previously a member of Trudeau’s cabinet, Sohi attended the former prime minister’s disastrous international delegation to India. The trip was marred by the invitation of convicted attempted assassin Jaspal Atwal to an official dinner.
In the same scandal-plagued visit, Sohi posed for a photograph with Atwal, a man convicted of attempting to assassinate an Indian minister in 1986.
The minister; Malkiat Singh Sidhu, was known for his staunchly anti-Khalistan stance and his commitment to Indian national unity, in similar fashion to current Indian Prime Minister Modi.
Indian media has often criticized Sohi for his ties to the Khalistan movement and for damaging Canada’s diplomatic relationship with India, a country that views the movement as a destabilizing force.
Sohi has denied any association with violent extremism and clarified that he supports peaceful expressions of the Khalistan movement.