Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi and various city councillors spent about $62,655 on decor, furniture, and installation and moving costs, according to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request obtained by the Western Standard. Sohi’s office spent $16,418 on decor between 2021 and 2023, according to the FOI request. The City of Edmonton said the $16,417 breaks down to $85 in 2021, $8,448 in 2022, and $7,885 in 2023. While Sohi’s office spent the most on decor, councillors’ offices spent $7,538 through their common budgets between 2021 and 2023. These costs were $774 in 2021, $3,750 in 2022, and $3,013 in 2023. The councillors spent $781 on decor through their ward budgets in 2021 and 2022. They spent $309 in 2021 and $472 in 2022. Total decor costs were $24,736 from 2021 to 2023. The City of Edmonton went on to say Sohi’s office spent $6,341 on furniture between 2021 and 2023. It added these costs were $860 in 2021, $4,321 in 2022, and $1,160 in 2023. Although this office spent a sizeable amount on furniture, the councillors spent $9,263 through their common budgets from 2021 to 2023. These amounts were $898 in 2021, $5,199 in 2022, and $3,165 in 2023. When it comes to ward budgets for furniture, $2,724 went towards them from 2021 to 2023. The ward budgets for furniture were $289 in 2021, $2,216 in 2022, and $218 in 2023. Total furniture costs were $18,327 from 2021 to 2023. The City of Edmonton said his office dedicated $6,045 to installation and moving costs between 2021 and 2023. This worked out to $917 in 2021, $4,679 in 2022, and $450 in 2023. The councillors’ offices common budgets were $13,547 from 2021 to 2023. These amounts were $6,095 in 2021, $5,219 in 2022, and $2,233 in 2023. Total installation and moving costs were $19,592 from 2021 to 2023. Office of the Mayor of Edmonton Communications Director Justin Draper called the charges “normal office operations, especially during the transition after an election.”“Many of the items included in the spreadsheet are internal charges for work done by City of Edmonton employees,” said Draper. “These numbers are for internal accounting purposes and do not represent actual money paid by the City.”Draper said furniture purchased by it was limited to desks and tables purchased second hand through an Alberta government surplus website, two new desks, one office chair purchased from Costco, and one storage product from Ikea. When it comes to the decor category, he said it includes a contract for maintenance of plants and framing of two photos received as official gifts. The Conservatives said in 2016 the Liberals were blowing too much money on office renovations, including hundreds of thousands of dollars spent by Sohi as infrastructure minister. Conservative MP Blaine Calkins (Red Deer-Lacombe, AB) said the Liberals cannot seem to help its cabinet ministers when it comes to spending. “The show stopper is the minister of infrastructure and communities, who spent $835,000 on renovations and paintings,” said Calkins. This incident comes after the Western Standard learned on April 23 Sohi’s official campaign agent's company signed an agreement with the City of Edmonton to create one of Canada’s first industrial scale waste-to-energy facilities. READ MORE: EXCLUSIVE: Sohi’s campaign agent received City of Edmonton waste diversion contractThe City of Edmonton and Varme Energy reached an agreement in January that will enable green electricity and industrial heat generation while diverting about 150,000 tonnes of residential garbage per year effective 2027. While Varme reached this agreement, no one acknowledged the ties CEO Sean Collins had to Sohi. “This is a major milestone toward the development of this new facility and an enormous step forward for waste diversion and climate change mitigation in Canada,” said Collins. The City of Edmonton could not be reached for comment in time for publication.
