Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet 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, the Western Standard has learned. The 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 in a press release. “We are excited to help lead this charge by bringing practical and proven waste diversion and energy generation technology to Alberta’s Capital Region.”Collins said in a 2021 Facebook post he was happy Sohi was running for Edmonton mayor. “As part of his campaign team, Amarjeet asked me to be the campaign’s official agent and lead his fundraising committee — two roles I’m really honoured to jump into,” he said. “We're already through first major task of getting the campaign certified, and you can watch a livestream of the nomination process if you need something to fall asleep to!”.Collins said the next step was fundraising, so any Albertan interested in supporting Sohi should contribute and share with friends. If anyone wanted to get involved as a volunteer or organizer, he called for them to reach out to him. Although Collins confirmed his role on Sohi’s campaign on Facebook, he said in a 2022 LinkedIn post he had the privilege to drop off the nomination papers for him one year prior. “Still buzzing from the whole campaign experience and deeply proud of the work Amarjeet and council have been doing to lead our city since election day,” he said. To support Sohi’s campaign, Collins contributed $5,000. This donation was among the largest he received. City of Edmonton Branch Manager of Waste Services Denis Jubinville confirmed in January there will be a reasonable cost to it for diverting trash to Varme’s facility, but he could not say how much. “But it is a lower cost than some of the other options that have been available to us for diverting waste,” said Jubinville. “It will increase the cost to the utility; however, we do have upcoming opportunities that should enable us to mitigate some of the impacts to our ratepayers.”Collins said it was a matter of public record he was Sohi’s official agent, which is an administrative role distinct from campaign manager or spokesperson. “It is largely a signing authority for official campaign documents and submissions,” he said. He called the procurement process at the City of Edmonton “very deliberately hived off from any input or influence from the elected council, including the Mayor, for fairly obvious reasons.” Sohi could not be reached for comment in time for publication.
