Mike Nickel
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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.


Early life and education

Nickel was born in
Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...
and attended the
University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...
, earning a bachelor's degree in
political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...
in 1989 and subsequently a master's degree in statistics and media studies. During his time at university, Nickel served as president of the
University of Alberta Students' Union The University of Alberta Students' Union (UASU) is the student society that represents undergraduate students at the University of Alberta. Originally established in October 1908 as the Students' Council, the UASU is a non-profit corporation th ...
from 1985 to 1986 and was active in the
Delta Kappa Epsilon Delta Kappa Epsilon (), commonly known as ''DKE'' or ''Deke'', is one of the oldest Fraternities and sororities, fraternities in the United States, with fifty-six active chapters and five active Colony (fraternity or sorority), colonies across No ...
fraternity.


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 Janice Rhea Reimer (born May 23, 1952) is a Canadian politician and the first female mayor of Edmonton, Alberta, having served in that capacity from 1989 until 1995. Highlights of her time in office included the inception of a new waste manageme ...
for what they saw as anti-business policies. Reimer was defeated in that election by Bill Smith, against whom Nickel ran unsuccessfully in the
1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...
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 Donald L. Iveson (born May 30, 1979) is a Canadians, Canadian politician who served as mayor of Edmonton from 2013 to 2021. He was first elected as mayor in the 2013 Edmonton municipal election, 2013 municipal election with 62% of the vote, and w ...
, finishing third out of four candidates. In the
2013 Edmonton municipal election The 2013 Edmonton municipal election was held Monday, October 21, 2013 to elect a Mayor of Edmonton, mayor and 12 councillors to the Edmonton City Council, city council, seven of the nine trustees to Edmonton Public Schools, and the seven truste ...
, 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. While continuing to hold the elected municipal office for Ward 11, Nickel became a
United Conservative Party The United Conservative Party of Alberta (UCP) is a conservative political party in the province of Alberta, Canada. It was established in July 2017 as a merger between the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta and the Wildrose Party ...
nomination candidate for the electoral riding of
Edmonton-South Edmonton-South (previously styled Edmonton South) is a provincial electoral district in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The first iteration was used for the 1913 and 1917 provincial elections. The district was re-created for the 30th Alberta genera ...
in the
2019 Alberta general election The 2019 Alberta general election was held on April 16, 2019, to elect 87 members to the 30th Alberta Legislature. In its first general election contest, the Jason Kenney-led United Conservative Party (UCP) won 54.88% of the popular vote and 63 ...
. 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. He lost the nomination to Tunde Obasan, who was defeated in the general election by
New Democrat New Democrats may refer to: * New Democratic Party, a social democratic party in Canada * New Democrats (United States), the ideological centrist faction of the Democratic Party ** New Democrat Coalition, the related caucus in the United States H ...
Thomas Dang Thomas Kyle Dang (born April 7, 1995) is a former Canadian politician who was elected in the 2015 Alberta general election to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta representing the electoral district of Edmonton-South West. Dang is the youngest ...
. 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. 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. 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 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...
, marking his third run for the post. He finished second with 25% of the vote, losing to
Amarjeet Sohi Amarjeet Sohi (born March 8, 1964) is a Canadian politician serving as the 36th and current mayor of Edmonton since October 26, 2021. Sohi previously sat as a Liberal member of Parliament (MP) and served in the federal Cabinet from 2015 to 2 ...
. 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 A censure is an expression of strong disapproval or harsh criticism. In parliamentary procedure, it is a debatable main motion that could be adopted by a majority vote. Among the forms that it can take are a stern rebuke by a legislature, a sp ...
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. 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.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nickel, Mike 1965 births Businesspeople from Edmonton Living people Edmonton city councillors University of Alberta alumni 21st-century Canadian municipal councillors