Mike Nickel

{{Short description|Canadian politician (born 1965)}}

{{distinguish|Mike Nicol}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2022}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Mike Nickel

| office = Member of the Edmonton City Council

| image = Mike Nickel in 2016 (24688660614) (cropped).jpg

| imagesize =

| alt = Mike Nickel wearing suit and tie, looking right of camera

| caption = Nickel in 2016

| predecessor = Kerry Diotte

| successor = Keren Tang

| constituency = Ward 11

| alongside1 = Bryan Anderson

| predecessor1 = Larry Langley

| successor1 = Don Iveson

| constituency1 = Ward 5

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1965|4|27}}

| birth_place = Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

| party = United Conservative

| spouse = Leanne

| children = 2

| residence =

| alma_mater = University of Alberta

| occupation = Politician

| term_start = October 29, 2013

| term_end = October 26, 2021

| term_start1 = 2004

| term_end1 = 2007

| website =

}}

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.{{cite web |url=http://www.epl.ca/edmonton-history/edmonton-elections/biographies-mayors-and-councillors?id=N |title=Biographies of Mayors and Councillors | Edmonton Public Library |accessdate=January 12, 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110705052531/http://www.epl.ca/edmonton-history/edmonton-elections/biographies-mayors-and-councillors?id=N |archivedate=July 5, 2011 }}{{cite web |url=http://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/election-2013/ward-eleven/mike-nickel-ward-eleven-candidate |title=Mike Nickel - Ward Eleven Candidate |accessdate=June 12, 2015 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150614072723/http://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/election-2013/ward-eleven/mike-nickel-ward-eleven-candidate |archivedate=June 14, 2015 }}

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.{{Cite web|url=https://globalnews.ca/news/4256003/edmonton-city-councillor-mike-nickel-ucp-nomination/|title=Edmonton city councillor Mike Nickel seeks UCP nomination|website=Global News}} 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.{{cite web |url=http://repository.library.ualberta.ca/newspapers/GAT/1985/02/14/1/Ar00101.html |title=The Gateway, February 14, 1985, Page 1, Item Ar00101 |accessdate=March 29, 2007 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20120714203704/http://repository.library.ualberta.ca/newspapers/GAT/1985/02/14/1/Ar00101.html |archivedate=July 14, 2012 }}

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.Rod Ziegler (May 26, 1995) [https://www.newspapers.com/image/?clipping_id=62478014&fcfToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJmcmVlLXZpZXctaWQiOjQ3NTU3MDAyOSwiaWF0IjoxNjE4ODY0OTU3LCJleHAiOjE2MTg5NTEzNTd9.W-cBhgjfXvfEcJGU1UuaPS4-GSDVW_6UtxC_Vh6p-eQ "Stickmen take pokes at council"]. Edmonton Journal. Retrieved April 19, 2021.{{Cite web|last=Alexandra|first=Zabjek|date=August 16, 2014|title=Mike Nickel wants to get To the Point with a new TV show|url=https://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/mike-nickel-wants-to-get-to-the-point-with-a-new-tv-show|access-date=April 24, 2021|website=edmontonjournal|language=en-CA}} 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.{{Cite news|last=Ruttan|first=Susan|date=October 15, 2007|title=Big Upset|work=Edmonton Journal|url=http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/story.html?id=21c71a18-68e6-41da-82d9-4266f10b0ce1&k=12083|url-status=dead|access-date=|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071018004706/http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/story.html?id=21c71a18-68e6-41da-82d9-4266f10b0ce1&k=12083|archive-date=October 18, 2007}}

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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.edmonton.ca/city_government/municipal_elections/2017-election-results.aspx|title=2017 Election Results|first=City of|last=Edmonton|date=April 6, 2021|website=www.edmonton.ca}}

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.{{Cite web|url=http://www.elections.ab.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019Boundaries_ED42_EDMONTON_SOUTH.pdf|title=Alberta Election 2019 Riding Boundary of Edmonton-South}} 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.{{Cite news|last=Riebe|first=Natasha|date=June 6, 2018|title=City councillor Mike Nickel seeks UCP nomination in Edmonton-South|work=CBC|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/edmonton-mike-nickel-ucp-1.4694173|access-date=June 16, 2021}}{{Cite web|url=https://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/mike-nickel-announces-his-plans-for-this-term|title=Ward 11 Coun. Mike Nickel seeks UCP nomination in Edmonton-South|website=edmontonjournal}}{{Cite web|url=https://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/coun-mike-nickel-seeks-nomination-for-ucp-in-edmonton-south|title=Coun. Mike Nickel seeks nomination for UCP in Edmonton-South|website=edmontonjournal}} He lost the nomination to Tunde Obasan,{{cite news |last=Kornik |first=Slav |date=November 21, 2018 |title=Edmonton city Coun. Mike Nickel loses UCP nomination bid |url=https://globalnews.ca/news/4684381/edmonton-counc-mike-nickel-loses-ucp-nomination-bid/ |work=Global News |access-date=August 30, 2019}} who was defeated in the general election by New Democrat Thomas Dang.{{cite news |last=van Diest |first=Derek |date=April 16, 2019 |title=Results: Edmonton-South kept NDP by incumbent Thomas Dang |url=https://edmontonjournal.com/news/politics/results-edmonton-south-kept-ndp-by-incumbent-thomas-dang |work=Edmonton Journal |location=Edmonton |access-date=August 30, 2019}}

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.{{cite web |last1=Pytel |first1=Jamie |title=Investigative Report into Complaints 2001 to 2010 |url=https://pub-edmonton.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=2254 |publisher=Office of the Integrity Commissioner |access-date=January 29, 2021}} 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.{{cite web |title=Coun. Nickel narrowly escapes sanction after 'disrespectful, misleading' posts |url=https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/coun-nickel-narrowly-escapes-sanction-after-disrespectful-misleading-posts-1.5090457 |website=CTV News Edmonton|date=September 2, 2020 }}

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.{{cite news |last1=Ramsay |first1=Caley |title=Edmonton city councillor Mike Nickel running for mayor in 2021 election. |url=https://globalnews.ca/news/7595088/mike-nickel-candidate-edmonton-mayoral-race/ |access-date=January 28, 2021 |agency=Global Edmonton |ref=7595088}}{{cite web|last1=Cournoyer|first1=Dave|title=Mike Nickel running for mayor for a third time|url=https://daveberta.ca/2021/01/mike-nickel-running-for-mayor-for-a-third-time/|access-date=January 29, 2021|website=Daveberta|date=January 20, 2021 }} He finished second with 25% of the vote, losing to Amarjeet Sohi.{{cite web|title=Edmonton Election 2021: Amarjeet Sohi Elected Mayor |url=https://globalnews.ca/news/8266564/edmonton-election-2021-mayor-amarjeet-sohi/ |website=globalnews.ca |date=October 18, 2021 |access-date=October 19, 2021}}

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.{{Cite web|last=Cook|first=Dustin|date=June 10, 2021|title=Edmonton city councillor Mike Nickel again found in violation of code of conduct, facing sanction hearings for recommended censure|url=https://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/edmonton-city-councillor-mike-nickel-again-found-in-violation-of-code-of-conduct-facing-sanction-hearings-for-recommended-censure|access-date=June 11, 2021|website=Edmonton Journal|language=en-CA}} 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.{{Cite web|date=June 24, 2021|title=Mike Nickel escapes reprimand for violating council's code of conduct|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/mike-nickel-code-violations-emails-1.6079041|access-date=July 5, 2021|website=CBC News}}

References

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