Meet Andrew Knack

Hi, I’m Andrew.

I first ran for City Council in 2007.

I was 23 and had just graduated the year before from the U of A with a degree in Commerce. I had just started working as an Assistant Manager at the Bose Store in West Edmonton Mall. I had been working in retail since I was 15 and while I enjoyed my time, I wasn't planning on staying in retail for my entire life.

While I had always been politically engaged, I never thought I would be the person running for political office. After some careful consideration, I ran and failed miserably, finishing a very distant third for the city council seat with 6,109 votes - only 13.9% of the vote. But that experience changed me. I woke up the next day and realized that serving others is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

I got more involved in our city. I joined the Meadowlark Community League and started working on a community engagement plan for the West LRT. In 2008 I moved across the street, and since I was now also on the boundary of the Jasper Park Community League I joined up with them too.

I started attending council meetings as often as I could to learn more about how things worked. By that time, I was managing that same business in West Edmonton Mall and interestingly enough, the schedule actually worked fairly well when it came to following the business of our city council. In 2010 I ran for council again, and this time I did better. The wards had just been split into 12 instead of six, and though I did not win a seat, I finished second with 33.8% of the vote.

While I was disappointed, the result motivated me to work even harder. I spent the next three years connecting with even more people, attending more council meetings, and advocating for the issues that were important to me and the people in my community. By the time I started campaigning in 2013, I was far more prepared to serve others than I had ever been before.

I quit my job four months before the election so that I could knock on every door in the ward at least once. I had saved up enough money so that if I was not given the opportunity to serve on council, I would have enough put away to last me about two months so I could find a new job.

October 21st, 2013 was one of the best days of my life. I was given the opportunity to serve all of you as part of Edmonton City Council, and I have dedicated all my energy to that role ever since.

I am consistently inspired by the people in this city. You are what motivates me to do everything possible to help us make Edmonton the best city it can be for every single resident. I learned early on, unless we are working together, there’s no way to achieve our goals.