Did Naheed Nenshi simply wake up one morning and decide to start denigrating those disagreeing with him, or was it the drip, drip, drip of politics that turned him into an angry man?
Because the former Calgary mayor — and would-be provincial NDP leader — didn’t always appear to be a person who’d throw out spurious white supremacy accusations against protesting truck drivers, deride council colleagues for getting ‘blotto’ on the job yet refuse to name them, or, just last week, call Alberta’s premier a compulsive liar leading an immoral government.
When first causing a political stir by winning Calgary’s mayoral election in 2010, Nenshi seemed a model of warm-hearted inclusiveness in praising opponents Barb Higgins and Ric McIver afterward. “We have to thank Ms. Higgins for everything she’s done for this city,” said the triumphant new mayor, calling McIver “an outstanding leader for this city.”
Back then, religion wasn’t mentioned. That Nenshi was Muslim didn’t matter to Calgarians and it played little part in the campaign. Only later did that ‘first big-city Muslim mayor’ moniker emerge, initially sparked by central Canadian media surprise that we didn’t dress in white robes come election day, after all.
Nenshi himself quickly grasped that title and has run with it ever since, something that helped make waves internationally, especially after becoming the beaming symbol of a Calgary pulling together in the dreadful flood of 2013.
By the 2019 mayoral vote, race was front and centre, with Nenshi appearing on a video alongside Mashhood Qazi, president of the Sindhi Association’s southern Alberta chapter, to ask for the Pakistani community’s support as forces backing his opponent were trying to get people “who might be haters and racists out to vote.”
If that wasn’t playing the race card, then someone tampered with the deck.
So, Nenshi’s back and immediately sucking up all the oxygen in the NDP’s campaign to replace Rachel Notley, even though he wasn’t even a party member this time last year.
Pity those who have been NDP members for decades and thought they might finally have a shot at the top job. Poof, they’re political roadkill beneath the wheels of the Nenshi machine.
We’ll soon see if there’s any party faithful pushback or will they meekly step aside and hail what will in effect become the Nenshi Democratic Party? (It’s true that Danielle Smith also hijacked the campaign to replace Jason Kenney as premier, much to the chagrin of many longtime Tories, who’d watched her cross the floor from the Wildrose years earlier. But at least Smith did so through policy promises — particularly the controversial Alberta Sovereignty proposal — rather than assuming she was ordained as the only suitable contender.)
So, to pose the question again: was it politics that turned Nenshi into such a bully in the eyes of many? Because, despite the blather about diversity, it’s his way or the highway, and anyone opposing this setup should prepare to be lectured, dismissed or reviled.
However, maybe this personality trait was hiding in plain sight from the political get-go. Returning to that come-from-behind victory all those years ago, when he first stepped into the political limelight, beaming that wonderful smile and talking so eloquently of inclusiveness and a bright Calgary dawn with him in the mayoral chair, there was a telling moment.
“Today, Calgary is a different place than it was yesterday. A better place,” he told celebrating supporters that election night. As though Calgary itself had been raised to some higher plane simply by choosing Nenshi as mayor.
So where could such arrogance eventually lead, if left unchecked? Well, perhaps to a place where those who don’t vote appropriately are de facto deemed racists and haters.
And where have we heard similar talk from an initially jubilant politician?
“Canada is back.” Remember that utterance from a freshly elected prime minister called Justin Trudeau in 2015?
Yes, the cult of personality is straddling our land.
Chris Nelson is a regular Herald columnist.
Nelson: Naheed Nenshi's journey toward endless anger
10
2
21.03.2024
Did Naheed Nenshi simply wake up one morning and decide to start denigrating those disagreeing with him, or was it the drip, drip, drip of politics that turned him into an angry man?
Because the former Calgary mayor — and would-be provincial NDP leader — didn’t always appear to be a person who’d throw out spurious white supremacy accusations against protesting truck drivers, deride council colleagues for getting ‘blotto’ on the job yet refuse to name them, or, just last week, call Alberta’s premier a compulsive liar leading an immoral government.
When first causing a political stir by winning Calgary’s mayoral election in 2010, Nenshi seemed a model of warm-hearted inclusiveness in praising opponents Barb Higgins and Ric McIver afterward. “We have to thank Ms. Higgins for everything she’s done for this city,” said the triumphant new mayor, calling McIver “an outstanding leader for this city.”
Back then, religion wasn’t mentioned. That Nenshi was Muslim didn’t matter to Calgarians and it played........
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