Alberta’s opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) has chosen former Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi as its new leader, party officials announced on Saturday.
He will lead the NDP against Premier Danielle Smith’s conservative government in Canada’s main oil-producing province.
Nenshi became the first Muslim mayor of a major North American city when he was elected in 2010 and governed Canada’s corporate oil capital until he stepped down in 2021.
During that time he was widely praised for his handling of the 2013 floods that devastated parts of Calgary, but also drew accusations of arrogance from some critics over the years.
Nenshi won the first ballot of the NDP leadership race with an overwhelming 86% of the vote, and said he was looking forward to the next provincial election in 2027.
I guess that’s a good thing?
Nenshi was a good mayor. Moreover he is a human being, or appears to be (politicians are always suspect).
Nenshi was a good mayor with a meh council and his frustration with dumb political issues came forth in ways that felt like actual human emotions, even if some people thought he was arrogant.
He was pretty obviously the right choice here. Everyone’s platforms were basically the same. Ganley and Stonehouse are basically unknown, and Hoffman is more known for being the overweight health minister than anything else, unfair though that may be. He is the most recognizable of the leadership candidates by a mile, he has actual demonstrated leadership abilities we hardly see from anyone nowadays, and Calgarians generally like him. The only major downside is that he’s not a currently sitting MLA, but he would probably win any riding in Calgary handily.
Calgary is pretty much a swing city at this point, since Edmonton goes mostly NDP and the smaller regions mostly go UCP, so someone Calgary can get behind is automatically a huge bonus. There’s a better chance of seeing another NDP government under him than basically anyone else in the province.
