Calgary mayor in battle for his political life
Awarded World Mayor Prize in 2014, Nenshi now facing tough test from opponent
CALGARY— He’s hip, funny, well-educated and widely known across Canada, but Naheed Nenshi is facing the fight of his political life on Monday as he seeks his third term as Calgary’s mayor.
During his two previous terms, Nenshi was named the No.1 mayor in the world by an international urban research institute and feted with the World Mayor Prize in 2014. He has been praised as an “urban visionary,” who doesn’t neglect the nitty-gritty of local government.
But Calgary’s struggling economy and a number of missteps have opened the door in Monday’s civic election for Bill Smith, 54, a Calgary lawyer and former firefighter who was president of Alberta’s Progressive Conservative Party.
“A month ago we were all saying that it’s hard to kick out an incum- bent and Bill Smith had no name recognition back then,” independent pollster Janet Brown said.
“The fact that we’re even thinking it’s a competitive race is unprecedented in Calgary politics. We haven’t seen an incumbent mayor defeated since Ralph Klein won in the early ’80s.”
Nenshi said he never expected to sleepwalk through this campaign.
“OK, maybe I’m irritating. Maybe you don’t want to have a coffee with me,” Nenshi said.
“But I think what we really should be making decisions on is what kind of a community are we trying to build.”
The campaign has been a lot less fun than previous years, he admitted.
“It has been nasty. It’s been vitriolic,” he said. “The thing about me is that I put myself out there every single day. And like Popeye, ‘I yam what I yam.’ I don’t try to hide it.”
Smith said Calgarians are frustrated with rising taxes, high office-vacancy rates and a struggling economy.
“Nobody sees any hope in sight in terms of a recovery on the energy side. What we’re getting is increased taxes at the civic level, at the provincial level and the federal level,” Smith said.
“There’s just a real general feeling of discontent.”