“I pitch this city across Canada, and when I make that pitch, it may surprise you to know, I always get the same question. And I bet that question is going to surprise you, because you live here and you wouldn’t think this is a question.
“And the question I always get is: ‘Is Calgary welcoming? Is it homophobic? Is it racist? Is it diverse? Will not only I be accepted, but will my friends be accepted?’
“And, of course, I always say: ‘Look at me. I’m the mayor. We’re very welcoming, and for the vast majority of us, this place – our home – is the absolute epitome of meritocracy, of multiculturalism, of pluralism, of support, and of success.’
“But, I’ve got to tell you, the last couple of weeks in the provincial legislature have not made my job any easier.
“This damaging and hateful debate that we’ve been having in the provincial legislature around Bill 202 and Bill 10 does nothing but reinforce negative stereotypes.
“Two weeks ago, a member of the legislative assembly got up and proposed a bill that said any kid in school can set up a club and suddenly our provincial legislators – in a time when the price of oil is dropping, in a time when our infrastructure needs are extraordinary, in a time when we have urban and regional issues that we’ve got to get more done on – spent two weeks talking about what club a kid in school can join or not.
“How ridiculous is that?
“How additionally ridiculous is it that we know that these clubs help kids stay safe?
“We know that these clubs prevent suicide, among a group where one third of the kids attempt suicide, and we have the gall to say: ‘We have to balance off your rights.’ That your rights don’t include the right to be safe? To have support to prevent you from attempting suicide?
“What kind of a world do we live in here?
“So thank you very much to the premier – who is a good guy – for putting the brakes on this thing, and putting this thing on pause, because what was happening was dangerous. By saying not all rights are absolute, the government seemed to be saying that our children don’t have the right to be safe. That’s not right. That’s not fair.
“I could go on. OK, I will.
“If we say that we live in a city where we were thinking it would be OK for a 15-year-old to appear before a judge to ask the judge if the 15-year-old can start a club in his school that no one would be forced to belong to, well folks, that would the Scopes Monkey Trial of Alberta.
EDIT: Video Link from Bunk. It's all worth a listen but the part above is at 41:45:
Last edited by chemgear; 12-12-2014 at 06:03 PM.
Reason: Stealing video from Bunk at post#26
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Off topic question - do any of you Calgarians know if Nenshi has any aspirations of running for federal politics?
He strikes me as the type of person who would not. He is not a "party politician". He can be a little bit hot-headed and people who do well in party politics tend to be a bit more diplomatic.
We are lucky to have him as our Mayor, but when he's finished with that, I bet he goes back into the private sector, or continues to teach, or both.
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I've been hoping a Bill 10 / Bill 202 thread would show up, since I didn't get around to starting it myself.
Should've just passed 202 and been done with it.
I was more waiting to see who would start the thread. If Bill 10 was a Wildrose initiative, the thread would have been started the second it was proposed. I'm not surprised that certain posters kind of ignored it since it was a PC bill.
Not an impressive start for Prentice on his first major act as premier, and his backtracking on it was hilarious. To his credit, however, he was willing to backtrack when faced with public opposition rather than dig his heels. So he doesn't come out as far behind as he could have, or as someone like Redford would have.
As far as Nenshi's comments go, bang on. Not just in his commentary regarding Bill 10, but in his backhanded shots at intergovernmental relationships. If he were to jump to provincial politics, it would be hard not to vote for him. Even if he ran as a Liberal.
He strikes me as the type of person who would not. He is not a "party politician". He can be a little bit hot-headed and people who do well in party politics tend to be a bit more diplomatic.
We are lucky to have him as our Mayor, but when he's finished with that, I bet he goes back into the private sector, or continues to teach, or both.
I couldn't disagree more. He is more than likely done with civic politics after this term, and if that speech is any indication, will be in the provincial or even federal arena shortly thereafter.
I couldn't disagree more. He is more than likely done with civic politics after this term, and if that speech is any indication, will be in the provincial or even federal arena shortly thereafter.
I think he would do well as the leader of a provincial or federal party, but as mentioned, being a backbencher and not really making much of a difference isn't his style. Couldn't see him doing that at all.
I was more waiting to see who would start the thread. If Bill 10 was a Wildrose initiative, the thread would have been started the second it was proposed. I'm not surprised that certain posters kind of ignored it since it was a PC bill.
Not an impressive start for Prentice on his first major act as premier, and his backtracking on it was hilarious. To his credit, however, he was willing to backtrack when faced with public opposition rather than dig his heels. So he doesn't come out as far behind as he could have, or as someone like Redford would have.
As far as Nenshi's comments go, bang on. Not just in his commentary regarding Bill 10, but in his backhanded shots at intergovernmental relationships. If he were to jump to provincial politics, it would be hard not to vote for him. Even if he ran as a Liberal.
You touched on a second question that I was wondering about. If he made the jump to federal politics would he run as a Liberal or a Conservative?
I'm totally in favour of his position here and my only curiousity is why he didn't speak out a few weeks ago when it looked like bill 10 was going to be rammed through.
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I'm totally in favour of his position here and my only curiousity is why he didn't speak out a few weeks ago when it looked like bill 10 was going to be rammed through.
To let proper provincial legislative process take its course, without interfering?
I'm totally in favour of his position here and my only curiousity is why he didn't speak out a few weeks ago when it looked like bill 10 was going to be rammed through.
I doubt he knew how much time would be wasted debating this.
Also - why does the Calgary mayor have to bring public commentary to the Alberta public on a provincial issue? Not sure why the Liberal Party - Raj Sherman, Kent Hehr or David Swan or whomever - didn't raise this with a more public profile. God knows the Wildrose won't do it.
Nenshi is far too smart to waste his time and join the NDP. He's probably the 2nd or 3rd most popular politician in the entire country. No way he doesn't run for a leadership position. I honestly see him as PM in 10-15 years.
As has been said before - there are all kinds of "levels" or "types" of conservatives in Alberta...
I doubt he knew how much time would be wasted debating this.
Also - why does the Calgary mayor have to bring public commentary to the Alberta public on a provincial issue? Not sure why the Liberal Party - Raj Sherman, Kent Hehr or David Swan or whomever - didn't raise this with a more public profile. God knows the Wildrose won't do it.
Kent Hehr has already tried that approach introducing motion 503.
He got some press out of it.
We talked about it on CP as well.
Ultimately, it got voted down by the majority of MLAs in the province.
That's probably why it didn't get raised with more of a public profile; in Alberta for some reason it's still a hot button issue that isn't publicly accepted.
I doubt he knew how much time would be wasted debating this.
Also - why does the Calgary mayor have to bring public commentary to the Alberta public on a provincial issue? Not sure why the Liberal Party - Raj Sherman, Kent Hehr or David Swan or whomever - didn't raise this with a more public profile. God knows the Wildrose won't do it.
God knows that the Liberals had tried. I mean Kent Hehr brought forth motion 503 last spring to press this issue and the PCs and Wildrose killed it. Then Laurie Blakeman had bill 202 which was subsequently killed by bill 10. Frankly, the Liberals have been pressing to bring this issue forward.
Also - why does the Calgary mayor have to bring public commentary to the Alberta public on a provincial issue? Not sure why the Liberal Party - Raj Sherman, Kent Hehr or David Swan or whomever - didn't raise this with a more public profile. God knows the Wildrose won't do it.
Kent Hehr (and also Laurie Blakeman, the original sponsor of Bill 202) has already been beating this drum for weeks.
To let proper provincial legislative process take its course, without interfering?
That's pretty lame if true. If he believes its as bad as he says today then he should've come out against it at that time. I'm pretty sure that the mayor of Edmonton spoke out against it during that time frame.
This is likely a dumb question. I don't follow politics closely enough. Isn't it a bit non-traditional to follow a career progression from municipal to federal politics?
How many federal MP's and ministers started out in municipal?
Mayor Naheed Nenshi on Bill 10
