Alberta Politics & Government Thread 3.0

[PepsiFree]

Nenshi is literally nothing like Trump OR Trudeau. Absurd comment.

[Puppet Guy]

Trudeau...Trump...and Nenshi...

[Looch City]

No, he's literally HITLER.

[corporatejay]

nm

[iggy_oi]

The desperation to attack Nenshi’s character at all costs to distract from the current governing party’s train wreck of a performance so far will only get worse over the next 3 years.

[curves2000]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

Nenshi is literally nothing like Trump OR Trudeau. Absurd comment.

Of course we know Nenshi isn't like Trudeau, Trump or whomever. I am not comparing policy, that's not the point.

The point was brought up that he becomes insufferable as a person because he thinks he is the smartest person in the room, and he may very well be, but that also leads to serious mistakes and hubris, which is a negative trait.

Don't believe me? How do you go from Worlds Greatest Mayor to the lowest polling numbers in 40+ years over a short period of time? If you live in Calgary like I do, I guess we as Calgarian's must just be very stupid people.

Our current mayor Gondek thinks she's substantially smarter and better than Nenshi, what is the chance she wins another election?

Nenshi just recently commented on how big of a mistake Calgary made with the 2026 Olympics voting no. He still think's today that was a good idea despite it failing miserably then. I think 60% of votes said no.

He was pushing for a Calgary Olympics on the cheap, with some events being held in Vancouver/Whistler, with hopes of renovating really old facilities and more. He continues to push this despite Covid having happened, inflation, construction costs and the IOC literally struggling to find places who want to host these games these days because of costs. He knows better, others don't know ****

Where he becomes insufferable is how he would argue with YOU or ME about what our CP names are, despite having never been on the site. He would be smarter than you and, and we would be wrong.

I actually don't mind him as NDP Leader or his time as mayor but his schtick will get tiring provincially if he NEVER takes the LOSS on a single item.

[Fighting Banana Slug]

Originally Posted by curves2000

Of course we know Nenshi isn't like Trudeau, Trump or whomever. I am not comparing policy, that's not the point.

The point was brought up that he becomes insufferable as a person because he thinks he is the smartest person in the room, and he may very well be, but that also leads to serious mistakes and hubris, which is a negative trait.

Don't believe me? How do you go from Worlds Greatest Mayor to the lowest polling numbers in 40+ years over a short period of time? If you live in Calgary like I do, I guess we as Calgarian's must just be very stupid people.

Our current mayor Gondek thinks she's substantially smarter and better than Nenshi, what is the chance she wins another election?

Nenshi just recently commented on how big of a mistake Calgary made with the 2026 Olympics voting no. He still think's today that was a good idea despite it failing miserably then. I think 60% of votes said no.

He was pushing for a Calgary Olympics on the cheap, with some events being held in Vancouver/Whistler, with hopes of renovating really old facilities and more. He continues to push this despite Covid having happened, inflation, construction costs and the IOC literally struggling to find places who want to host these games these days because of costs. He knows better, others don't know ****

Where he becomes insufferable is how he would argue with YOU or ME about what our CP names are, despite having never been on the site. He would be smarter than you and, and we would be wrong.

I actually don't mind him as NDP Leader or his time as mayor but his schtick will get tiring provincially if he NEVER takes the LOSS on a single item.

When he does that, I will call him insufferable. Until then, you are just making stuff up.

Nenshi had good ideas and he had bad ones. The good far outweighed the bad in my opinion.

[Muta]

Originally Posted by curves2000

Nenshi just recently commented on how big of a mistake Calgary made with the 2026 Olympics voting no. He still think's today that was a good idea despite it failing miserably then. I think 60% of votes said no.

He was pushing for a Calgary Olympics on the cheap, with some events being held in Vancouver/Whistler, with hopes of renovating really old facilities and more. He continues to push this despite Covid having happened, inflation, construction costs and the IOC literally struggling to find places who want to host these games these days because of costs. He knows better, others don't know ****

He's right though. It wasn't communicated well at the time, but for every $1 the city invested, we would have seen $5 returned - from the Province, the Feds, the IOC, and private investment. This was a very unique opportunity to have had our badly-outdated municipal facilities/infrastructure repaired/built/paid for by the rest of Canada and others - including for the new arena. Now we have to figure out how to do it ourselves going forward (well not the arena, that's now costing even more and we all know the story there).

If you ever wanted the rest of Canada to help pay for stuff in Alberta, this was it.

[TheIronMaiden]

It doesn't really matter what Nenshi is like as a person or what his policy is.
The odds of a party that is not the a conservative party winning an election in Alberta is next to zero.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by curves2000

Of course we know Nenshi isn't like Trudeau, Trump or whomever. I am not comparing policy, that's not the point.

The point was brought up that he becomes insufferable as a person because he thinks he is the smartest person in the room, and he may very well be, but that also leads to serious mistakes and hubris, which is a negative trait.

Don't believe me? How do you go from Worlds Greatest Mayor to the lowest polling numbers in 40+ years over a short period of time? If you live in Calgary like I do, I guess we as Calgarian's must just be very stupid people.

Our current mayor Gondek thinks she's substantially smarter and better than Nenshi, what is the chance she wins another election?

Nenshi just recently commented on how big of a mistake Calgary made with the 2026 Olympics voting no. He still think's today that was a good idea despite it failing miserably then. I think 60% of votes said no.

He was pushing for a Calgary Olympics on the cheap, with some events being held in Vancouver/Whistler, with hopes of renovating really old facilities and more. He continues to push this despite Covid having happened, inflation, construction costs and the IOC literally struggling to find places who want to host these games these days because of costs. He knows better, others don't know ****

Where he becomes insufferable is how he would argue with YOU or ME about what our CP names are, despite having never been on the site. He would be smarter than you and, and we would be wrong.

I actually don't mind him as NDP Leader or his time as mayor but his schtick will get tiring provincially if he NEVER takes the LOSS on a single item.

Poster criticizes Nenshi for overestimating Nenshi's own knowledge by poster overestimating poster's knowledge of Nenshi.

Classic.

[curves2000]

Originally Posted by TheIronMaiden

It doesn't really matter what Nenshi is like as a person or what his policy is.
The odds of a party that is not the a conservative party winning an election in Alberta is next to zero.

Nenshi can and will be a political force if he wins the leadership in my opinion. Despite what others may think, he schtick won't play well in rural Alberta unless he changes his tune and the way he approaches working class people.

Ironically he came from working class immigrant parents, but sometimes hubris and ego take over and you forget where you came from.

He might be able to win an election with mostly Calgary and Edmonton but he won't be able to hold long term unless he brings on smaller cities and the rural vote as well. The Alberta NDP can win and hold Alberta for a while, but they need to be smarter about it, and I am speaking as someone who's a Conservative but isn't happy with the UCP.

[Lubicon]

Originally Posted by Zarley

Good lord, Nenshi is insufferable. Such an arrogant guy.

Originally Posted by iggy_oi

The desperation to attack Nenshi’s character at all costs to distract from the current governing party’s train wreck of a performance so far will only get worse over the next 3 years.

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Gonna be awesome when he uses that arrogance to really undress Smith and here absolute incompetence.

UCP is absolutely going to try and use this against him, and it's going to be successful with their base.

Spendshi, Turdeau-Singh-Nenshi alliance etc. etc.

They will do everything they can to discredit him, lump him in with the federal parties, play him up as an intellectual elite etc.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by curves2000

Nenshi can and will be a political force if he wins the leadership in my opinion. Despite what others may think, he schtick won't play well in rural Alberta unless he changes his tune and the way he approaches working class people.

Ironically he came from working class immigrant parents, but sometimes hubris and ego take over and you forget where you came from.

He might be able to win an election with mostly Calgary and Edmonton but he won't be able to hold long term unless he brings on smaller cities and the rural vote as well. The Alberta NDP can win and hold Alberta for a while, but they need to be smarter about it, and I am speaking as someone who's a Conservative but isn't happy with the UCP.

I watched his last meeting as mayor with whatever they called the group of mayors for all the municipalities in the Calgary/Southern Alberta region. He seemed respected and well liked by all of the rural small town leaders.

[CliffFletcher]

Nenshi doesn’t have his reputation because he’s smart. Al Duerr was smart, and nobody called him arrogant. He has his reputation because he’s belligerent, and dismissive of anyone who has a different opinion. Which is great for dunking on opponents, not so great for persuading people and building consensus.

He’s Calgary’s first mayor who rode in on a social media wave, so maybe we shouldn’t be surprised at the snarky style. I just hope his comms people can manage his social media activity better. Getting drawn into twitter spats isn’t a great look if you’re campaigning as the serious candidate.

[MoneyGuy]

Originally Posted by TheIronMaiden

It doesn't really matter what Nenshi is like as a person or what his policy is.
The odds of a party that is not the a conservative party winning an election in Alberta is next to zero.

I think if an election was held today with Nenshi as its leader I think the NDP would win.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

Nenshi doesn’t have his reputation because he’s smart. Al Duerr was smart, and nobody called him arrogant. He has his reputation because he’s belligerent, and dismissive of anyone who has a different opinion. Which is great for dunking on opponents, not so great for persuading people and building consensus.

He’s Calgary’s first mayor who rode in on a social media wave, so maybe we shouldn’t be surprised at the snarky style. I just hope his comms people can manage his social media activity better. Getting drawn into twitter spats isn’t a great look if you’re campaigning as the serious candidate.

This comes across as someone who just emerged from a coma, missing how elections have been won over the last decade.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by Bill Bumface

This comes across as someone who just emerged from a coma, missing how elections have been won over the last decade.

I don’t remember Notley being particularly antagonistic and getting into lengthy twitter spats with political opponents, reporters, etc. the way Nenshi has.

And the arrogant part isn’t just coming from butthurt conservatives who he pwned. Lots of intelligent people who he has worked closely with have remarked on it.

As the publicly reported anecdotes accumulated about Nenshi’s spats with councillors or business figures—plus the occasional dash of Twitter cattiness—Nenshi’s image lost some lustre. In the public imagination, there’s a thin line between Harvard-educated visionary and know-it-all, between confidence and arrogance, says Stephen Carter, chief strategist on Nenshi’s first campaign. He recalls the 2010 election team drilling Nenshi out of his tendency to tilt his head back and close his eyelids before responding to questions—it gave off a subtle professorial haughtiness. He’s noticed it creeping back over the years. “When you kind of know Nenshi, his charm is pretty spectacular,” Carter says. “When you really know Nenshi, his arrogance overcomes his charm.”

https://macleans.ca/politics/naheed-...-back-to-earth

I know people who worked at City Hall during Nenshi’s tenure. They felt the same way.

From the same article:

He is by no means the only public figure to reach this point, but few had invested so much of their personal brands in digital chitchat. “He’s advised all councillors: don’t get into conversations on social media,” says Carra. “It’s a waste of your time, and it’s not good for your mental health.”

So Nenshi himself recognizes his social media activity has been counterproductive.

[Cappy]

I haven't seen a political leader "build consensus" since the Montreal Protocols.

Nothing in Smith's leadership has sought to build consensus. In fact, it has been the opposite. Pushing through majority-opposed policies while agitating the Federal Government at every step.

I personally don't think there is any type of consensus that could be gained between a Nenshi led NDP and a Parker led UCP.

[Cappy]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

I don’t remember Notley being particularly antagonistic and getting into lengthy twitter spats with political opponents, reporters, etc.

But PP is praised for this schtick nowadays.

Somehow, if Nenshi does it, he is insufferable to all.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

I don’t remember Notley being particularly antagonistic and getting into lengthy twitter spats with political opponents, reporters, etc.

Yes, nearly a decade ago. Smith made a meal out of her using the unfortunately prevalent current playbook of tactics.