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Calgary breaking new ground
October 19, 2010 - 10:45am
Calgary, Canada's 3rd largest city, has just elected the first Canadian Muslim Mayor.
Nenshi's religion didn't factor into the political race until last month,
Ironic how here in Toronto, with less than a wk to go before we elect a new mayor, that we're down to 3 white guys. And 2 of them are right-wing.
How progressive is this new Calgary mayor? Not trying to be provocative - I just don't know anything about him.
To be fair - much as I dislike Smitherman there is someone thing to be said for the fact that if he wins - Canada's largest city will have an openly gay mayor - something utterly inconceivable just a few years ago.
All I know about calgary is that the guy Nenshi defeated was backed by Harper's organization and had tied to the Wildrose Alliance etc... - so at the very least we can say that Nenshi is "non-rightwing".
Yeah, the three top contenders were each leading at one point or another and at one time the results were 32%, 32%, 31%. That was one hell of a nail-bighter of an election last night.
BTW, remind, I was rootin' for Barb Higgins, OK?
Final Result:
Naheed Nenshi - 40%
Ric McIver - 32%
Barb Higgins - 26%
The top three contenders politically categorized:
1. McIver was originally elected from the far right but has tried to move towards the centre and into PC territory. So basically the right to centre-right.
2. Higgins is a pretty moderate centre-left candidate pulling PC to Liberal with an endorsement from the NDP candidate (which is not based on any kind of real left wing policies).
3. Nenshi is a bit harder to peg, kind of like the Green Party. He is the sustainable development/urban candidate and relatively pro-business. So he pulls a bit of a mishmash of support due to policies that are relatively difficult to place on a left-right spectrum. Sustainable development, like the environment, can pull voters from just about anywhere. If I had to say I put him with Higgins on the centre-left.
At least with Nenshi, Calgary has a quasi progressive small "g" green at the helm - kind of like Vancouver's Gregor Robertson.
Contrast that to Toronto, who appears likely to elect right-wing buffoon Rob Ford!!!
Fine with me centrist, as I was not hoping for anyone, not even my 2nd cousin.
But was surprised about Nenshi nonetheless
Anytime anyone of the Harper gang gets a beat down, its a good thing.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/calgarys-naheed-nenshi-becomes-canadas-first-muslim-mayor/article1762765/
"He defeated two better-funded candidates, including one backed by Stephen Harper's campaign team, and saw his support surge
in the final few weeks."
As the kidz like to say: "ELEVENTY!1!1! ZOMG Albertans elected a Muslim!
At least that's how CBC Radio more or less reported this surprise outcome as their LEAD national story this morning.
Nonetheless, congrats to Nenshi for defeating a Harper backed candidate. Wished the CBC had reported that fact.
I think that when people are willing to vote for candidates who are visible or sexual minorities - it shows some level of acceptance of diversity and some level of absence of discrimination. It sure beats the alternative (ie: people systematically voting against anyone who was gay or Muslim or Jewish or whatever). The more barrier we can break down the better!
@Centrist
Higgins as moderate centre-left??? Surely you jest. Even given the distorted political spectrum of this city, that is really a stretch.
It is a little easier to categorize the front running three "by the company they keep".
McIvor, as has been noted elsewhere, was receiving organizational help from the Federal Cons... and his support (and both the wards he actually carried) were the hard-core Reform heartland. His provincial PC support (from the faces that kept popping up at his headquarters) were very much of the Ted Morton camp.
Higgins, insofar as she had any political profile prior to this election, surrounded herself with provincial PC movers and shakers (albeit, of the Jim Dinning camp). I think a certain amount of credence has to be given to the suggestion that she was the PC's cat's paw... her campaign can charitably be characterized as a series of platitudes that appeal to the PC base in this city. That Bob Hawkesworth (a former NDP MLA) withdrew from the race and endorsed her (5 days before the actual vote) seemed to be based more on his adopting an "anybody but McIvor" viewpoint than on Ms. Higgin's position on the spectrum. Indeed, it was somewhat painful to watch him justify his "we have agreed to disagree on some issues" announcement when on (the few) issues where Higgins actually had a policy position, it was contrary to the position Hawkesworth had been running on.
Nenshi, in contrast to the other two-front runners, is most notable for NOT having any of the "usual suspects" front and centre in his campaign. If he were running elsewhere in the country (where the spectrum is a bit less distorted) he would probably be lumped in on the centre-left: he was an important voice in fighting the attempt to privatize (or more accurately, give away... at fire sale savings) the municipally owned Enmax (the electrical utility corporation) a few years back, and characterizing him as "relatively pro-busisness" seems to gloss over that, while he taught at Mount Royal Univerity's Bissett School of Business, his position is actually as the (first) tenured professor in the field of nonprofit management.
It was interesting that the right-wing Calgary Sun endorsed Nenshi in the campaign. Who woulda thunk?
BTW, here's an overview of the political polling during the campaign, where Nenshi was a nobody at the beginning and how things can turn on a dime in the final stretch of a campaign:
[Image resized by moderator]
This marks the first (and probably the only) time I will quote a Calgary Herald editorial, approvingly.
Perhaps the Globe and Mail and CBC will get over the shock sooner rather than later (although I wouldn't count on that, the scripting of their stories is always pretty formulaic).
And perhaps they will put in a little effort to examine what smear tactics were actually employed during the course of the election-- the baiting that the right wing dirty tricks squad were attempting to pull (OMG, Nenshi is 38, single and living at home with his mother and sister...) -- the online comments were remarkably consistent. Not that I am saying Rob Anders was directly involved in deep mining... I wouldn't want to expose babble to liability concerns.
One of the more positive developments this early on is that the Calgary Police Chief (Rick Hansen) is having to offer an olive branch to the mayor-elect. Having attacked Nenshi earlier in the campaign (Nenshi had dared question the police budget based on the published figures and the "chief" fired off a broadside at the candidate), Hansen has woken up to find that not only was Nenshi elected, but "the policeman's friend" (McIvor) is no longer even on council to do his nodding poodle routine in support of the police.
Heh, I've said this far too many times on this board...probably as Noise...Calgary has an incredibly large youth vote that's completely untapped. I've been campaigning with Nenshi's Team (go purple!) for the past month...here's my synopsis.
First, Naheed is a Calgarian (pronounce as 'Na-Hed')...born just as his parents immigrated to Calgary when they were thirty. Calgary raised and harvard educated...Came up as a top 40 under 40. Former director of a couple Art/Music boards in here Calgary, and holds a personal mission to bring homelessness in Calgary to an end.
The biggest number here is Calgary's voter turnout, which is higher than provincial and federal turnout I beleive...The pre-polling stations had more people cast their vote than what voted in previous elections. I've never seen this city buzz with elections before...2 weeks before the election, everyone was talking about it, everyone was engaged.
McIvor and Higgens voter base didn't change much...if you look at the numbers (which aren't out yet) the people that supported McIvor from the start were ultimately the same that voted for him when the time came, and I think same goes with Higgens, they really had the same followers to start and end. Where Nenshi took off is the youth vote. Look up the Nenshi U-Tube video if you want to see the image that inspired the youth of calgary to come vote...He successfully got in the range of 25% non-voters to get up and vote for him...not just vote, but volunteer as well. When we heard reports of polling stations being completely swamped (including rumours of stations running out of ballots) we knew we had won.
This is the huge untapped youth of Calgary that I've been claiming to exist for years...Nenshi was the first to successfully create a message that would inspire and successfully getting it out using the social media connections the young voters of today use. To add...it wasn't close. Nenshi won by 25k votes. These votes have always been here in Calgary, he's just the first to have inspired them to vote.
And Barb...nothing against her personally, but she sorrounded herself with the conservative elite of Alberta and by the end of the election was viewed as a bit of a puppet.
McIvor ran under the slogan "Responsilbe Conservative Leadership"...which appeals perfectly to a specific crowd in Calgary but was actually a hinderance when it came to the target population Nenshi went after. McIvor will likely be heavily involved in the Wild Rose alliance next provincials...I can't see him doing anything federal conservative, but i might be wrong.
Edit to add...Just a general Fuck you to all the folks that think Calgary is Conservative and are surprised with these results. This vote has always been here (atleast over the past 10 years when we've been able to vote). Nenshi is the first to speak to us and we rewarded him for it. I urge non-conservatives to engage us next federal election instead of the fear-all-calgary bullshit thats normally posted here
Centrist:
? Not sure who you're referring to with that. Barb was very fiscally conservative (atleast she insisted as much) and was completely sorrounded by the Alberta Conservatives. Ric McIvor drew more support from the further right-wing Wild Rose Alliance, I guess next to him Barb might seem a bit centrist.
Related to news coverage...the polls went late late, normally the polls are a ghost town after 6pm and it's done with...this time around some polls were still handling voters close to 9pm. CTV, the local station covering the election, had blocked off 7-9 for the election coverage. At 9, when barely 10% of the polls were reporting, it switched to 'Dancing with the stars'...sorta killed the election coverage. Only local Shaw stations covered the results past 9pm
More than Provincial and Federal elections?!! Mind boggling well done. Congratulations.
Can we get the wizards behind this to visit us here?
How much do you think it is specific messaging and how much the Calgary circumstances?
Which Youtube did you have in mind? There are a bunch. Please link.
I'd argue that in municipal government it's actually an advantage, in a way, to not be too strictly tied to one ideological group.
For one thing, the very nature of municipal politics, with its constantly shifting non-partisan alliances, means that you have to constantly build and rebuild coalitions across "party lines" to be really effective in stickhandling your agenda into action. So to be a truly effective mayor, you very often have to try to find and build common ground between the "left" and "right" factions of your council so that you don't get shot down at every turn.
For another, it's the level of government that's closest to the people, most intimately involved in the basic quality of life issues that affect people's day-to-day existence -- so it's a place where you have to do a much trickier balancing act between "progressive" city-building and "conservative" budget-watching. You can't just "run the city as a business", because a city's primary responsibility is civic livability rather than profit -- and yet you still have to apply some "business" principles to the process to ensure that you're spending that money wisely. Essentially, in many ways, you have to run a city as if you're managing a non-profit organization: making money's not your driving motive, but the accounting still has to add up in the end so that the city doesn't go bankrupt.
Nenshi seems to have established appeal across party lines for precisely that reason: his platform seems to be based on principles in which both the "left" and the "right" can see measurable value, and from watching the videos it's clear that he articulated those principles quite coherently and thoughtfully, so it's not much of a surprise that he seems to have picked up support across the spectrum. I suppose it remains to be seen how he's actually going to perform as mayor -- it's not as though Barack Obama's been nearly as effective at actually governing as he was at campaigning, frex. But yeah, I'm definitely intrigued by him.
Yeah, I' aware that Higgins proclaimed herself to be a fiscal conservative, but so did BC NDP leader Dave Barrett during the early 1980's. It's par for the course. Higgins campaign manager was a Liberal (until he bowed out) and she received some of the more centrist PC support as well as the support of councillor Bob Hawkesworth who was also a former NDP MLA candidate. Hawkesworth opposed the airport tunnel plan (a cornerstone of his platform) while both Higgins and Nenshi supported same.
Again, I never saw Nenshi winning this one and I doubt Hawkesworth did either. In reflection, Nenshi ran a brilliant campaign with his use of social media and the galvanization of the under-30 youth vote, which came out in droves. Excellent result. Remember, I'm still looking at the race from a Vancouver perspective.
Sorry Jrootham, I'd post the Utube link, but work blocks u-tube so I can't search for it here ;)
Calgary is a bit of a unique circumstance in it's setup...we are the youngest city by average age and outside of our parents, it's a neglected voter segment...we have literally 0 effort to engage this population segment. 28% voter turnout was 28% conservative voters. 53% voter turnout was the same 28%ish conservative voters + 25% new voters (which is why we were cheering when we heard the voter turnout rumours). I suspect it's the same on a federal level, 25% conservative voters and everyone else sitting on their hands as never engaged (or declared conservative).
The landline polling turned out to be quite inaccurate...most youth only have a cell phone. But we all have facebook and twitter...very much of the election was won using social media. On Oct 16th, a co-worker (that doesn't know I'm involved on nenshi's campaign) told me to watch this Nenshi u-tube video...the verbal buzz created by one video was amazing.
For specific messaging...I'm not sure how generally neglected the youth vote is within Canada and if it's the complete non-engage that it's ultimately been here. All Nenshi had to do was start a message with a vision that wasn't "Conservative" (Ric McIvors campaign slogan of Responsible Common Sense Conservative was a negative amoung the younger voters)...give a vision to a group that's never had one and leave us to our social networking to spread it...one of those perfect storm setups.
Though in particular, youth want a vision. Universal healthcare is an old thing, it's a part of who we are and you're not going to change my vote with some 'keep healthcare the way it is, conserve the norm!'. Now if you were to include hunger and homelessness under the same umbrella, Universal Healthcare, Universal food bank, Universal housing...give a vision of a world that we made for the better and not some preservation of the old...then you'll reach the youth vote. And never underestimate how well social networking spreads the smallest of info.
Disagree...the voting lines were age and generation based...he spoke to youth. Still waiting on the final numbers to respond, but I'm pretty sure we'll see a very clear age division on the voting here.
That vote is there in every Canadian city. So far no federal party has captured it. It is not just the use of social media because without a believable message and a good delivery you get a few hundred supporters on Facebook not a ground swell. All the parties are trying to use the social networking media but the thing about that media is it takes on a life of its own that can only be set in motion not planned.
A ray of hope in Canadian politics.I have thought for a long time that our only hope is to empower the youth in our cities with the belief that their vote is worth while exercising.
Given the debate about tactics in another thread do you know if his messaging used the term middle class as a descriptor?
Here is a link to his website. i would have voted for him based on his platform and his expertise in non profit organizations. In Burnaby like in Vancouver we have parties running in municipal elections. Not the same as the federal or provincial parties but still left right contests. What about Calgary? Are all the councilors independents or are there slate politics?
http://www.nenshi.ca/new/2010/485
Ya Hawksworth supported Barb...there's some...ummm...rumours? Bob Hawksworth and Barb Higgins...alphabetically (first or last name) they were always sitting beside one another and became quite good buddies on the capaign trail.
Kent Herh and Wayne Stewart both withdrew to support Nenshi, both with votes and resources. Kro:Is it fair to say that some of this was a response to the Conservative stranglehold on elected positions over a long time?
That there was a pent up demand for Anybody But Conservative?
That will be hard to replicate.
Independant for the most case...though (this is a lil weird) it's often failed NDP and Liberal candidates that end up in council...our previous mayor and much of the council were ex-liberal or ex-NDP. Most big name conservatives end up on a provincial level (or federal) while the NDP and Lib candidates don't get voted for leaving them to municpal affairs. The word 'Liberal' still works as a curse word here, and many of these peoples are quite happy to enter a political arena that doesn't have these links to parties and where the Liberal tag they get won't cost them. Though I'm sure they maintain contacts within federal parties, it's pretty much independant on a municipal level.
From Nenshi's web site:
Better Idea: Calgary will be a City where its citizens are enriched by outstanding libraries, recreation amenities, and a vibrant cultural sceneSo simple and yet eloquent and indicative of some really important values.
I see an appreciation for education, youth and arts and culture, and an overall commitment to creating strong communities.
I especially like this statement: "Calgary will be a city of sustainable, walkable, livable, complete communities."
Beyond maximizing social networking, I think his messaging has lots of substance and appeal. And it would bode political strategists well to study his campaign.
Congratulations! Would you be interested in coming to Winnipeg and helping to organise for Judy W-L? I'd gladly pay for your travel costs! ;)
Sure, but appealing to youth is still very much a cross-ideological "left-and-right" game. Not all young'uns are lefties, much as we might wish they were...and besides, while I'm sure he did get a disproportionately large share of the youth vote, he did also get endorsements from the Calgary Sun and at least one not-particularly-young opposing candidate, so he didn't only get youth votes.
Not sure how much you can divide this between conservative vs ABC...for the most case any of these Calgary youth have been repeatedly told for their entire lives that they're from calgary and therefore conservative...does ABC mean anybody but us? If conservative is us and liberal is a curseword, the issues really are not framed as conservative vs liberal (and when they are, we're back to voter non-engagement).
If there was pentup anger over the conservative stranglehold, we would have seen it more defined in past elections..so I'm having problems seeing it as a driving factor for voters, though it may have been a factor in the crowd that voted for McIvor. This had far more to do with a politician engaging people that never have than it does with a ABC mentality.
Incidentally...Nenshi visited a junior highschool on the day before the election and spent almost the entire day speaking with the too young to vote crowd. The youth engagement from this Naheed was simply amazing.
And the funniest way of framing this election that I've heard as of yet...
Ric = Dad
Barb = Mom
Nenshi = the children
astrix:
I think thats the exact mentality that creates the disengagement. Start a left vs right ideological divide and the people that don't identify across these lines (youth) don't give two shits about the message. Frame an issue as Lib vs Conservative or Left vs Right, and all the people that were alive during the NEP suddenly have opinions while the rest of us disengage.