Just say 'no' to Nenshi

The megalomaniacal former Calgary mayor would make a poor choice for Alberta NDP leader

CALGARY — The race to succeed Rachel Notley as Alberta NDP leader is heating up, with three high-profile MLAs announcing runs over the past week. Yet the biggest name cited as a possible contender for the job, former Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi, remains on the sidelines for now.

Nenshi, who’s never been formally affiliated with the party, said at the start of the month that he’d been “listening to a lot of pitches” from NDP insiders and other Albertans about entering race. He sent rumours about his potential candidacy into overdrive a few days later, with an impassioned speech calling out Premier Danielle Smith at a protest over the premier’s new gender identity policies.

The notion of the urbane Nenshi taming Alberta provincial politics — historically a political Wild West dominated by populist gunslingers like Smith and three-term premier Ralph Klein — has already caught fire with media elites outside of the province.

But Nenshi taking the Alberta NDP’s top job would be a terrible idea for a number of reasons.

First, no matter what party he aligns himself with, Nenshi will always
https://nationalpost.com/opinion/just-say-no-to-nenshi