Former mayor of Calgary Naheed Nenshi announced on March 11 that he would be seeking the leadership of the provincial NDP party.Todd Korol/The Canadian Press
After weeks of speculation, Naheed Nenshi has today officially entered the race to be the next Alberta NDP leader, even as he insists this isn’t the road he thought he would take just a few months ago. As Calgary’s high-profile mayor for 11 years, he avoided any entanglement with party politics.
But he says he cannot abide by a Danielle Smith government that’s “a dangerous mix of incompetent and immoral.”
If Mr. Nenshi manages to clinch the leadership of the province’s main opposition party and go head-to-head with Ms. Smith in an election scheduled for 2027, it will make for one of the country’s most riveting clashes of political ideologies and personas, ever.
Three decades ago, Ms. Smith and Mr. Nenshi were on friendly terms as part of a high-octane group of political nerds who attended the University of Calgary together. Since then, both have been counted out by their critics, a couple of times, but have managed to come from behind to win.
Now they will be the fiercest of rivals, competing with an estranged-sibling-like intuition of how to push each other’s buttons.
“That is not the woman I knew 30 years ago,” he said of Ms. Smith in an interview. “This is someone else entirely.”
To be clear, as much as Mr. Nenshi, 52, is adored by progressives across Canada, this is not the straight shot it might appear from outside of the province. He wasn’t in the trenches when the Alberta NDP only had four seats in the legislature. He’s entering the race late, and with a special exemption, as he was not a party member until recently.
By doing so, Mr. Nenshi will take attention from the women candidates – Jodi Calahoo Stonehouse, Kathleen Ganley, Sarah Hoffman and Rakhi Pancholi – all MLAs who have longer histories in the party.
“It concerns me so much,” he said on this. “All four of them encouraged me to enter the race and said they would appreciate having more of a spotlight shone on the race, because they too could shine.” (Union leader Gil McGowan is also in the contest.)
But the United Conservative Party is keen on Mr. Nenshi as a candidate, with one insider saying they would be happy to face him in an election, as it would be a humbling experience for the former mayor.
Conservatives paint Mr. Nenshi as a polarizing elite. His main rival in his last municipal election, Bill Smith, said he always believes himself to be “the smartest person in the room.” They also think he’s further to the left than most of the province. The Alberta NDP fortress of Edmonton isn’t going to be put off. But some critics say Mr. Nenshi might actually make the party less electable in places like Lethbridge and Red Deer, and even in his home turf – the main election battleground.
His supporters would say his personal ethics and Harvard-educated smarts make him well worth any hubris. Mr. Nenshi acknowledges his “big mouth” and previous errors, including losing the thread on Calgary’s Olympic bid in 2018. But this is the world as he sees it: “I have a lot less baggage than Danielle Smith.”
His former university chum has transformed into a vassal politician open to the most extreme conservative ideologies, he believes. Her skepticism on vaccines, and her government’s policy on addictions, has cost lives, he argues. And more pain is to come. Mr. Nenshi never thought that the libertarian Ms. Smith – whom he now says he regrets describing as “not a hater” to a worried teen last year – would introduce such wide-ranging, he believes cruel, policies on transgender youth.
He will have to develop serious ideas on everything from child care to climate, policy areas that haven’t traditionally been his bailiwick. He’s more well versed on health care and education than you would expect from a former municipal politician who has been on the speakers’ circuit for a couple of years.
In entering the leadership race, he will instantly raise its profile. If he wins, he is likely to advocate for the further distancing of the provincial party from its federal counterparts led by Jagmeet Singh, which is even less electable than the Trudeau Liberals in most parts of the province.
Which leads to another problem – he’s not really a New Democrat. His signature colour is purple, a mix of Conservative blue and Liberal red. His endorsement of (now outgoing leader) Rachel Notley in the 2023 election campaign was tepid.
But Mr. Nenshi says a personal political journey in recent months has helped him understand the party. And in the end, party members will decide which candidate best represents their views, “but also, which one of these people can beat Danielle Smith, and get rid of this terrible government?”
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
MONTREAL – NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says he will not be taking advice from Pierre Poilievre after the Conservative leader challenged him to bring down government.
“I say directly to Pierre Poilievre: I’m not going to listen to you,” said Singh on Wednesday, accusing Poilievre of wanting to take away dental-care coverage from Canadians, among other things.
“I’m not going to listen to your advice. You want to destroy people’s lives, I want to build up a brighter future.”
Earlier in the day, Poilievre challenged Singh to commit to voting non-confidence in the government, saying his party will force a vote in the House of Commons “at the earliest possibly opportunity.”
“I’m asking Jagmeet Singh and the NDP to commit unequivocally before Monday’s byelections: will they vote non-confidence to bring down the costly coalition and trigger a carbon tax election, or will Jagmeet Singh sell out Canadians again?” Poilievre said.
“It’s put up or shut up time for the NDP.”
While Singh rejected the idea he would ever listen to Poilievre, he did not say how the NDP would vote on a non-confidence motion.
“I’ve said on any vote, we’re going to look at the vote and we’ll make our decision. I’m not going to say our decision ahead of time,” he said.
Singh’s top adviser said on Tuesday the NDP leader is not particularly eager to trigger an election, even as the Conservatives challenge him to do just that.
Anne McGrath, Singh’s principal secretary, says there will be more volatility in Parliament and the odds of an early election have risen.
“I don’t think he is anxious to launch one, or chomping at the bit to have one, but it can happen,” she said in an interview.
New Democrat MPs are in a second day of meetings in Montreal as they nail down a plan for how to navigate the minority Parliament this fall.
The caucus retreat comes one week after Singh announced the party has left the supply-and-confidence agreement with the governing Liberals.
It’s also taking place in the very city where New Democrats are hoping to pick up a seat on Monday, when voters go to the polls in Montreal’s LaSalle—Émard—Verdun. A second byelection is being held that day in the Winnipeg riding of Elmwood—Transcona, where the NDP is hoping to hold onto a seat the Conservatives are also vying for.
While New Democrats are seeking to distance themselves from the Liberals, they don’t appear ready to trigger a general election.
Singh signalled on Tuesday that he will have more to say Wednesday about the party’s strategy for the upcoming sitting.
He is hoping to convince Canadians that his party can defeat the federal Conservatives, who have been riding high in the polls over the last year.
Singh has attacked Poilievre as someone who would bring back Harper-style cuts to programs that Canadians rely on, including the national dental-care program that was part of the supply-and-confidence agreement.
The Canadian Press has asked Poilievre’s office whether the Conservative leader intends to keep the program in place, if he forms government after the next election.
With the return of Parliament just days away, the NDP is also keeping in mind how other parties will look to capitalize on the new makeup of the House of Commons.
The Bloc Québécois has already indicated that it’s written up a list of demands for the Liberals in exchange for support on votes.
The next federal election must take place by October 2025 at the latest.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante is defending her decision to turn off comments on her social media accounts — with an announcement on social media.
She posted screenshots to X this morning of vulgar names she’s been called on the platform, and says comments on her posts for months have been dominated by insults, to the point that she decided to block them.
Montreal’s Opposition leader and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association have criticized Plante for limiting freedom of expression by restricting comments on her X and Instagram accounts.
They say elected officials who use social media should be willing to hear from constituents on those platforms.
However, Plante says some people may believe there is a fundamental right to call someone offensive names and to normalize violence online, but she disagrees.
Her statement on X is closed to comments.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
