

Calgary's new mayor: "Politics in full sentences" - rfugger
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/marcus-gee/our-contenders-pale-next-to-calgarys-exciting-new-mayor/article1766388/

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gruseom
The article gets it roughly correct. It's true that, while the Muslim thing
got the most attention outside the city, it was a non-issue in the campaign.
It's actually more surprising that Calgary would elect an ideas guy.

Nenshi's victory came from a huge last-minute surge, as if the city all at
once realized hey, we could dump these two losers (the front-runners, a boring
grump and a vain TV anchor) and vote in someone completely different. The next
morning, everyone I talked to was stunned and delighted at what had just
happened. I suspect that many, including me, were surprised to discover that
they weren't such a freak in this place after all.

Perhaps it is a shift in the consciousness of the city, which would be an
interesting thing. It has been a wasteland of soulless land developers and
corporate robots for such a long time... or at least appeared that way. This
event feels a bit like the moment in Pleasantville where the black-and-white
world turns to color. Except it's not the whole world, just a single purple
crocus. We'll see if more appear.

~~~
camilless
We loved this guy even before we discovered he's trying to bring politics out
of the dinosaur era through tech. His signs were purple and he dotted his i
with a star! How refreshing! :)

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neilk
Nenshi did a good TEDx talk on Calgary and city development here:

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNAMH2_CLfo>

I hadn't heard of him until he won (I'm from a different part of Canada), but
I'm a big fan now.

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j_b_f
I love his "better ideas" series of videos: <http://www.nenshi.ca/new/policy>

I don't know anything about Calgary, but I was fascinated by the detail
provided in the videos.

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brc
Good politicians are only going to emerge when this left/right doctrine is
discarded and people can run without being classified as belonging to a
particular dogma. It's possible to run a tight budget and deliver services,
it's also possible to introduce social activities without trying to create a
commune. It's also possible to avoid the 'centrist' tag, as you can be radical
in one or two areas and mainstream in many others.

The left/right dogma comes from 150 years ago based on which side of the seine
you lived on. It's an outdated and increasingly useless model for solving
current problems.

~~~
jmtulloss
I think it's a lot easier to get away from partisan politics in local
elections. All politics are local, after all, so a politician that can
identify and intelligently discuss problems that people have every day can do
a much better job of avoiding the strictly partisan debate.

It's much harder to be specific at a national level, so partisanship takes the
place of thoughtful discussion.

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charlief
I live in Toronto, and as the author suggests, I feel the pain. I really hope
Nenshi succeeds and delivers some unequivocal, sweet results, then takes his
record and runs federally. It would be awesome to have someone like Nenshi as
prime minister, and what a great example this would set for all levels of
Canadian government.

~~~
CountHackulus
I'm also in Toronto, getting ready to vote, and as another Torontonian friend
of mine remarked, just like every other time, we're going to end up with
either an insufferable bureaucrat, or a rodeo clown. I look at Calgary with
envy.

~~~
gruseom
_I look at Calgary with envy._

I wonder if you have any idea how weird that sounds to a Calgarian! It's good
for Canada to have taken this atypical turn. Calgary's reputation as a redneck
enclave is a silly fantasy; it's really a complacent suburban enclave. What it
does have going for it, on a good day, is a certain can-do energy. A lot of
people here -- including me, and I never imagined I would say such a thing --
would actively support Nenshi in making some sane changes in this place. It
would be particularly nice to break out of the stale liberal-conservative rut
that this country has been mired in for so long. I was very surprised, on
scratching the surface, to find that Nenshi is neither an ideologue nor a
showboater. He seems serious.

But by far the best thing for him to do is just be competent for a while.

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hugh3
Of course, even if he speaks in full sentences, there's no way of knowing,
since among five or six quotes from the man only one ("It takes me 45 seconds
to say my name") is a full sentence.

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David
Oh, the contradiction: “politics in full sentences” a) not a full sentence. b)
_definitely_ a soundbite.

OTOH, that could certainly be the article taking his words out of their
(grammatically) proper context.

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gavingmiller
One of the big things that Nenshi had going for him was that he engaged the
18-25 crowd. My wife goes to school at the University of Calgary and she said
that Nenshi had posters and supporters all over campus, whereas the only
presence the other candidates had came from the political science students.

And Nenshi engaged at other levels too. The guy rode Calgary Transit to his
party headquarters on election night; this city wants someone to improve
services, and I want someone that is dogfooding the service to do it!

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mast
While it is nice to see good people run for office, I'm not he will ultimately
be able to fulfill his promises.

I hate to sound cynical but without the support of Council, the mayor won't be
able to do anything. And Councillors, in general, are only focused on what it
good for their own wards, and not the good of the city as a whole.

(One solution might be to have a group of like minded people run as a team.
Party politics at the municipal level?)

~~~
gruseom
_without the support of Council, the mayor won't be able to do anything_

He might if he manages to hold the attention of the community. I've never done
a thing in city politics in Calgary - never had the slightest reason to
identify with any of it. It has been as boring as it was vile. But I actually
would this time, if Nenshi doesn't make the mistake a certain other "change
candidate" did and squander his greatest asset, the popular imagination.

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jselzer
As an Albertan, I am very proud of the exciting candidates we are electing in
municipal elections. Hopefully someday we will be able to see the same
excitement in provincial politics, where we have had the same party in power
since 1971!

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RyanMcGreal
Here's an essay on Nenshi's victory written by a friend:

[http://raisethehammer.org/article/1205/civic_engagement_and_...](http://raisethehammer.org/article/1205/civic_engagement_and_social_media)

