Seeking NDP leadership, Nenshi dubs himself ‘underdog’

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In entering the Alberta NDP leadership fray, Former Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi called himself an underdog and the party’s UCP foes “dangerous.”

Joining the race just four days before the candidate cutoff date and as a comparative outsider, Nenshi on Monday said he has considerable ground to make up behind five other declared hopefuls.

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“I’m not the front-runner and I haven’t sold a single membership,” said Nenshi.

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“We have four very capable women and someone else (running) and I’m used to being an underdog — I have a lot of ground to make up.”

But the three-term Calgary mayor said his experience and ability to collaborate with other governments prove he’s qualified for the job, and of defeating a UCP government he said is worse than incompetent and a menace to Albertans’ lives due to its policies on trans rights, science and health care.

“We have a government that is not only incompetent but is actually immoral and dangerous — we can’t afford any more of (Premier) Danielle Smith and her government.

He said torpedoing health services for psychologically vulnerable trans youth, undermining vaccination efforts and overseeing a faltering health-care system are of immense concern.

The UCP’s fights with Ottawa, he said, show the party’s disinterested in actually governing in favour of “picking fights and wasting money.”

In contrast, the NDP hopeful said he can be pugilistic when required but also able to work with other levels of government to help constituents.

“This government doesn’t know how to make deals . . . it’s like watching junior high or elementary school kids fighting,” said Nenshi.

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Nenshi, 52, served as Calgary’s mayor from 2010 to 2021 and saw his share of the popular vote fall from 74 per cent in the 2013 municipal election to 51 per cent in his last run for the city’s top job in 2017.

He joins the race along with Edmonton MPs Sarah Hoffman, Rakhi Pancholi and Jodi Calahoo Stonehouse, Calgary MLA Kathleen Ganley and Alberta Federation of Labour President Gil McGowan.

Before his candidacy announcement, Ganley’s campaign lashed out at Nenshi, questioning his ties and loyalty to the NDP.

Nenshi said he’s not interested in remaking the NDP.

“I’m coming here with the utmost humility and respect…I wasn’t there when there were just two or four MLAs and doing work of building the party,” he said, adding at the same time, he’s confident he can wide the NDP’s appeal.

“We need more people to come on the journey and to respect their values.”

While Nenshi’s detractors say the baggage he carries as mayor means he can’t take winning the city for the NDP for granted.

The former mayor said the map tracing his electoral success means he could succeed provincially in parts of the city the NDP has faltered, but added it’s more complicated than that.

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“We have to do better basically south of Glenmore Trail . . . and help people understand this is not a Conservative government of the past, not one of (Peter) Lougheed and (Ralph) Klein — this is something quite different,” he said.

As for winning outside the two largest cities where the NDP holds only two seats, it’s critical to convince those Albertans the UCP has failed to make life better for them “and that we share the same values.”

And there needs to be a different approach to differentiate between Albertans living in mid-sized cities, small towns and all-out rural areas.

Under the leadership of Rachel Notley, who served as Alberta’s premier from 2015 to 2019, the NDP rose to become a contending political force, though the party lost the last two provincial elections to the UCP.

Notley announced on Jan. 16 that she’d be stepping down as leader.

The party will choose a new leader on June 22.

More to come

BKaufmann@postmedia.com

X (Twitter) @BillKaufmannjrn

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