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After Miracle Victory in 2010, Nenshi Almost Unbeatable in 2013
I expect this will be my only blog post on the 2013 Calgary Mayoral election. That’s because, despite recent rumblings about a bid by talk radio titan Dave Rutherford, Naheed Nenshi appears to be almost unbeatable. I’ll admit to being wrong about Nenshi before – here’s what I wrote a month before he won one […]
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Liberal Heartland Calgary
Wednesday was not a typical day for Calgary Grits. While leadership candidates must all fly into town, knowing the party’s weighted-by-riding leadership system makes a vote there far more valuable than a vote in Toronto, I have never seen a serious candidate launch their leadership campaign from the heart of Conservative country. But there was […]
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The Race for Third
Back in February I asked readers of this blog who they thought would run for Liberal leader, and who they’d consider voting for. Admittedly, this is as far from a scientific poll as you’ll ever get, and I won’t pretend that the 500+ voters in this straw poll are all Liberals. But we’re not going […]
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Did the left blow it in Alberta?
Even though the end result was a Stephen Harper majority government, the NDP took a giant leap forward last May. In one election, the party may very well have taken the first step in killing off Canada’s natural governing party, positioning the Dippers to one day form government. Although last Monday’s Alberta election was a […]
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Sixth Annual Politicians in Cowboy Hats
For a brief history of Stampede fashion, you can read the 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 round-ups. Although Rick Hansen served as Stampede Parade Grand Marshal, all eyes were on Will and Kate this year. I do find it somewhat perplexing how many of the same people who lambasted Ignatieff for his time outside […]
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A Tale of Two Cities
I had some fun last fall comparing the elections of Naheed Nenshi in Calgary and Rob Ford in Toronto. Fairly or unfairly, it appears the two will be forever linked. We got yet another example of that this week with the news that Nenshi will become the first Mayor to lead Calgary’s pride parade, after […]
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2010 Person of the Year
As 2010 winds down, it’s time to pick a Calgary Grit Person of the Year for the 7th consecutive year. The criteria is simple – a person who made an impact on the Canadian political scene in 2010 (ruling out obvious choices like the PM, or lame picks like “you“). But this was a tough […]
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Lessons from Naheed
Generally speaking, the rest of Canada treats Alberta politics as nothing more than a punch line: “Calgary: If you don’t like the weather, wait 40 minutes. If you don’t like the government, wait 40 years“. “The Alberta government is considering adding ‘Liberals’ to the endangered species list“. That sort of stuff. Because of that, no […]
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What’s the matter with the Calgary Sun?
The Sun endorses a Harvard elitist for Mayor of Calgary: The Sun has never shied away from taking a bold stand when we believe it will benefit Calgarians. We believe Naheed Nenshi should be Calgary’s next mayor. Luckily, they explain their decision: He’s a prof at Mount Royal University, but doesn’t engage in the egghead […]