Naheed Nenshi Loves the Drama - Macleans.ca

The moment Naheed Nenshi entered the Alberta NDP leadership race this past March, he was quickly named the candidate to beat—and the one who could beat Premier Danielle Smith. It didn’t matter that the next provincial election was three years away. This was the three-term mayor who comforted Calgarians during the devastating 2013 floods; who galvanized citizens, red and blue, with his overwhelmingly purple wardrobe; and who made international headlines for his social-media savvy. (One memorable meme: “Keep Calm and Nenshi On.”) Still, it’s going to take more than name recognition, violet socks and his trademark silver tongue to nab Nenshi the party’s top spot and take down the reigning UCP, a regime he’s called immoral and dangerous due to its climate change flip-floppery and controversial transgender youth policies. To many Albertans, Nenshi is the underdog. A Harvard-educated business prof with little rural appeal. A bandwagon-jumper who only became an NDP member in January. To the U

The moment Naheed Nenshi entered the Alberta NDP leadership race this past March, he was quickly named the candidate to beat—and the one who could beat Premier Danielle Smith. It didn’t matter that the next provincial election was three years away. This was the three-term mayor who comforted Calgarians during the devastating 2013 floods; who galvanized citizens, red and blue, with his overwhelmingly purple wardrobe; and who made international headlines for his social-media savvy. (One memorable meme: “Keep Calm and Nenshi On.”) Still, it’s going to take more than name recognition, violet socks