Cal Wenzel Hasn't Got A Leg To Stand On

I didn't think much of Wenzel's allegations when he filed his lawsuit.  After reading the statement of defence filed by Naheed Nenshi today, I don't think Wenzel has much to work with.

Perhaps the most damaging to Wenzel's case is a series of tweets by Wenzel's supporters referring to him as "The Godfather" - before the interview in which Nenshi allegedly defamed Wenzel by referring to him as "The Godfather".

I think more concerning than the lawsuit itself (which is truly "pass the popcorn" political theatre) is the response of Alberta Justice regarding alleged funding irregularities in the 2010 election:

"Sometime later, Alberta Justice advised Mayor Nenshi that while there appeared to have been a violation of campaign finance law during the 2010 Calgary municipal election, based on Wenzel's statements in the Wenzel secret video, Alberta Justice had no authority under the applicable legislation to investigate the allegations and enforce the law."

If Alberta Justice doesn't have the authority to investigate and enforce the laws in Alberta, then who does, and why haven't they been tasked with investigating the irregularities and enforcing the laws?

Perhaps Alberta Justice doesn't have the direct authority to enforce the laws in question, but surely they could have passed the case along to the appropriate body for further investigation and enforcement.  That they did not suggests that the watchers over our elections are ineffective and worse than useless.

There is a serious problem here - and it is politicians undermining the very machinery of democracy. 

Margaret Wente on Calgary's Mayoral Election

To be honest, I never expected to see Naheed Nenshi's name plastered all over media across Canada and around the world.

However, in today's Globe and Mail, Margaret Wente's column is particularly amusing as she contrasts Calgary's recent election with Toronto's mayoral race.

Torontonians have a bad case of election deficit disorder, and no wonder. We’re having temper tantrums as we try to figure out who’s the least worst choice to be mayor. Is it Rob Ford, the charmless blockhead whose single idea is to cut every dollar of wasteful spending? Or is it Furious George Smitherman, who rammed through the worst energy policy that Ontario’s ever seen? It’s a tough call. Things are so bad, people are longing for the halcyon age of Mel Lastman.

Then she comes around to Naheed Nenshi's run in Calgary:

What’s great about Naheed Nenshi isn’t that he’s brown and Muslim – although he is a powerful symbol for a city that has become surprisingly diverse. What’s great is that he loves his city and has actual plans to make it better.

Which pretty much summarizes why I voted for Nenshi. After the last nine years of "Build Another Road Bronconnier" and one of the most divided, dysfunctional councils I have ever seen, I wanted someone with a vision and some ideas about how to realize that vision. Nenshi provided both - in spades.

Torontonians have always thought of Calgary as a hick town, full of rednecks in cowboy hats and oil guys chowing down on range-fed beef at the Petroleum Club. Their idea of “change” was to elect Ralph Klein. Their idea of “the arts” was horse paintings and their idea of “diversity” was a spaghetti restaurant. We were supposed to be the progressive, diverse, cosmopolitan city that the whole world held up as a model for the future. But now we’re likely to get a mayor who’ll make Ralph Klein look like a world-class sophisticate.

Ouch! Nice shot, Ms. Wente - perhaps after breaking the mold and electing Nenshi, maybe Calgarians will consider voting for something other than "the same old, same old" in other elections? One can only hope.

Starting on Monday, the hard work begins. Naheed Nenshi has put forth a bold vision for Calgary, and I suspect it will be a long time to make it all happen. However, if he can start laying the groundwork over the course of 2011 (after cleaning up the dreadful state of Calgary's budget - which the previous council left in a complete mess), he'll have done well. I wish him luck.

More Ward 14 Shenanigans

Good grief. Now we get a little more of the nonsense that has been campaigning in Calgary's Ward 14.

Between supposedly bogus robocalls, and letters of questionable veracity attributed to Chandler's PGIB organization this has been one of the most ridiculous election campaigns I've ever seen.

I've received robocalls with someone claiming to be Paul Hinman endorsing Richard Dur; and now we hear of similar calls being making representations on Jason Kenney's behalf.

If these robocalls are in fact bogus, then it seems to me that there is a libel suit or two in the offing.

On the other hand, Kenney doesn't seem to be too terribly bothered by the idea of someone using his name without permission (if that's really him writing in the comments section at the Herald's website). While I respect his right to have and express an opinion in the civic election, I have a great deal of difficulty with the idea of doing so via a robocall endorsement.

Having an opinion and expressing it (on or off the record) is quite different from agreeing to the use of that opinion as part of someone's campaign materials. (granted, I don't exactly have a love affair with being called at all hours by automated devices vomiting someone's pre-recorded messages into my ear to begin with) The former isn't going to be much more than a comment; the latter speaks to active engagement by an elected official in what should be a completely separate, discrete election - and can be construed as interference.

I'll be quite blunt - I will not vote for candidates who are daft enough to think that I will be swayed to vote for them based on the expressed opinion of another elected politician.

As for Minister Kenney's denials, colour me skeptical. While there are campaigns in Ward 14 who would no doubt stoop to falsifying an endorsement just to call another candidate's credibility into question, I won't exactly call Kenney's denials convincing either.

H/T: Big City Lib

Calgary's Mayoralty Race

I think I've made my decision about who I will be voting for on October 18.

We have an interesting, if somewhat bewildering array of candidates for the mayor's chair this year.

At the moment, there are really three that seem to matter - Ric McIver, Barb Higgins and Naheed Nenshi.

I've read all of their respective websites, listened to the soundbites on various news sources and so on.

Where McIver is concerned, I simply don't have any confidence in the man. He has been a force of division and polarization on a council that desperately needed unification and leadership. I simply cannot see how a man who made his mark by being "Doctor No" for the last nine years is suddenly going to be able to lead that same body without falling into the politics of division.

In a similar vein, I remember well his first two election campaigns - managed by none other than this man. The campaign against former Alderman Sue Higgins was filled with disrespect for both Ms. Higgins as well as the simple rules of good conduct in a campaign. How much access/influence McIver's former campaign manager might have on McIver is unknown to me - any is far too much given some of his antics in the years since that first campaign. (Yes, I remember him playing "audience plant" and trying to trap Higgins with leading, loaded (and irrelevant) questions ... even when he had been standing at the door passing out McIver's literature as a campaign worker)

Ms. Higgins I simply cannot fathom why she's running. So far she has gone out of her way to avoid saying anything meaningful. She's a pretty face, but frankly doesn't seem to have any opinions of her own. It seems to me that she's running on her public profile, and does not represent any new ideas or concepts in government. Sure, she's not from the current council, but I'm not in the least bit convinced that she would be any different in how she handled council and policy.

Naheed Nenshi represents just about everything that the other two front runners do not.

He has actual ideas about what needs to change, and how to change it reasonably. He's clearly paid attention to both the way the current council has been working (or not working, as the case may be), and has some pretty sensible ideas about how it should be approached.

On top of all that, he's actually managed to reach out to the disengaged voters in this city. He's not just doing the usual beat of forums, fundraisers and debates. He has used social media tools effectively (and honestly - it's actually him that answers on twitter, not an aide).

I had the opportunity to attend a "Coffee Meeting" with Nenshi at a friend's place this past week. It was a smallish group - only about 8 of us. But Nenshi still showed up, and we all had a very engaging time talking about the politics and policy. Nenshi might not be as slick as Bronconnier was, or as polished as McIver tries to be, but he's clear and articulate ... and more importantly he has ideas that show that he's actually thought about things and is aware of the realities of the extent of city council's authority.

Above all, he comes across as pragmatic. Nenshi doesn't label himself as a "conservative" or a "liberal" ... or any other stripe. He seems to be willing to draw from the valuable ideas of any perspective and use to solve problems. We've had too much of people confining themselves to a particular notion of a given political ideology in this province - a pragmatist would be good for Calgary.

I'm sold. Calgary's city council needs a change. That isn't going to come from someone who has been on council for the last ten years; nor is it going to come from any of the former councillors who have come forward as candidates for the mayor's chair. As for the rest of the candidates - as usual, they remain complete unknowns for most of Calgary's citizens and their share of the vote will no doubt reflect that.