In stark contrast to the recent results of the
Torontontian mayoral results, last week, Calgary,
the third-largest "municipality" in Canada, elected
the country's first Muslim mayor, Naheed Nenshi.
Whereas Toronto's new "
arch-conservative" Rob Ford displaces the extremely liberal, arts-friendly
David Miller, whose 2003-2010 incumbency saw the rise of the idea of "
Torontopia"/"
uTOpia," a vision of the city as an environmentally-friendly, eminently-cyclable site of homegrown arts and culture accessible to all, in Calgary, Nenshi displaces
Dave Bronconnier, who, while a liberal, was
35th in a long line of white men to hold the position, and as such, did little to challenge "
the popular image of Calgary as a white-bread oil town with a tendency toward big hats during Stampede Week."
An
Ismaili Muslim,
Naheed Nenshi's
parents emigrated to Canada from Tanzania when his mother, Nury Nenshi, was pregnant with Naheed. They settled in Toronto before moving to Calgary, where Naheed grew up. He attended Harvard University, and at the tender age of 22 was hired by McKinsey and Company, one of the world's top consulting firms. After about eight years at the company, he returned to Calgary to be with his ailing father. He has since worked for the United Nations, started his own business, and became a professor at Mount Royal University. He was a frequent commentator and columnist with a keen eye on civic affairs; this spring, he decided to throw his hat in. (Source.)
Most of this information is summed up in his 2-minute
bio video. He’s the "
lead author" of
Building Up: Making Canada’s Cities Engines of Growth and Magnets of Development and his policies are based in part on Toronto darling urban theorist
Jane Jacobs. With only a
6-week campaign and a grassroots campaign driven by volunteers known as the "
Purple Army", he "
went from 8 percent popular support to more than 40 percent [...] in a matter of four weeks" for a "
surprise victory".
International media outlets from
Africa,
India and
the United States have picked up the story.
However, some are saying the real story is not his ethnicity or religion, but rather his use of social media technology: "
E-mocracy reigns as Twitter elects new Calgary mayor"; "
Naheed Nenshi: Politician 2.0" (interesting analysis); "
Naheed Nenshi and Social Media"; "
[Nenshi has] taken a page out of U.S. President Barack Obama's campaign book by reaching out to young voters through Twitter and Facebook." "In 2009, [Calgary] earned [Macleans Magazine's] designation as Canada’s smartest city, and boasts
the highest level of Internet usage in the country." His
Facebook,
Twitter,
YouTube, and
iPhone app.
Speaking of Obama, who's that on the t-shirts of both of his sister's kids in the 5-minute YouTube video "
Naheed Nenshi: A Family Journey"? The comparison has been made ("
He's the Obama of Calgary"), but
some don't like it.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 5:35 PM on October 28, 2010