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Hume: ‘Canada’s mayor’ sees the city positively
Feb 10 2011
By Christopher Hume
Read More: http://www.thestar.com/news/article/936535--hume-canada-s-mayor-sees-the-city-positively
Thanks to Naheed Nenshi, Calgary’s mayor is now Canada’s mayor. Though he has scrupulously avoided the obvious comparison during his triumphant Toronto homecoming this week, in these parts Nenshi can only be seen as everything this city’s current mayor is not, i.e. articulate, urban, informed, and best of all, optimistic. Born in Toronto, raised in Calgary, Nenshi is the son of Ismaili Muslim immigrants from Tanzania. Much has been made of this, but in fact what sets him apart and makes him important is what he says, especially about cities. He is one of those rare city politicians who actually loves the city. By contrast, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford was elected around the same time as Nenshi on a promise to wage war on the city.
In Ford’s world, the city is the enemy. It stands in the way of people and prosperity. In Nenshi’s, the city is our saviour. Its unique qualities — what he calls density, diversity and a sense of discovery — are essential to continued success, economic, social and cultural. Despite their very considerable differences, both Nenshi and Ford represent a rejection of politics-as-usual. Clearly, then, Calgary and Toronto are not at the same point in their civic evolution. The Ford backlash came from a population fed up with being exhorted to get out of their cars, walk, ride a bike or take transit. His supporters, who couldn’t give a toss about global warming or the urban agenda, just want the usual — lower taxes and an end to congestion.
Nenshi, on the other hand, connected with Calgarians who desire a more urban city, not endless sprawl. His talk about civic engagement and “politics in full sentences†resonated with an electorate tired of the usual left/right squabbling. But Nenshi should be aware of how Torontonians reacted after seven years of a civic regime that demanded more of its citizens. The election was held barely three months ago, but the dismantling of the city has already begun in earnest. And Nenshi’s line about politics in full sentences is painful in a city whose Chief Magistrate speaks not in full sentences but syllables. As long as “gravy train†is the answer, there’s no question to which Ford can’t respond.
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Feb 10 2011
By Christopher Hume
Read More: http://www.thestar.com/news/article/936535--hume-canada-s-mayor-sees-the-city-positively
Thanks to Naheed Nenshi, Calgary’s mayor is now Canada’s mayor. Though he has scrupulously avoided the obvious comparison during his triumphant Toronto homecoming this week, in these parts Nenshi can only be seen as everything this city’s current mayor is not, i.e. articulate, urban, informed, and best of all, optimistic. Born in Toronto, raised in Calgary, Nenshi is the son of Ismaili Muslim immigrants from Tanzania. Much has been made of this, but in fact what sets him apart and makes him important is what he says, especially about cities. He is one of those rare city politicians who actually loves the city. By contrast, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford was elected around the same time as Nenshi on a promise to wage war on the city.
In Ford’s world, the city is the enemy. It stands in the way of people and prosperity. In Nenshi’s, the city is our saviour. Its unique qualities — what he calls density, diversity and a sense of discovery — are essential to continued success, economic, social and cultural. Despite their very considerable differences, both Nenshi and Ford represent a rejection of politics-as-usual. Clearly, then, Calgary and Toronto are not at the same point in their civic evolution. The Ford backlash came from a population fed up with being exhorted to get out of their cars, walk, ride a bike or take transit. His supporters, who couldn’t give a toss about global warming or the urban agenda, just want the usual — lower taxes and an end to congestion.
Nenshi, on the other hand, connected with Calgarians who desire a more urban city, not endless sprawl. His talk about civic engagement and “politics in full sentences†resonated with an electorate tired of the usual left/right squabbling. But Nenshi should be aware of how Torontonians reacted after seven years of a civic regime that demanded more of its citizens. The election was held barely three months ago, but the dismantling of the city has already begun in earnest. And Nenshi’s line about politics in full sentences is painful in a city whose Chief Magistrate speaks not in full sentences but syllables. As long as “gravy train†is the answer, there’s no question to which Ford can’t respond.
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