“Turn out the lights… the party’s over.”.,.— Don Meredith, Monday Night Football.Welcome to the Nenshi pity party..Yes, he’s gone, thank Christ. Time to celebrate and take a deep sigh of relief..Does anybody know the words to Havah Nagilah (“Let us rejoice”)?.Unfortunately, I’m afraid to say he’s not quite gone enough. .A one-way ticket to Pago Pago would be nice..According to a Western Standard report by Dave Naylor, former Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi still thinks he’s big and important — advising Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to ignore Albertans’ referendum vote of Equalization and slamming Premier Jason Kenney for holding it..“Those referenda were ridiculous in every way,” says Nenshi..“They are purely attempts by Premier Kenney to save his political skin by focusing on how evil the federal government is,” he told CTV..“If I were the prime minister, I would just ignore it.”.Yes, just totally ignore the very people you were meant to represent downtown..Spoken like a true believer in democracy. Not!.At this point one can only feel pity for the man. Total and complete pity..“If I were prime minister …”.Jesus, Mary and Joseph (as the Newfies say) … give me a break..I’m ashamed to say I voted for Nenshi in the beginning because he represented change at city hall. .Remember when he stood up to the chief of police? I even donated a crisp fifty to his campaign. Back then he was the envy of politicians..Sure wish I could get that $50 back — Crown Royal is on sale this week, along with toilet paper. The good kind..But then, as my good friend Carrie says — and she has more common sense than me — over the years, he changed … his head got bigger and bigger until he became quite something else..His sunny ways approach was gone, no longer believed, no longer trusted. There’s nothing sunny about exorbitant taxes and out-of-control spending..Many saw him as arrogant and overbearing. Some thought he lost touch with the populace and reality. .And then there was the whole “race card” fracas, which I don’t want to touch with a barge pole. No thanks..And some, like me, feared for the future of our city amid his irresponsible high-spending ways..Now, I could easily point to the long list of civic waste and disasters under the leadership of the “Purple One.”.But no, that would be cheap and tawdry..Like, the time he wanted another Olympics when the majority of Calgarians didn’t. .A city already at an economic breaking point spending hundreds of millions to make the IOC happy and a handful of rich folks even richer. Right..But no, let’s not go there. Just ask Tokyo 2020 how well things went..And then the time he stood back and did nothing (until he was pushed) while small business taxes soared to obscene levels — threatening the very Western entrepreneurial spirit that built our city..Then councillor Jeromy Farkas put forth a proposal of pay rollbacks for city politicians, city paper shufflers and city union workers to help stem the bleeding..But no, that made too much sense. That would take courage..(I’m going to miss you Jeromy.).All that was ignored, of course, in lieu of an urgent 10% cut to commercial tax bills at a tense meeting in council chambers..During budget adjustments last year, council also approved cutting 162 jobs to help keep the 2021 budget on track for a small property tax cut, CBC reported..Arguably, far less than what was needed..But no, let’s not go there. Let them eat cake as they say..And then he imagined Calgary was Amsterdam and built bike lanes at great expense, forgetting the fact that Cowtown can resemble Murmansk in winter..I have yet to see a single person/cyclist use the NW bike lanes by Northland Mall. Seriously, not one, and vehicles just ignore it..But no, let’s not go there. And apologies to my buddy Steve who does bike to work from Panorama Hills when the weather is good..And then there was the Green Line, which isn’t really green, or a line. It’s the biggest transportation project in the city’s history..In a fit of terrible arrogance, the Purple One and the majority of council voted to not give Calgarians a say. .The $5.5 billion project was going ahead, thanks to provincial and federal funding..Some people like the Green Line, and some don’t … which leads us to the next topic..Remember the time he didn’t build an LRT line to the airport? A project easily done within budget realities that would have heralded Calgary as a world-class city?.But no, let’s not go there. Let them ride bikes instead..And then came the closed door meetings and hundreds of millions spent on a new arena for the Calgary Flames..Hey, business is business, as they say..And, well, a lot of Calgarians do support the arena deal and some don’t. .Maybe that was a no-win situation. Or maybe with better leadership, we could have come up with a better deal for Calgarians, vis-a-vis the Flames ownership group..Last I heard, taxpayers are forking over $290 million-plus — and rising..I just know that nobody asked me..So no, I won’t bring up all that stuff. It’s water under the Calatrava bridge. .Besides, millionaire hockey players need their millionaire contracts, so cough it up, Martha and Henry (Ralph Klein’s fictional couple)..But hey, just ignore Calgarians when they go to the polls and vote in a referendum. Don’t pay any heed or attention to what Calgarians want..As Woody Allen would say, “It’s a sham of a mockery of two shams.”.Psssst … is he gone yet?.Dave Makichuk is a Western Standard contributor. .,He has worked in the media for decades, including as an editor for the Calgary Herald. He is also the military editor for the Asia Times.,.makichukd@gmail.com
“Turn out the lights… the party’s over.”.,.— Don Meredith, Monday Night Football.Welcome to the Nenshi pity party..Yes, he’s gone, thank Christ. Time to celebrate and take a deep sigh of relief..Does anybody know the words to Havah Nagilah (“Let us rejoice”)?.Unfortunately, I’m afraid to say he’s not quite gone enough. .A one-way ticket to Pago Pago would be nice..According to a Western Standard report by Dave Naylor, former Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi still thinks he’s big and important — advising Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to ignore Albertans’ referendum vote of Equalization and slamming Premier Jason Kenney for holding it..“Those referenda were ridiculous in every way,” says Nenshi..“They are purely attempts by Premier Kenney to save his political skin by focusing on how evil the federal government is,” he told CTV..“If I were the prime minister, I would just ignore it.”.Yes, just totally ignore the very people you were meant to represent downtown..Spoken like a true believer in democracy. Not!.At this point one can only feel pity for the man. Total and complete pity..“If I were prime minister …”.Jesus, Mary and Joseph (as the Newfies say) … give me a break..I’m ashamed to say I voted for Nenshi in the beginning because he represented change at city hall. .Remember when he stood up to the chief of police? I even donated a crisp fifty to his campaign. Back then he was the envy of politicians..Sure wish I could get that $50 back — Crown Royal is on sale this week, along with toilet paper. The good kind..But then, as my good friend Carrie says — and she has more common sense than me — over the years, he changed … his head got bigger and bigger until he became quite something else..His sunny ways approach was gone, no longer believed, no longer trusted. There’s nothing sunny about exorbitant taxes and out-of-control spending..Many saw him as arrogant and overbearing. Some thought he lost touch with the populace and reality. .And then there was the whole “race card” fracas, which I don’t want to touch with a barge pole. No thanks..And some, like me, feared for the future of our city amid his irresponsible high-spending ways..Now, I could easily point to the long list of civic waste and disasters under the leadership of the “Purple One.”.But no, that would be cheap and tawdry..Like, the time he wanted another Olympics when the majority of Calgarians didn’t. .A city already at an economic breaking point spending hundreds of millions to make the IOC happy and a handful of rich folks even richer. Right..But no, let’s not go there. Just ask Tokyo 2020 how well things went..And then the time he stood back and did nothing (until he was pushed) while small business taxes soared to obscene levels — threatening the very Western entrepreneurial spirit that built our city..Then councillor Jeromy Farkas put forth a proposal of pay rollbacks for city politicians, city paper shufflers and city union workers to help stem the bleeding..But no, that made too much sense. That would take courage..(I’m going to miss you Jeromy.).All that was ignored, of course, in lieu of an urgent 10% cut to commercial tax bills at a tense meeting in council chambers..During budget adjustments last year, council also approved cutting 162 jobs to help keep the 2021 budget on track for a small property tax cut, CBC reported..Arguably, far less than what was needed..But no, let’s not go there. Let them eat cake as they say..And then he imagined Calgary was Amsterdam and built bike lanes at great expense, forgetting the fact that Cowtown can resemble Murmansk in winter..I have yet to see a single person/cyclist use the NW bike lanes by Northland Mall. Seriously, not one, and vehicles just ignore it..But no, let’s not go there. And apologies to my buddy Steve who does bike to work from Panorama Hills when the weather is good..And then there was the Green Line, which isn’t really green, or a line. It’s the biggest transportation project in the city’s history..In a fit of terrible arrogance, the Purple One and the majority of council voted to not give Calgarians a say. .The $5.5 billion project was going ahead, thanks to provincial and federal funding..Some people like the Green Line, and some don’t … which leads us to the next topic..Remember the time he didn’t build an LRT line to the airport? A project easily done within budget realities that would have heralded Calgary as a world-class city?.But no, let’s not go there. Let them ride bikes instead..And then came the closed door meetings and hundreds of millions spent on a new arena for the Calgary Flames..Hey, business is business, as they say..And, well, a lot of Calgarians do support the arena deal and some don’t. .Maybe that was a no-win situation. Or maybe with better leadership, we could have come up with a better deal for Calgarians, vis-a-vis the Flames ownership group..Last I heard, taxpayers are forking over $290 million-plus — and rising..I just know that nobody asked me..So no, I won’t bring up all that stuff. It’s water under the Calatrava bridge. .Besides, millionaire hockey players need their millionaire contracts, so cough it up, Martha and Henry (Ralph Klein’s fictional couple)..But hey, just ignore Calgarians when they go to the polls and vote in a referendum. Don’t pay any heed or attention to what Calgarians want..As Woody Allen would say, “It’s a sham of a mockery of two shams.”.Psssst … is he gone yet?.Dave Makichuk is a Western Standard contributor. .,He has worked in the media for decades, including as an editor for the Calgary Herald. He is also the military editor for the Asia Times.,.makichukd@gmail.com
