Canada PoliticsCalgary mayoralty candidate evokes recent Islamic terrorist attacks in slam against Nenshi’s Mulsim faith
Civic elections across the country sometimes bring out some 'colourful' candidates.
In 1980, for example, there was John Buttrey in Edmonton: According to the Edmonton Journal, the plumber turned mayoralty wannabe "suggested pimps should be painted purple, heckled opponents, and sang tunes such as the politically incorrect Mammy during his campaign speeches."
Well, meet Calgary's colourful mayoralty candidate: Larry Heather a gospel radio show host, looking to oust current Mayor Naheed Nenshi.
Heather, 59, describes himself as the campaign's Christian choice.
On his website, Heather takes a direct swipe Nenshi's Muslim faith.
In light of the recent Islamic terrorist Attacks does it make sense for Calgary voters to endorse a Mayor who will and has sworn into Office with his hand on the Koran?
Of Course, equating criticism of a religion's failings with racial discrimination ( race is a God ordained and sacred thing by the way ) is an example of shoddy, illogical thinking. Both Christianity and Islam are multiracial faiths. But the consistent application of the written beliefs produce entirely different results as we see in the nightly news.
When a mayor's office is sworn in, that person represents the people of Calgary corporately as an entity. And the faith sworn upon corporately should be capable of maintaining a democratic system that originated upon the Judeo-Christian values base. Also be assured, that the Islamic world makes no separation of Church (Mosque) and State.
While Heather contends that "discrimination against race and religion is wrong", he made similar comments at a recent all candidates meeting.
"We have a broken covenant with the God of the Bible that needs to be renewed," he said, according to CBC News.
[ Related: Calgary’s Naheed Nenshi and Sun News’ Ezra Levant spar in epic Twitter battle ]
Heather's religious slant doesn't mean he isn't a legitimate candidate with a well thought out platform.
According to his website, he believes in social conservatism, free enterprise and is particularly concerned about the 32 per cent rise in taxes under Nenshi's reign.
In 2010, Heather sought a public school trustee position finished in seventh place (2nd last) with 1,577 votes.
[ Related: New survey suggests Canadians’ opinions of non-Christian religions are deteriorating ]
According to the Huffington Post, Heather is also being chided on message boards for his dated website which really does look like it was created in 1995.
Mr. Heather, however, seems to take those criticisms in stride.
"This is a slam against my website skills, which are not of the cookie cutter variety," he wrote on the site.
"But nevertheless,on Sept. 24th 2013 the website went viral and half way through the day had clocked 7,042 unique visitors and 9499 page clicks. The opening page expresses the lingering sorrow and shock of the 2010 mayoral outcome, with the loss of a Christian view representing that office."
Calgaraians go to the polls on October 21st.
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