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Calgary’s Naheed Nenshi steels supporters for attack on council allies

Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi appears to be steeling himself against an indirect attack on his mayoralty, reportedly urging attendees at a recent dinner party to expect a roundabout onslaught from those who may not be able to take him on in a direct fight.

The Calgary Herald reports that Nenshi held a $450-a-plate dinner on Wednesday, well ahead of the municipal election scheduled for October. Media was barred from the event, an oddity that garnered some entertaining attention from the Herald's civic affairs writer Jason Markusoff.

But reports from those inside the dinner, and some later interviewed by the Herald, suggested the crux of the speech was a call for Nenshi's opponents to take him on personally, rather than targetting supporting aldermen.

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This concern does seem to make sense for Nenshi, the popular city leader who has maintained a strong level of support since being elected in 2010. Despite his popularity, and no one yet in line to challenge him for the mayor's seat, he does have his opponents.

The National Post reported earlier this month that a handful of conservative-minded municipal candidates have been training at the Manning Centre for Building Democracy, a think-tank working to build the country's conservative movement.

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Nenshi told the newspaper at the time that he doesn’t view municipal politics in a partisan light. “Is it a conservative or a liberal idea to plow residential roads?” he asked.

But if there is a strategy afoot to leave the mayor standing while cutting down his supporters on council, he may be forced to start painting the landscape with party colours.

Nenshi is frequently held up as a progressive-type of mayor by those outside of Calgary, especially those in Toronto, where first-term Mayor Rob Ford was also elected in 2010.

The timing of Ford and Nenshi’s arrival in municipal politics does make for an easy comparison. But in Toronto, Ford faces a divided council and talks, and strategizes, frequently in partisan rhetoric.

Ford also endorsed candidates running against left-leaning councillors in the last election, and of course he is not the first mayoral candidate to stump for allies. So it is not unexpected that Nenshi’s opponents would target like-minded council members.

In an ideal world, perhaps partisanship wouldn’t leak into municipal politics. But it does, and that make all the king’s men obvious targets. The question now is whether Nenshi’s halo extends to his allies as well.