Calgary radio host Dave Rutherford off the air after criticizing company’s flood response

A Calgary radio host considering a run for mayor says his influential program has been dropped from the dial after he criticized the way his company handled its flood coverage.

Dave Rutherford announced on Twitter that he was taken off of Corus Radio after an internally-unpopular rant.

"I have just been taken off the air on Corus radio," he wrote. "Message: don't criticize management."

Corus hasn't made the sacking official, but a webpage for The Rutherford Show appears to have been removed from the CHQR AM770 website.

His apparent dismissal comes following a Monday rant about the way Corus has handled its flood coverage. According to Calgary Herald's Jason Markusoff, Calgary's CHQR AM770 went off the air when its offices were evacuated due to the flood, and Corus has been playing Edmonton's CHED630 in its place.

[ More Brew: Alberta floods: How you can help ]

While Edmonton’s station has offered some flood updates, it continued to air its regularly-scheduled programming.

Rutherford said on his province-wide program that Corus decided to use its resources to continue playing music instead of getting up-to-date flood coverage out to Calgarians.

In the rant, republished in full by the Herald, Rutherford said he was disappointed by the company’s response.

"That’s an opinion, and I’ve been told categorically by management at Corus that my opinion is not being sought. My advice is not being sought and it is not welcome," he said. "So that’s fine. Corus management runs the radio stations they can make their decisions. It’s unfortunate the decisions ended up the way they are."

[ Political Points: Naheed Nenshi’s flood response lauded ]

Rutherford had been scheduled to leave the airwaves near the end of July and is considering a mayoral run against Calgary's Naheed Nenshi.

While he recently told the National Post that it would take "quite a campaign" to beat Nenshi, Rutherford is a popular conservative personality in the city and has been approached to run.

Nenshi’s legend has only grown in the wake of the flood response and he has been lauded for his tireless dedication to the city’s recovery efforts.

It seems between Nenshi and Rutherford, there’s a lot of that going around.