Ex-mayor Nenshi loathes partisan politics. He may run for NDP leader anyway

Former Alberta justice minister Kathleen Ganley kicked off her bid Monday to lead the NDP, stressing her Calgary roots. By this time next week, Edmonton caucus mates Rakhi Pancholi, Sarah Hoffman and David Shepherd will likely have joined her in the race to replace the departing Rachel Notley.

That lineup of leadership candidates has been reported publicly for some time now, and campaign teams have been quietly jostling for support since at least last autumn. With no clear front-runner, it's shaping up to be one of the most unpredictable and interesting NDP leadership contests anywhere in Canada in some time (they tend to be relatively sleepy affairs with little competition or none at all).

But the intrigue that seems to have gripped NDP-land and parts beyond is whether another figure jumps into the fray and injects even more excitement — one who just delivered his own head-turner of a political speech without formally saying a thing about whether he wants this job.

Naheed Nenshi, arguably Alberta's most compelling political speaker in recent memory, delivered the address that got folks talking at a Calgary rally against the Danielle Smith government's newly proposed restrictions affecting transgender people. 

The former Calgary mayor's voice began with disappointment in the compassionate tone the premier used in her announcement, then he elevated it to a roar as he seethed at her promise to bolster child protection services in case parents react abusively to their outed teens.

"Let me tell you what that means — what that means is 'we'll deal with y'all later,'" he told some 1,000 protesters. "Later after you've been beaten up. Later after you've been kicked out of your house … later after you've died by suicide. Later is not good enough. We protect everyone, we protect every kid, and we protect them right now." 

He closed his nine minutes by leading rally-goers in a chant: "We will fight! We will win!"

No less a figure than Nenshi's own sister suggested it should serve as prelude to an NDP leadership bid.

He publicly states he's thinking about it, and that appears true. Nenshi and politicos from his municipal life have for weeks done meetings and phone calls with New Democrats and other progressives, gauging their interest in the idea of the politician with the purple trademark seeking the orange crown.

The rally could have galvanized his own interest in three more years of more rabble-rousing speeches full of Smith critiques, before the 2027 Alberta election. Then, if this leadership contest is as focused as it appears to be on setting the NDP on track to win that election, why wouldn't progressives flock behind a three-term mayor who would take on the job with instant name recognition and debating chops to take on Smith?

But behind the scenes, the questions determining if he runs will likely have two varieties: does the party want him, and does he want the party?

Nenshi's nonpartisan or post-partisan philosophy has embodied his purple branding, a mixture of Liberal red and Conservative blue (little thought was given to orange). Even when he endorsed Notley's party in the last election, it was a "loan" vote, and he offered praise mixed with much criticism of past NDP positions.

"I need to engage with politics and elections fluidly and based on the context of the moment, as well as who is running," he wrote last May in an endorsement column.

He revelled in the fluidity of city politics. As mayor, he wasn't leader of the 14 other councillors, and could variously appeal to the conservative members or liberal members for votes to ensure passage of his initiatives. (Or, sometimes, he wasn't persuasive or crafty a politician enough to win those votes.)