The gloves are off, as the UCP has wasted no time taking a swing a new NDP leader and former Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi.
“New NDP leader Naheed Nenshi is Justin Trudeau’s choice for Alberta,” a video posted to the UCP’s social media Thursday said.
Meet Justin Trudeau’s choice for Alberta:
Naheed Nenshi pic.twitter.com/f3rne9nYz8— United Conservative Party of Alberta (@Alberta_UCP) June 27, 2024
The ad shows pictures of Nenshi and the prime minister during his run against Stephen Harper and the Conservatives in 2015.
“When asked about Nenshi running for the NDP, Trudeau called Nenshi ‘A strong mayor’ and said “We should welcome his candidacy,’” it goes on to say.
The UCP claims Trudeau tried to get Nenshi to run for the federal Liberals.
“We’ve had enough of Trudeau in Ottawa, we don’t need one in Alberta,” it continues.
The attack ad against Nenshi come less than a week after her secured 86 per cent of the NDP membership’s votes in the race to replace long time leader Rachel Notley.
The new Leader of the Opposition didn’t take long to strike back, posting his own video to social media.
It seems like the UCP are scared of something…weird. While they’re out there attacking me, I’ll be here with my @albertaNDP colleagues focusing on how to make Alberta better for you. pic.twitter.com/rD72zTRjl8
— Naheed Nenshi (@nenshi) June 27, 2024
“They are nothing if not predictable,” Nenshi said of the UCP. “I’ve said for a long time that Danielle Smith and the UCP government only know how to do two things: they know how to pick fights and they know how to waste money.”
He claims the party is trying to define him to voters, something he says isn’t possible because he’s been around for so long.
Nenshi was mayor of Calgary for 11 years and says during that time, the city was consistently named one of the best cities in the world to live.
A second ad released by the UCP focused on Nenshi’s record as mayor, speaking to someone appearing to be a Calgarian who claims the then-mayor called him a “polluting caveman” for driving his pickup truck.
The man, who says he did vote for Nenshi the first time he ran for mayor, says “the constant tax increase on small business put a lot of people out.”
“I will put up my public record and my record of service against Danielle Smith any day of the week and twice on Sundays,” Nenshi said in response. “Bring it on.”
The new leader went on to talk about Smith’s intention to pull out of the federal dental care plan and said her caucus is “busy picking fights.”
Meanwhile, he took the time to layout his platform, focusing on family doctors and education.
The leaders of Alberta’s two biggest political parties go way back — Smith and Nenshi were both in the Campus Debate Society at the University of Calgary and shared a political science course taught by none other than former Premier Peter Lougheed.
Both leaders graduated from university of 1993.
The next provincial election is set for 2027.