UCP launches attack ads against new NDP leader Nenshi, who promptly fires back

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.

Mount Royal University political scientist Lori Williams says the attack ads are intended to define Nenshi right out of the gate.

“It shows that the conservatives are concerned about Naheed Nenshi,” Williams said. “And given this decisive victory, this overwhelming victory, there are reasons for them to do that.”

Duane Bratt, also from MRU, says attack ads are a cornerstone of modern politics.

“This is the new style of politics, where you try to frame your political opponent as quick as possible to bake it into the electorate well in advance of elections,” he explained.

But, the strategy may prove more difficult for the Conservatives than in the past, according to Bratt, because Nenshi is so well-known and has an extremely public record, it will make it challenging to create a new image of him in voters’ minds.

Bratt also said the UCP drawing a line from Nenshi to Trudeau was predictable and has been done in the past with other provincial party leaders like Notley.

But, that strategy might not last for long if, as anticipated, there are some major federal shakeups ahead of the 2025 election.

“Here’s the challenge: What if Trudeau is not there in a year? What does that mean? Does it become ‘Poilievre’s choice for Alberta’?” Bratt said. “This was entirely predictable, this was out of the playbook, and we’ll see if it works or not.”

Nenshi forging his own path

Not only has the new leader of the NDP moved swiftly in installing his own party leadership, but he is also differing from his predecessor in the way he responds to attacks from the opponent.

Bratt explained the strategy of the Notley team was to come back with evidence to contradict the UCP’s claims, while Nenshi seems to shrug it off.

“This is very different, the way he responded — he just seemed to laugh it off — and that’s not the way that the Notley team did it,” he said. “Instead, they got very defensive and tried to provide lots of examples where she countered Trudeau and these sorts of things.

“That wasn’t the case with the Nenshi response, he just sort of laughed and said ‘Yeah, this was predictable, right on the playbook, let’s move on here.'”

Smith, Nenshi go way back

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.

Bratt says the pair’s history has already made attacks more personal, and there is one instance that sticks out in his mind.

“The trans rights rally that was held in Calgary that Naheed Nenshi spoke at became very personal, where there was almost a sense of personal betrayal by what Danielle Smith had announced,” he said. “So, because of the history of the two of them, I think you’re going to see comments that really dig close to the bone on both sides.”

The next time Alberta politicians square off inside the legislature will likely be in October. While Nenshi does not have a seat there, he says he’s not in a rush to get one. Instead, he’s promising to travel the province in an attempt to define himself to voters directly.

The next provincial election is set for 2027.

–With files from Sean Amato in Edmonton