Naheed Nenshi cloaked himself in purple 鈥� a mix of Liberal red and Conservative blue 鈥� during his dark-horse bid to become Calgary鈥檚 mayor in 2010, for the 11 years he stayed in the job and in much of his post-city hall life.

The hue of the ties and shirts he donned for work was meant to symbolize his non-partisan approach to getting things done in public office.

But on Monday, the purple ex-mayor entered the arena of ideological fisticuffs, running to replace Rachel Notley as the head of Alberta鈥檚 official Opposition NDP with the goal of standing across from United Conservative Premier Danielle Smith, a former University of Calgary classmate, in the legislature.

In an interview in 2021, after he announced he would not try for a fourth term as mayor, Nenshi showed little interest in running for another order of government but didn鈥檛 rule it out.

鈥淯ltimately, I鈥檓 not sure if there鈥檚 a lot of room for purple in federal and provincial politics,鈥� he said.

鈥淢aybe there is.鈥�

Nenshi, in an interview before he announced his NDP candidacy Monday, said purple has many shades of meaning and the colour also symbolizes not being defined by one鈥檚 tribe during an 鈥渆xtremely divisive鈥� time.

鈥淭here doesn鈥檛 seem to be a lot of room for common humanity,鈥� he said.

鈥淵ou know what? There has to be. We can鈥檛 continue to go on like this.鈥�

Nenshi, 52, has kept his hands in discourse on the provincial scene since he left municipal office.

He endorsed Notley鈥檚 NDP three days before the May 2023 provincial election, which the UCP won, albeit with major seat losses in Calgary.

Nenshi didn鈥檛 exactly ditch the purple and wrap himself in NDP orange in an opinion piece he wrote for CTV News announcing his voting plans.

In it, he lamented the 鈥渓ost opportunity鈥� while Notley was premier from 2015 to 2019 to make major strides in housing and mental health. He also called the NDP鈥檚 failure to support a Calgary bid for the 2026 Olympics 鈥� an idea he championed 鈥� a 鈥渕assive fumble.鈥�

But he called Smith an 鈥渆xistential threat鈥� to Alberta.

鈥淲e simply have no idea what she will do as premier, and that scares me more than a few years of a potentially not-great NDP government.鈥�

Nenshi has been a regular broadcast pundit and column writer in his post-mayor life. He remains a prolific poster on the social media platform X, which used to be known as Twitter and where his foray into city politics got much of its traction among young people.

He spoke passionately at a rally outside Calgary city hall last month after Smith announced planned policies affecting transgender Albertans, including parental notification if children want to change their names or pronouns at school.

鈥淧remier Smith, I want you to understand that votes aren鈥檛 worth a few dead kids,鈥� Nenshi told the rally.

Nenshi was a little-known academic when he pulled off a long-shot win against two establishment candidates in 2010 to become the first Muslim mayor of a big North American city.

Hallmarks of Nenshi鈥檚 time in municipal office included expanding public transit, growing cycling infrastructure, building a new downtown library praised by many as an architectural gem and trying to rein in suburban sprawl.

Toward the end, he became a polarizing figure as the wider economy faltered, tensions grew with the provincial government and his dream of Calgary again hosting the Winter Games after its famous 1988 turn fizzled.

Nenshi, during his time as mayor, also garnered national attention for his handling of the 2013 floods that submerged several Calgary neighbourhoods.

People affixed pictures of his head on ads for the Superman movie 鈥淢an of Steel鈥� and put up posters suggesting Calgarians 鈥淜eep Calm and Nenshi On.鈥�

The phrase 鈥淣enshi noun鈥� became social media shorthand for someone doing something dangerously stupid after, at a news conference, he chastised someone he saw boating on one of the city鈥檚 swollen rivers.

鈥淚 have a large number of nouns that I can use to describe people I saw on the Bow River today. I am not allowed to use any of them,鈥� he said.

A self-described wonk, he has a bachelor of commerce degree from the University of Calgary, where he was president of the students union. He also holds a master鈥檚 in public policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

In his 2010 victory speech, Nenshi said he hoped kids of all ethnicities would see him elected and think: 鈥淚 can be anything.鈥�

But Nenshi, whose parents immigrated to Canada from Tanzania while his mother was pregnant with him, has also said it shouldn鈥檛 have been a shock to see someone who looks like him winning political office in a city sometimes deridingly called 鈥淐owtown.鈥�

鈥淗ow could a non-white person, a Muslim, get elected in a place like that?鈥� Nenshi, in the 2021 interview, recalled people saying of his first mayoral victory.

鈥淎nd all these people wrote these ridiculous thought pieces (that said), 鈥楾his is the face of the new Calgary.鈥�

鈥淚 thought to myself, 鈥楯eez, I鈥檝e lived here almost my whole life. This new Calgary鈥檚 been around for at least four decades and no one seems to have noticed.鈥欌��

Nenshi recounted how someone in his office was asked what it was like to have a 鈥渃hilled out鈥� boss with one foot out the door.

鈥淎nd his response was, 鈥楬ave you met the mayor? He doesn鈥檛 have a chill gear.鈥欌��

READ ALSO: