Nenshi inaccurately attributes the decline in Calgary's livability ranking to Smith

Former mayor of Calgary and current Alberta NDP leader Naheed Nenshi is facing criticism for inaccurately attributing the city's decline in global livability rankings to Premier Danielle Smith, ignoring the fact that the city's mayor and council bear most of the responsibility for its performance.

"During my tenure as mayor, Calgary was ranked as the world's 5th most livable city," Nenshi wrote on X. "Under Danielle Smith, it has fallen to 18th place. Leadership matters." Responses to his post highlighted that Smith is Alberta's premier, not the mayor of Calgary, who is Jyoti Gondek. "Um, Danielle Smith has never been the mayor of Calgary," commented one user. "You, however, don't even hold a legislative seat, and you're the 'leader' of Alberta's radical NDP party.

" The Economist Intelligence Unit's Global Liveability Index 2025 reveals that Calgary has plummeted from 5th to 18th place, marking the most significant drop among the 173 cities examined. Other Canadian cities listed include Vancouver (10th), Toronto (16th), and Montreal (19th). The index evaluates cities based on 30 criteria across five categories: stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure. In 2024, Calgary achieved an overall index score of 96.8, with perfect scores of 100 in stability, healthcare, and education. It earned a 90.0 in culture and environment and a 96.4 in infrastructure. For 2025, Calgary's overall score decreased to 94.7, and since it didn't make the top 10, detailed scores for individual categories were not included. However, it was noted that this decline, like that of the other three Canadian cities surveyed, was largely due to setbacks in healthcare services, highlighting that, contrary to Nenshi's assertions, both Gondek and Smith may not be to blame. Zurich, Switzerland, ranked second, scoring a perfect 100 in healthcare. Recent studies indicate that Switzerland's universal healthcare system provides far superior service to its citizens compared to Canada's, despite similar costs for taxpayers. Al Khobar in Saudi Arabia was the city that improved the most in rankings, rising 13 places due to significant advancements in healthcare and education. Nevertheless, comments on Nenshi's post expressed concerns regarding Gondek's effectiveness. Over the past year, her approval ratings have been notably low. A previous poll revealed that she and her city council had the lowest approval ratings among major cities. During the city's water crisis, Gondek's approval plummeted to a record low of 26 percent, falling even below that of former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the time. "These ratings are historically low," remarked ThinkHQ President Marc Henry.

"They appear to be primarily influenced by public backlash against policies like the single-use bag bylaw and blanket rezoning." Gondek has also overseen the skyrocketing cost of the Green Line LRT project, which increased from $4.65 billion to $6.2 billion, while simultaneously cutting its length by 78 percent and reducing the number of stations by over 75 percent. Alberta's Transportation Minister Devin Dreeshen has partially attributed responsibility to Nenshi for the lack of effective planning and implementation of a cost-efficient transit strategy. Amid rising affordability issues in Calgary, Gondek chose to vote against freezing pay increases for councillors. The tie vote, 7-7, resulted in the motion being defeated. While Nenshi strives to connect the city's decline to Smith, a recent poll indicates that the premier is gaining support faster than her colleagues. A CBC poll revealed that, compared to Rachel Notley's final time as leader, Nenshi is faring worse in both favourability and electoral support, experiencing higher disapproval and diminishing enthusiasm even in traditional NDP strongholds. Nenshi is set to compete against UCP candidate Darby Crouch in a byelection for Edmonton-Strathcona on June 23. The Conservatives have not held this riding since 1986. In an exclusive forthcoming interview with Crouch, she expressed confidence in her chances of winning, stating, "If we win, I think we might go down in history in Edmonton-Strathcona.
" Author: Cosmin Dzsurdzsa.