BS: First Muslim mayor elected, Calgary

Subject: BS: First Muslim mayor elected, Calgary
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 19 Oct 10 - 11:59 AM

Calgary, a city with a population of over 0ne million, has elected a Muslim mayor, a first for North America.

Naheed Nenshi, business man and community leader, is an international business consultant, advising companies in corporate strategy, and has his own company. As well as having working with petroleum, banking and telecommunication companies, and the Alberta Government, he has devised strategies for retailers including Gap and Banana Republic.

Community interests include heading the Centre for Performing Arts and devised methods for United Way and other charities.
He authored the book, Building Up, making Canada's cities engines of growth and magnets of development.
In addition, he is a professor at Calgary's Mount Royal College.
Educated first in Calgary, he has a Master's degree in Public Policy from John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.

Subject: RE: BS: First Muslim mayor elected, Calgary
From: beardedbruce
Date: 19 Oct 10 - 12:15 PM

Good for him!.


Calgary has always been a beautiful place, and the locals seemed to act in a level-headed manner every time I have been there.

Subject: RE: BS: First Muslim mayor elected, Calgary
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 19 Oct 10 - 02:19 PM

Am I out of line to question how his business interests conform to Islam?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_economics

Subject: RE: BS: First Muslim mayor elected, Calgary
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 19 Oct 10 - 03:30 PM

Not your Islam?

Subject: RE: BS: First Muslim mayor elected, Calgary
From: pdq
Date: 19 Oct 10 - 06:06 PM

It maybe more important that this guy is a high-powered business leader, less important that he is a Muslim.

The US news media have a habit of trashing successful business leaders who try to move into elective office.

The professional politicians, news media and showbiz types all work together to promote each other. They party together, golf together, drink together. They do other things together, an example being a 15 year affair between Barbara Walters and Senator Edward Brook.

We keep settling people like Joe Biden and Bill Clinton who never spent a day in a private sector job. They went directly from school into the employ of a political party which groomed them to be professional office holders.

If we are going to get people back to work, the business that hire people must thrive. November 2 will put a buncha business folks in Washington and send a buncha self-serving professional politician critters back home.

Subject: RE: BS: First Muslim mayor elected, Calgary
From: bubblyrat
Date: 19 Oct 10 - 06:28 PM

Be nice to have a Christian elected Mayor of Cairo ,or Islamabad, or Damascus ; won't ever happen though, will it ?? No , of course not.I'm not impressed ,to be honest. Be afraid.

Subject: RE: BS: First Muslim mayor elected, Calgary
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 19 Oct 10 - 06:28 PM

I'd assume that he'd be conducting his business in accordance with well established Islamic business procedures, which seem to work very well.

Subject: RE: BS: First Muslim mayor elected, Calgary
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 19 Oct 10 - 06:53 PM

That may well be a bit of an assumption McGrath, looking at the brief sketch above. It is very hard to see how the Islamic concept of partnership and equitable sharing of risk and reward fits with "red-blooded capitalism".

Subject: RE: BS: First Muslim mayor elected, Calgary
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 19 Oct 10 - 06:55 PM

PS - Ratty, that is a disgraceful piece of bigotry.

Subject: RE: BS: First Muslim mayor elected, Calgary
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 19 Oct 10 - 07:00 PM

Without knowing a lot more about it, it seems a reasonable assumption to hold provisionally. It all depends on what kind of advice he's been giving, and what strategies he's been devising.

"Red blooded capitalism" after all is demonstrably a disastrous way of doing business in the long run.

Subject: RE: BS: First Muslim mayor elected, Calgary
From: GUEST,999
Date: 20 Oct 10 - 12:17 AM

FACT : His religion was never part of his campaign.

FACT : He won 40% of the vote.

FACT : Other than Harper and some of his his cabinet, Canada has very few 'religious fundamentalists' in office. Naheed Nenshi is not one of them. That he got elected in Canada and possibly a Christian in a Muslim country wouldn't have been speaks to the countries involved. I'm happy my country does its best not to discriminate on the basis of skin colour, religion, ethnicity, etc.

Subject: RE: BS: First Muslim mayor elected, Calgary
From: meself
Date: 20 Oct 10 - 11:22 AM

Not only was his religion not a part of his campaign, my impression (here in Calgary) is that most voters did not know or care whether he was a Muslim or a Tree-worshipper. I didn't hear mention of his religion until he had won the mayoralty, and the national media got ahold of the story.

Subject: RE: BS: First Muslim mayor elected, Calgary
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 20 Oct 10 - 01:59 PM

meself has it about right. (But a tree-worshiper would have a hard time, a strong capitalist ethic here)

Calgary has a large immigrant population, between 20-25 percent. Ethnic origin ceased to be an important factor in relations since all groups contribute to the business and professional life and the growing economy of the city, now over 1.3 million.
Among the "visible minorities" no single group is predominant (many of the Chinese are old-timers here). Many Muslims here are from the Middle East and Pakistan and many would be classed as Caucasian.

Chinese -75,000
East Indian -48000
Filipino - 27000
North American Indian - 26000
Vietnamese -14000
Lebanese - 8000
Pakistani -7000
Korean -7000

Blacks, mostly Caribbean and African. 20500
Arabs - 11000
Latin American -13000

Calgary has North America's largest mosque- over 48,000 sq. ft.
Baitun Nur Mosque
There are others, over 10 places for worship.

Alberta had 32000 Muslims 10 years ago, couldn't find current figure.
The Muslims of Calgary website:
Muslims of Calgary