Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi was invited to Carleton to speak on Sept. 3 about the 2013 Calgary floods, local government, and involving youth in politics.
Nenshi’s lecture was titled “Crisis, Community and Leadership in Local Government” and was part of the Currents lecture series hosted by the Faculty of Public Affairs.
Nenshi talked about the day-to-day recovery process he went through with his community after the devastating floods.
A theme in his lecture was a belief in the power of community and the resilience of people in times of crisis. He highlighted the importance of small contributions in making a community function.
“What you want to do is encourage people to get involved in their community, in whatever way they feel comfortable getting involved and it might have nothing to do with politics,” he said. “But you also follow up with helping people understand that the choices the government makes matter to the things that they’re passionate and excited about.”
Nenshi also highlighted the importance of getting young people involved in the political process.
“Everyone has the power to influence the world,” he said. “When [young people are] engaged in their community they get through that cynicism about government and they get involved in the government as well.”
“I feel included even just in talking to him, and his concept of involving young people in politics,” said Cameron Wales, a first-year Public Affairs and Policy Management student. “It’s really great to see people responding to it.”
“The sign of a really good leader is how they deal with crisis, right? So getting a really candid window, a peak into how he dealt with it,” he said. “It was a really great experience.”
Barry Wright, the associate dean of the Faculty of Public Affairs, described Mayor Nenshi as “a transformative politician, who engages both the younger generation and the wider communities.”
“It is very nice indeed to be optimistic of the political future,” he said.
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