Outgoing mayors Naheed Nenshi and Don Iveson reflect on their relationship with Alberta's UCP government
CBC
It's the end of an era. On Oct. 18, Calgary and Edmonton will both elect new mayors for the first time in years.
Neither Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi nor Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson are running for re-election.
They reflected on their careers with West of Centre host Kathleen Petty.
Both mayors are finishing their terms as Alberta grapples with the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
With double digit deaths reported daily, more than a year and a half into the pandemic, both Iveson and Nenshi say, "it was avoidable."
Nenshi didn't hold back on what it was like to work with the provincial government as the pandemic raged on.
He said early communication with Alberta Premier Jason Kenney was frequent but during the summer that changed.
Intelligence regarding foreign interference sometimes didn't make it to the prime minister's desk in 2021 because Canada's spy agency and the prime minister's national security adviser didn't always see eye to eye on the nature of the threat, according to a recent report from one of Canada's intelligence watchdogs.