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Bell: Nenshi speaks of cavemen in big trucks

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Not good enough, Your Worship.

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It is Monday, high noon. Get to ask Nenshi about those cavemen F-350 drivers.

Does the mayor of Calgary want to speak to his statement late last week?

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You know what he said.

How he was just helping Canadians understand Albertans are not “a bunch of, you know, F-350 driving cavemen.”

Now many of you are hot under the collar — for good reason, no matter how many know-it-all loudmouths may slime you on social media and call you stupid.

On Monday, I didn’t know what kind of reception I’d get to the question.

Didn’t take long to find out.

As I open my mouth and pitch the puzzler, the mayor’s handler speaks up.

“Done. Asked and answered,” she says, trying to shut me up.

Nenshi disregards the zip-your-lip signal and answers.

“We actually have to be able to fight stereotypes and we have to win over hearts and minds,” says Nenshi.

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“I must say it is much more effective to win over hearts and minds when you actually say: Look, we’re not a bunch of cavemen in big trucks.

“Even those who drive big trucks work hard and care about the environment as well as caring about the economy.”

Read the first part of that last sentence over slowly. The one starting: “Even those…”

By the way, I have to ask. Who are these Canadians thinking Albertans are a bunch of cavemen in big trucks?

Are they those people who do not like Alberta, do not like the oilpatch, do not like what Alberta represents? Those who never will? Those whose hearts and minds will not change?

Those with an agenda?

Are these the people Albertans are supposed to convince? Please, we’re not cavemen in big trucks. We really aren’t.

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Screw them.

Actually, come to think of it, Alberta has big trucks and small trucks and lots of trucks and folks use those trucks to work and to haul things and to make a living in a way those sipping their pricey lattes in downtown Toronto and Vancouver do not care to understand.

These Albertans defend the jobs they do and the lives they live and they don’t wake up in the morning thinking of ways to destroy the world.

But they’re also not going to kill their livelihood because some over-the-top megaphone says so.

If some Canadians think that’s a caveman, so be it.

While Nenshi is at it, he also speaks of United Conservative leader Jason Kenney. I think.

Kenney says he’s tired of Alberta leaders repeating negative stereotypes about this province.

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The mayor advises against those who are “so very sensitive.”

“Really, if that’s the way Alberta goes, if we end up with leadership that just wants to attack everyone, even the people who are on their side, it’s not really going to be very effective going forward.”

Shannon Stubbs, the feisty Conservative MP from Alberta who gave Nenshi a piece of her mind on Friday, isn’t done with the mayor.

Conservative MP Shannon Stubbs rises during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Wednesday, April 18, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang ORG XMIT: JDT114
Conservative MP Shannon Stubbs rises during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Wednesday, April 18, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang ORG XMIT: JDT114

Why does she think folks are so upset over Nenshi?

“No one wants to hear the mayor of Calgary repeat stereotypes used by people who want to shut Alberta down. Period,” says Stubbs.

She mentions the job losses, the empty offices, the people who take to the streets and rally for the oilpatch and Alberta.

Let us not forget the well-placed fury of so many because Alberta is getting screwed inside its own country — giving much more than it gets, seeing people scooping our money while attacking us over how that money was made.

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“People know instinctively what the mayor’s comments show is he himself draws a link between people’s choice of vehicle and what are obviously his own thoughts about their level of intelligence,” continues the MP.

Stubbs says in her part of the province people who use big trucks for their lives and jobs “are a heck of a lot more productive than any of these fancy, self-important progressive politicians any day.”

Of Nenshi: “Of course, he’s bewildered. He’s never had to drive a F-350 for anything.”

Stubbs says the folks in her central Alberta riding aren’t impressed with His Worship.

“There’s a pretty good chance most Albertans with big trucks don’t consider themselves to be cavemen and don’t even know what the mayor of Calgary is even talking about. That’s why it’s so frustrating he would repeat that stereotype and reinforce it,” says Stubbs.

At city council, straight-shooting Coun. Sean Chu isn’t impressed with Nenshi’s latest.

“I think it’s stupid,” he says.

rbell@postmedia.com

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