NDP insider calls Calgary “narrow minded cow town”

Just a day before Alberta’s provincial election in which the UCP and NDP will scrap for control over our nation’s oil capital, an NDP party insider Derek Leebosh decided to take to Twitter to let his true colours—specifically an ugly shade of orange—shine through.

Leebosh, the Vice President of public affairs at Environics, saw it fit to let his followers know his opinion on Calgary, calling Canada’s third largest city a “narrow minded cow town.”

Leebosh noted that Calgary was becoming a “real city” that votes more “like Denver or Winnipeg,” also stating that Calgary was becoming less “narrow minded” in his view.

In what way is Calgary not a “real city?” To Leebosh, a Montreal native and U of Toronto grad, perhaps it’s the surplus of testosterone and rodeos that is off-putting. And no offense to my friends in Winnipeg, but in what world is Calgary not a real city, but Winnipeg is? Perhaps what he’s trying to say is, “You are not a real city unless you vote for self-destructive liberal policies.”

According to Leebosh’s profile, he has “over 20 years experience as a specialist in public affairs research,” which based on his inflammatory tweets, would not have been my first guess. But perhaps he takes a more unorthodox approach to PR.

“Narrow minded” Calgary is not. In the 2016 census‘ dive into proportions of the adult population with bachelor’s degrees or higher, Calgary reached the podium at 3rd place behind Ottawa and Toronto, with Calgary achieving bronze at 38.3% of the population between the age 25 to 64 having such a degree.

The degrees aren’t just in liberal arts either. According to the same data, the census metropolitan areas of Calgary had some of the highest proportions of STEM graduates at the bachelor’s level or above. How very “narrow minded” of them.

Reactions to the comment on Twitter were obviously not very kind to the NDP-aligned Leebosh, as backlash ensued quickly. Though the original tweet has since been deleted, anti-NDP sentiments relating to Leebosh’s tweet are easy to locate.  As of writing this, Leebosh has not yet responded to our request for a comment.

Yesterday, Daily Wire contributor Pardes Saleh challenged us to “name a snobbier culture than the French.” To Seleh, I confidently say, the Alberta NDP takes the entire cake, as sentiments like these are not uncommon from Albertan left-leaning politicians. There appears to be a degree of contempt from this lot that is hard to turn a blind eye to.

Over the years, we have heard politicans call opposition parties “sewer rats,” that Albertans are “ungovernable,” or as Premier Rachel Notley put it, an “embarrassing cousin.” Now, they are “narrow minded” citizens of a “cow town.”

This sentiment isn’t just from the political class, but is also echoed by the media class. How could one forget the Globe and Mail headline titled “Alberta steps into the present” after the province elected their first female premier after 13 consecutive men. Patronizing is an understatement.

According to the NDP’s own website, “the New Democrats are champions for people.” If that’s the case, why do you continue to patrionize the people of a province you are trying to help?

With the provincial elections right around the corner, Albertans will have to decide whether they will re-elect the Notley New Democrats, or go with Jason Kenney, a familiar name in the province’s politics. For those looking for change, this could be the oppertunity many Albertans have been waiting for.

With all polls pointing to the UCP by varying degrees, Albertans may already have their minds made up, though Yogi Berra once said, “It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.”