In those times when a truck-sized pipe shatters, throttling the water supply to over a million people — let’s say, in Calgary, where it happened this week — it pays to have a few extra socks. “I’ve managed to avoid doing laundry the entire time because I have an incredibly deep sock drawer, which is full of purple socks that people have given me over the years,” says Naheed Nenshi, speaking from home in between campaign stops. Since the beginning of his political career over a decade ago, the former mayor of Calgary has made a point of dressing to match his best-of-both-worlds political philosophy, the purple socks and purple shirts and purple ties signifying the commingling of Liberal red and Conservative blue, and a wearer who has refused to swear allegiance to either.
But in recent months his sartorial struggles have expanded to adding a pop of orange to his purple. He searched the unusual colour combination online and ordered items to be delivered. Someone gave him a tie they found at Value Village.
He asked a competitor’s daughter, an accomplished beader, to craft a pair of custom cufflinks. The orange, of course, represents his first foray into party politics as he seeks to replace Rachel Notley as the head of Alberta’s NDP party. He entered the race in March following several years of political retirement — he’s been consulting, public speaking and, he notes, making money — and months of local speculation.
He announced weeks after his competitors .
