Nenshi reflects on 'negative' federal election campaign

Calgary's mayor — who is known for helping people find their lost pets via Twitter is relieved the longest federal election campaign in modern Canadian history is over.

Perhaps that's because the last few months haven't been an easy go for Canada's big city mayors.

"Just so negative, all the time. And me and others were pushing hard to get the parties to actually talk about stuff that matters — about transit and infrastructure and what they're going to do about the economy ... and it was tough to get to those points," said Nenshi.

• Listen to Mayor Naheed Nenshi on the Calgary Eyeopener Tuesday morning

Calgary Eyeopener8:11Mayor Naheed Nenshi on the federal election results

Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi offers his thoughts on the new federal Liberal majority.

With party leaders focusing on things like the niqab debate and Justin Trudeau's hair, Calgary's mayor said municipal issues got largely overshadowed — and that frustrated a lot of Canadians.

"I don't think anybody is proud of where we went as a country over that last three months and I think what we really saw was that message last night," he said. "We went through a rancorous, divisive election that did not make people happy about politics and about the opportunity of politics."

Alberta under the federal Liberals

In a Facebook post, Nenshi said he was "very much looking forward to working with Mr. Trudeau," pointing to Liberal party promises to fund Calgary's Green Line and flood-mitigation projects.

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"We look forward to getting shovels in the ground on these and other essential infrastructure projects," Nenshi said.

Calgary's mayor also urged Albertans to not stress over having another Trudeau in power.

"We've prospered under Liberal governments before, you know, great booms under the Chrétien government, as well," he said. "We're entrepreneurial people. We know what we're doing."

But those words haven't come as comfort to many Albertans, who remain worried about Western Alienation 2.0:

It's a genuine concern, according to University of Calgary political scientist Anthony Sayers, who said many people in this province have​ "a sense that the centre (the Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto corridor) doesn't listen to us or isn't as sensitive to our concerns as we had hoped."

"There is concern here about the way that the federal government spends money, some of which is generated in Alberta," he said.

• How do you think Calgary will fare under a Trudeau government? Leave your thoughts in the comments section.