Bird’s Eye: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, there was a visionary elected in Cowtown, there was a buffoon elected in Hogtown….”

* Naheed Nenshi- Calgary 3.0 TEDX Talks

In this extraordinary 10 minute video, Naheed Nenshi (mayor-elect of Calgary) talks about the past and future of Calgary. Jane Jacobs would have loved this.

* How Naheed Nenshi Won Calgary’s Race For Mayor Montreal Gazette

Observers and Nenshi’s inner circle — an executive group of “progressive” civic leaders and political nerds — say his remarkable campaign victory and a large voter turnout on Monday were due to a combination of many factors.

The keys, according to organizers, included winning over “hyper-engaged” voters early on, genuine online interaction, grassroots events such as coffee parties, a decentralized campaign structure, passionate volunteers, competitors who failed to significantly increase their share of supporters and, ultimately, a young, credible, intelligent candidate with detailed platform policies….The avant-garde, anti-political establishment campaign, the likes of which many say has never been seen before in Canadian politics, is now being dissected by political pundits, strategists and journalists alike. “This is clearly a precedent-setting situation,” said John Pliniussen, an associate professor of e-marketing, sales and innovation at Queen’s University. “He and his team totally get social media.”

* Rob Ford- Toronto Epsilon Youtube (Thanks, Avi)

In this one minute video, Rob Ford (Mayor-Elect of Toronto) shows his unique consensus-building people skills

* How Toronto Voted The Torontoist

Simple map showing the areas that voted for Smitherman vs those that voted for Ford. One picture explains it all….