Nenshi accused of importing U.S.-style politics by hiring American firm
Nenshi is under fire for hiring an American political advertising firm to produce a campaign video, a move that critics say completely undercuts his party’s message.
Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi is under fire for hiring an American political advertising firm to produce a campaign video, a move that critics say completely undercuts his party’s message about stopping U.S. political meddling and supporting Canadian jobs.
The CBC revealed the video was produced by Fight Agency, a New York–based firm created in January 2025 and staffed by senior Democratic strategists. The agency has previously crafted ads for U.S. politicians, including Bernie Sanders, Zohran Mamdani, and a lengthy list of U.S. Democrats.
The firm says it helps candidates “ready to fight the toughest battles in politics” and promises “sharp messaging and the next great iconic ad.”
After the Alberta NDP released the video, online criticism surfaced questioning why Nenshi turned to an American firm for political messaging.
“UNBELIEVABLE! Naheed Nenshi just hired an AMERICAN ad agency for his image makeover. Spending OUR Canadian dollars in the US! What happened to ‘ELBOWS UP’ ‘buy Canadian’? Pure hypocrisy! If the Conservatives did this, the media would EXPLODE! Absolutely double standards,” said former Conservative candidate Sayid Ahmed.
Another user criticized the agency’s U.S. political ties, posting:
“The CBC caught NDP Naheed Nenshi spending Canadian dollars in the US for his big image makeover. Which firm did he choose? The ad agency was socialist NY mayor Zohran Mamdani’s! What happened to buy Canadian? Elbows up?”
A third user pointed to Nenshi’s staffing choices.
“Nenshi hired the same ad agency that Mamdani used, IN. AMERICA. His chief of staff, the ‘driving force behind this new ad campaign,’ was chief of staff to Liberal ministers Marc Miller and Edmonton’s Amarjeet Sohi. If Conservatives did this, there would be a meltdown of epic proportions. What happened to ‘we don’t need American-style politics’ in this country? The hypocrisy,” he said.
Fight Agency’s team includes consultants who have run Senate battleground media operations, Democratic “war rooms,” presidential-primary ad programs, and national communications strategies for U.S. political organizations such as Planned Parenthood. Several partners have won national awards for Democratic advertising and have led multimillion-dollar campaigns across the United States.
The agency has also run hit ads against U.S. President Donald Trump.
Neither Nenshi nor the Alberta NDP has publicly addressed the criticism or explained why an American political firm was selected over Canadian consultants. The video continues circulating online following its release.
True North reached out to the Alberta NDP for comment but received no reply.