The annual Calgary Stampede extravaganza attracts politicians and lobbyists who fly in for Stampede\u2019s first four days for dealmaking, team building and\/or partying \u2014 sometimes all three. Ottawa\u2019s fishbowl and Toronto\u2019s power set are drawn west by chuckwagon races and grandstand acts. They fit serious meetings in between carbo-loading pancakes, gawking at the rodeo and schmoozing up and down the nonstop reception circuit.<\/p>\n

Once they reach Canada\u2019s largest inland western city, federal pols are under a microscope: Do they look<\/i> the part? Can they flip a pancake? Does it seem like they really want to be there?<\/p>\n

Those who want to latch onto the newest outlet for Canada\u2019s emergent patriotism<\/a> may struggle to do so today. One of Saturday\u2019s big political events \u2014 the Canadian Chamber of Commerce\u2019s Calgary Stampede Mixer \u2014 begins at noon, an hour after the Canada-Morocco match kicks off in Houston.<\/p>\n

Scheduling would have been more straightforward if the cowboy cosplayers had stayed put in Ottawa. The federal Department of Canadian Heritage \u2014 whose mandate is to support “Canadian identity and values, cultural development, and heritage\u201d \u2014 is hosting a watch party at LeBreton Flats Park.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom coast to coast to coast, the country is rallying behind the team as they write an incredible FIFA World Cup story,\u201d Canada\u2019s secretary of state for sport Adam van Koeverden said in a press release promoting the event sponsored by a government that has seen the tournament as an exercise in soft power<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s undeniable in moments like these that sport is a great nation-builder, and we can build Canada strong through sport.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blue Light News’s Canada Playbook will publish special editions from Calgary Stampede this weekend. You can subscribe <\/i><\/b>here<\/i><\/b><\/a>.\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CALGARY, Alberta \u2014 When their national team faces off against Morocco today in its first-ever knockout match in a men\u2019s World Cup, Canada\u2019s political class will be in cowboy hats and boots. The annual Calgary Stampede extravaganza attracts politicians and lobbyists who fly in for Stampede\u2019s first four days for dealmaking, team building and\/or partying […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25290"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25290\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}