Mayors Tory and Nenshi trade barbs on Twitter ahead of Grey Cup

The Mayors of Toronto and Calgary exchanged words about the Grey Cup on Saturday, a day before the Argonauts and Stampeders face each other in the CFL’s championship game.

A reporter tweeted that Jim Watson, the mayor of Ottawa, which is hosting the Grey Cup, would be supporting the Toronto Argonauts with his hometown Ottawa Redblacks being eliminated in the CFL East’s semifinal.

Toronto Mayor John Tory replied to the tweet, welcoming Watson to the Argonauts’ fanbase.

“Plenty of room on the @TorontoArgos bandwagon for you, Mayor Watson. Glad to have the #GreyCup host city mayor advantage!,” said Tory adding the hashtags #ArgosFootball #GoodLuckArgos.

Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi quoted Tory’s tweet, taking a shot at the Argonauts’ low attendance numbers in Toronto.

“Of course there is plenty of room on that bandwagon, since there’s never been anyone actually on it,” said Nenshi.

Nenshi had also quoted the original reporter’s tweet, trying to bring Hamilton Mayor Fred Eisenberger into the debate.

“(Watson) just doesn’t like crowds. The real question: what does @FredEisenberger think?” said Nenshi.

The Argonauts struggled to fill BMO Field all season, averaging 13,914 fans in the stadium with a 27,000 person capacity. That’s 10,730 less than the average league attendance. Attendance shot up for the CFL East final against the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Nov. 19, however, with announced attendance at 24,929.

Tory is no stranger to the CFL, having served as the league’s chairman from 1992-1996 and its commissioner from 1996-2000 before entering politics.

-CP