In mid-April 1999, a Halifax city planner named Gary Porter returned from his vacation to a surprise. He noticed there was now one more storey than the city had approved on an under-construction office building on Brunswick Street. The developer, George Ramia, had been granted a permit to build a 40-foot-high building on the lot...
Halifax councillors budgeting for 1.9% increase to the average property tax bill
Regional councillors are budgeting for a staff-recommended increase of 1.9% to average residential and commercial property tax bills in the fiscal year ahead. Council’s budget committee met Wednesday to consider the 2021-2022 fiscal framework recommended by municipal finance staff. That framework sets the parameters for councillors’ budget discussions, which will continue over the next few...
Construction companies face supply and labour shortages
2020 was a boom year for home renovation and new home construction. Renovation companies are seeing an increase in volume upward of 25% . Home building companies have also seen a 25%-plus jump in business, according to Karen Slaunwhite, executive-director of the Canadian Homebuilders’ Association Nova Scotia. “The boom was driven by two key factors:...
When is $15 million really $10 million, but actually only $5 million?
Welcome to the world of higher education in which "gift" and "gift commitment" can be parsed so billionaires can claim to give what they haven't, and dictate whatever they want.
On this Makeover Monday, let us pretend — because there will be more than a little smoke-and-mirrors pretend in this column — that it is actually the morning of Thursday, Oct. 20, 2011. On that day, according to Dalhousie News, the official public relations organ of Dalhousie University, this happened: Though it was pouring rain...
Appeals court rules for Halifax, against developer in Blue Mountain-Birch Cove Lakes land dispute
It’s a win for the municipality and everyone advocating in favour of a park at Blue Mountain-Birch Cove Lakes, but one environmentalist warns it could bring the process back to square one. The highest court in Nova Scotia ruled in a written decision released on Thursday that Halifax Regional Municipality did not effectively expropriate a developer’s...
Social workers call for Liberal leadership candidates to back a child and youth advocate office
The organization representing the province’s social workers has launched a campaign demanding the candidates vying to be Nova Scotia’s next premier commit to creating a “desperately needed” child and youth advocate office. “We would ideally like to see more robust policy options coming out of these three men wanting to be premier,” Alec Stratford, executive...
Halifax planners won’t let John Risley connect his two south-end mansions. He’s appealing the decision
Municipal planners have told John Risley he can’t connect his two south-end Halifax mansions across property lines, and at a hearing later this month, the billionaire will appeal the decision. The two properties are on Emscote Drive, near Point Pleasant Park. They’re side by side, civic 5956 and 5964, with long lawns down to the...
Liberal leadership candidate Randy Delorey made a whack of promises; we unpack them
Liberal leadership candidate Randy Delorey released a list of campaign promises today, a month before a virtual convention February 6 that will choose a new premier. The Antigonish MLA told the Halifax Examiner these ideas are aimed at helping businesses and people “rebound and thrive” once COVID-19 is behind us. Reporter Jennifer Henderson took a...
How Emera is profiting off Nova Scotia Power customers in a questionable scheme for green power
Delays in the Muskrat Falls hydro project meant Nova Scotia wouldn't meet its renewable energy targets. And then the Northern Pulp mill closed, and woodlots lost a buyer for their chips. Just then, in the name of filling the gap in renewable power, Nova Scotia Power was allowed to start buying more biomass power from its parent company Emera, at an additional cost to ratepayers of $7 million — and never mind that scientists and environmentalists say biomass doesn't eliminate greenhouse gas emissions.
Thanks to a provincial government decision, Nova Scotians could be looking at a future power rate increase. The decision splices together the strands of many competing public and private priorities, and depending on where you sit, you’ll rank them differently. They include reducing greenhouse gas emissions, meeting renewable energy targets, preserving forestry jobs, and —...
Would you buy a used government from one of these guys?
Don't worry. You don't have to choose. Liberal delegates will pick your next premier for you. All you have to do is live with him... for a while.
Welcome to 2021! In addition to figuring out the appropriate trash folder into which to dump all of 2020 (along with last week’s plethora of pleading emails — Last chance to take advantage of 2020 savings… Last chance in 2020 to donate to this worthy cause… First chance to take advantage of 2021 savings… First...
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