For voters who don’t have their minds made up with Election Day fast approaching, there’s no shortage of candidate surveys to get up to speed.
Election day is Saturday, Oct. 17, but you can vote online or by telephone between Oct. 6 and 14. You can check to see if you’re on the voters’ list here. Not sure which district you’re in? Type your address into the map below to find out.
Here are all the surveys we can find (let us know if we missed one):
The Halifax Examiner questionnaire
Our questionnaire asked every candidate the same five questions:
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What should Halifax be doing to create more affordable and accessible housing?
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Would you support a reduction of the Halifax Regional Police budget for fiscal 2021-2022? Why or why not?
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Should Halifax require contractors to pay workers a living wage? Why or why not?
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In response to the climate crisis, Halifax regional council passed an action plan, HalifACT 2050, in June. How will you support accomplishing the plan’s goals?
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How often do you use Halifax Transit?
You can find the results from every district and the mayoral race below:
Mayor
District 1 (Waverley–Fall River–Musquodoboit Valley)
District 2 (Preston–Chezzetcook–Eastern Shore)
District 3 (Dartmouth South–Eastern Passage)
District 4 (Cole Harbour–Westphal)
District 5 (Dartmouth Centre)
District 6 (Harbourview–Burnside–Dartmouth East)
District 7 (Halifax South Downtown)
District 8 (Halifax Peninsula North)
District 9 (Halifax West–Armdale)
District 10 (Halifax–Bedford Basin West)
District 11 (Spryfield–Sambro Loop–Prospect Road)
District 12 (Timberlea–Beechville–Clayton Park–Wedgewood)
District 13 (Hammonds Plains–St. Margarets)
District 14 (Middle/Upper Sackville–Beaver Bank–Lucasville)
District 15 (Lower Sackville)
The Coast’s app and interviews
The Coast’s Caora McKenna built an app to showcase its survey, asking candidates 22 questions ranging from their background to issues including short-term rental regulation, taxes and accessibility.
The currently online-only alt-weekly also assigned a team the Herculean task of interviewing every candidate.
You can find all of the Coast’s election coverage here.
The Crosswalk Safety Society of Nova Scotia’s survey*
The society asked candidates about their views on the state of crosswalk safety in Halifax and whether they believe the municipality’s Strategic Road Safety Framework is adequate.
You can find the candidates’ responses here.
The Ecology Action Centre’s survey and toolkit
The Halifax environmental activism organization sent a survey to all candidates asking them 14 questions on the city’s climate change mitigation plan, active transportation and more.
The Ecology Action Centre also created election toolkits for voters in Halifax and the rest of the province to help citizens “to engage your candidates in Halifax’s top environmental issues.”
You can find the surveys for each district and the toolkits here.
Friends of Blue Mountain-Birch Cove Lakes
The group working to make a municipal park at Blue Mountain-Birch Cove Lakes a reality sent all candidates a survey asking candidates their position on the park.
The answers are posted here, along with classifications of candidates’ support for the park — supports park creation, conditional support, and does not support.
Friends of Halifax Common
The group sent six questions to every candidate to gauge their support for the Halifax Common and opposition to adjacent high-rise development.
The candidates’ responses can be found here.
Halifax Cycling Coalition
The coalition asked candidates seven questions about their support for new and improved cycling infrastructure in Halifax.
You can find the candidates’ responses, organized by district in infographics, here.
HRM 4 Kids Children and the City Questionnaire
Blogger Alex Smith sent a survey to all candidates asking four questions on children’s well-being in the municipality.
You can find the results here.
Nova Scotia Policing Policy Working Group
The Halifax Examiner covered the results of the Nova Scotia Policing Policy Working Group’s survey here. As we reported last week:
A majority of council candidates who responded to a survey from a local advocacy group are in favour of some broad reforms of policing in Halifax, and the results indicate widespread dissatisfaction with the municipality’s unique relationship with the RCMP.
Since that story was posted the working group gave Mayor Mike Savage another chance to respond, and his answers are included with the full survey results here.
Candidates’ views on immigration*
The migrant justice group No one is illegal – Halifax/K’jipuktuk released the results of a survey for Halifax council candidates on Wednesday.
The results are posted here.
The Construction Association of Nova Scotia
The Construction Association of Nova Scotia asked every candidate about four issues related to the industry.
The results are posted here.
*This post was updated to include surveys from the Crosswalk Safety Society of Nova Scotia, No one is illegal – Halifax/K’jipuktuk, and the Construction Association of Nova Scotia.
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Additionally a survey was sent to each candidate by the Crosswalk Safety Society of Nova Scotia. Two questions were asked, one on crosswalks and the other on road safety (the Strategic Road Safety Framework).
Comments of the 38 candidates who responded are here
http://www.crosswalksafetysociety.ca/hrm-councilor-positions.php
Thanks Norm. I’ll add it to the article.
When out with your baby watch out for cyclists : https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/cyclist-fined-leaving-toddler-cuts-6171717
and another : https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/uknews/12631301/toddler-hit-dragged-cyclist-london-park/
and another https://www.westsiderag.com/2018/05/25/cyclist-runs-over-toddler-on-riverside-park-path
We need ‘Pedestrian priority’ in HRM; it is the case in London and in N Ireland. You can cycle and/or jog in Public Gardens, just ignore the signs- they have no legal force and effect.
The risk to anyone from a cyclist in HRM is minute compared to the continued and astronomically higher danger from motorists.
Changing the subject does not change the truth. Come back when you are recovering from a hip replacement and cyclists whiz by you and don’t/won’t/ use a bell or don’t have a bell.