Halifax’s apartment rental vacancy rate has dropped to a new low of 1% — below that of Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) released its 2019 fall rental market survey on Wednesday. The numbers represent privately-owned apartments in buildings with three or more units, based on an annual survey conducted […]
Councillors cold to cooling-off proposal, and other Halifax City Hall updates
Halifax councillor Shawn Cleary’s proposal for a cooling-off period for councillors and senior officials was met with a cool reception at council. The request for a staff report looking into the policy, which would temporarily bar politicians and some staff from taking a job dealing with the city after their terms ended, came up during...
The Transportation Safety Board doesn’t want you to hear the Cockpit Voice Recording of Flight 624
Morning File, Wednesday, January 8, 2020
News 1. Weather There’s weather today. A lot of schools, businesses, and governments are closed. Everyone will complain about stuff. 2. Taxes “It’s early in the budget season, but Halifax regional councillors are hoping to keep next year’s tax increase well below inflation,” reports Zane Woodford: Council’s budget committee met Tuesday to work toward creating […]
Not enough is being done on the affordable housing front, say advocates
Last August, the federal government signed a 10-year-deal with the province of Nova Scotia to cost-share a $400-million-dollar contribution towards affordable housing. The timing couldn’t be better for people trying to find a place to live in Metro Halifax. Not only is the population growing but the vacancy rate is at a historic low —...
How a Young Avenue property is being flipped to “Canada’s worst landlord”
Morning File, Monday, December 2, 2019
News 1. Gerald Regan Writes Stephen Kimber: How do you reconcile the contradictory facts of our 19th premier’s life? You probably can’t. No matter what you write, you’re either rinsing Regan’s black heart in the cleansing stream of his passing or dancing gleefully on his grave. Most news reports I saw got it about as […]
The Design Review Committee just chucked the HRM By Design rules out the window; now let’s pretend the Centre Plan matters
Morning File, Friday, November 15, 2019
November subscription drive Once again, I’m running out of time to cajole and beg for new subscriptions. However, Iris insists that I remind readers that if you buy an annual subscription this month, we will give you an Examiner T-shirt. Here’s one modelled by my friend Lisa Osmond: Also, I’ll have more details Monday, but […]
We have no idea how many innocent people are sitting in Canadian prisons
Morning File, Thursday, July 5, 2018
News 1. ExxonMobil continues plans to shutter the offshore Yesterday, ExxonMobil asked the Utilities and Review Board (UARB) for permission to shut down and abandon its Point Tupper Fractionation Plant. This follows a March application to the National Energy Board to close and abandon the Goldboro Gas Plant. ExxonMobil says the Sable Offshore Energy Project (SOEP) is “in […]
Densely calculated density
In return for "public benefits" — affordable housing units, public art, and the like — the city trades "density bonuses" that allow developers to build higher and bigger than planning rules would otherwise allow. But a study shows that on just six big developments downtown, the city lost a potential $8 million in public benefits because it low-balled calculations.
If public meetings to discuss the municipality’s Centre Plan were episodes of Sesame Street, they would be “brought to you by the number 15.” The Centre Plan would chart development for the next 15 years. But that same number keeps getting raised in pointed questions from citizens who want to know why there’s a 15-year...
The Centre Plan, affordable housing, and the Willow Tree
Affordable housing, anyone? After nearly two years of promising to do something about it, the City’s draft Centre Plan being discussed at a series of public meetings and online could actually deliver some of the 5,000 units promised by 2021. That is, if — and it’s a big IF — HRM regional council approves and...
Taking it to the bank: Morning File, Thursday, January 18, 2018
News 1. Melford Mary Campbell discusses the business case for the proposed Melford Terminal on the Strait of Canso. Campbell was contacted by Richie Mann, the former MLA who now runs “government relations” for Melford International Terminal Inc, and the two had an interesting discussion about the differences between the proposed Sydney terminal and the proposed Melford […]