News 1. Oil spill Friday morning, I criticized Nova Scotia Power (NSP) for its press release related to the oil spill from the Tufts Cove Generating Plant. The press release called it a “limited” spill; I wrote: “Limited” is PR spin. Every oil spill is “limited” in some sense — the Deepwater Horizon spill that destroyed […]
Halifax council passes stupid and overreaching cannabis restrictions
Morning File, Wednesday, July 18, 2018
News 1. Government drops effort to deport Abdoul Abdi The news was announced by Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale via a tweet at 9pm last night: The Government of Canada respects the decision filed on July 13 by the Federal Court concerning Abdoul Abdi. The Government will not pursue deportation for Mr. Abdi. — Ralph Goodale […]
Looks like we’re getting a stadium, whether we want it or not
Morning File, Wednesday, June 20, 2018
News 1. Stadium Yesterday, I went to Halifax City Hall expecting to hear councillors discuss cannabis legalization; I was preparing for a hilarious debate about the evils of smoking the ganja. But before that conversation could get going, the Maritime Football Ltd. people showed up and council kicked the public out of chambers so they […]
Understand how Andy Fillmore derailed a plan to demolish the Cogswell Interchange and you’ll understand how we got the Nova Centre
Morning File, Wednesday, May 9, 2018
News 1. The Halifax Examiner and Cape Breton Spectator’s exposé on the security failure Yesterday, the Halifax Examiner and Cape Breton Spectator went to court to ask Justice Gregory Lenehan to unseal a search warrant Halifax police executed on the house of a 19-year-old Halifax man suspected of illegally downloading information from the FOIPOP website. […]
You’re already getting a tax increase because of the convention centre
Morning File, Wednesday, April 25, 2018
News 1. City budget “They flirted with the idea of dipping into the savings account to lower the number, but in the end Halifax regional councillors approved the municipality’s budget for the year ahead with an increase of nearly 2 per cent to the average property tax bill,” reports Zane Woodford for Metro: Councillor Tim Outhit […]
Growing a city where transit works
In August 2016, shortly after Halifax Transit’s Moving Forward Together plan was revealed to all, I interviewed transit planning consultant Jarrett Walker about the route re-design process. Walker makes a living helping cities rethink their bus networks, and has visited Halifax in the past at the invite of local advocacy group It’s More Than Buses....
Majority come out against a Willow Tree high-rise
The public was heard last night on the proposed 20-storey (and still, somehow, possible 25-storey) tower at the northwest corner of the Willow Tree intersection in Halifax. Councillors spent about four hours hearing from the project developer and just over 40 people, with many more people filling up the gallery and an overflow viewing room...
Why did Bob Bjerke get fired and what does it mean for Halifax?
It's been three months and Halifax still has no Chief Planner, and the CAO is asking council to end run the Centre Plan.
Jacques Dubé worked as HRM’s Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) for just 11 months when he decided to can the city’s Chief Planner, Bob Bjerke. Bjerke had been heading up the city’s planning and development department for about three and a half years. His dismissal came abruptly, with no explanation to either him, or to the […]
Tales from a windswept bay in eastern Canada: Morning File, Tuesday, November 14, 2017
This is why you should subscribe to the Halifax Examiner Earlier this month, I published an article looking at Justice Lawrence O’Neil’s ruling that gives custody of a five-year-old boy to a father with a history of domestic assault. Last night, I took the article from behind the paywall so everyone can read it for […]