Halifax’s new climate change action plan aims for carbon neutral city operations in 10 years and carbon neutrality across the municipality by 2050, but the COVID-19 pandemic has put the ever-important short-term success of the plan in jeopardy. “The level of effort and timelines of this plan are ambitious and unprecedented,” reads the final chapter […]
A look at Halifax’s foot-dragging around opening up streets to cyclists and pedestrians during COVID-19
The Halifax Examiner is providing all COVID-19 coverage for free. Kourosh Rad picked a hell of a time to get into the restaurant business. On Feb. 1, the city planner turned small business owner took over Garden Food Bar and Lounge at the corner of Clyde and Queen streets, near the Halifax Central Library in […]
Port Wallace Gamble: the real estate boom meets Nova Scotia’s toxic mine legacy
Part 2: the suburb proposed to be built in the shadow of Montague Gold Mines
This is a story about the toxic legacy from historic gold mines in Nova Scotia, which its citizens will be paying many millions of dollars to try to clean up, and how the contamination at just one of these sites — Montague Mines in HRM — is still affecting us today. This, the second in […]
Halifax auditor general confirms the city’s website redesign was a mess
It will come as no surprise to anyone who has logged on to halifax.ca: the city’s auditor general has confirmed that the redesigned website was riddled with errors when it went live in 2017. But in a report published Tuesday and presented to council’s audit and finance standing committee, auditor general Evangeline Colman-Sadd wrote that...
Halifax keeping $200,000 police services review secret, citing ‘sensitive information’
Halifax is not publicly releasing a consultants’ report into police services in the municipality, citing “sensitive information” around the use of police resources, privacy, and security. Regional council voted in favour of a staff recommendation to accept the report and 26 of its 29 recommendations at its meeting on Tuesday. Most of the recommendations were...
City still ridin’ the stadium train
Morning File, Wednesday, October 23, 2019
News 1. Stadium This item is written by Tim Bousquet. Halifax council yesterday rejected Sam Austin’s bid to immediately end a staff review of the Schooners’ stadium proposal. Had Austin been successful, the stadium proposal would have effectively been rejected. In October 2018, council passed a motion outlining how it would deal with the stadium […]
The Halifax stadium proposal: private profit for Anthony Leblanc, socialized risk for the public
Morning File, Tuesday, October 1, 2019
News 1. More stadium updates MLA Susan Leblanc, whose Dartmouth North district includes the Shannon Park site of the proposed stadium, has come out swinging against it: Tomorrow I will table legislation on behalf of the @NSNDP caucus that would block public money for a CFL stadium. #nspoli #HRM #Dartmouth — Susan Leblanc (@susanleblancMLA) September […]
Halifax CAO Jacques Dubé is raising money for charity; this is a problem
Morning File, Tuesday, August 6, 2019
News 1. Spaceport “I hadn’t even made it into Canso when I happened upon the first person willing and eager to speak her mind on the proposed spaceport that Maritime Launch Services wants to construct in the picturesque community at the very end of Highway 16,” writes Joan Baxter: In a charming restaurant a few […]
An astonishing display of cowardice: city councillors are ignoring police misconduct in the Assoun case
As we are learning that the Halifax police willfully acted to keep an innocent man in prison, the politicians responsible for civilian oversight of the police department are deafeningly silent. Meanwhile, unelected bureaucrats and lawyers at City Hall have attempted to keep the police misconduct hidden by a publication ban. According to his lawyers, police […]
Redesigning the Windsor Exchange: if we get it right, it could be great
Sometimes government makes an announcement, and even though you know it’s ages from reality, and will probably be announced and re-announced many times hence, you simply can’t help but get excited at the possibilities. Such is the case with the announcement by Transport Canada earlier this month that the federal department will help fund a...