News 1. Advocates: access to gender-affirming health care in Nova Scotia is getting worse “Nova Scotia may have the highest proportion of trans and gender diverse individuals in Canada,” writes Yvette d’Entremont, “but advocates say those who need to access gender-affirming health care are facing increased barriers and lives are at risk.” As d’Entremont reports, […]
“Writing is stupid”
Morning File, Friday, April 1, 2022
Before we start, let me assure that I have not embedded any weirdo fake April Fool’s stories in today’s Morning File. News 1. 10 new COVID-19 deaths in Nova Scotia This item is written by Tim Bousquet and Philip Moscovitch. Tim: Ten people died from COVID in the week ending March 29. Additionally, 51 people […]
Exploiting pandemic measures for profit
Morning File, Tuesday, March 22, 2022
News 1. You mean MLAs aren’t supposed to be corporate shills? Last week, it came to Joan Baxter’s attention that there was a Friends of New Northern Pulp sign up at MLA Pat Dunn’s constituency office. Dunn is the MLA for Pictou Centre and minister of African Nova Scotian Affairs. Baxter wondered whether this was […]
Ahead by a century
Leading With Transit is looking 100 years into the future and asking how higher order transit can help shape the future of Halifax.
Listen, I wouldn’t blame you if you were done with discussing the future of transit in Halifax. We had the Moving Forward Together (MFT) plan, for which thousands of folks chimed in with their hopes and dreams for buses in the region. Then we had the Integrated Mobility Plan (IMP), and everyone played ball again, […]
Do transit pass incentive programs work?
In light of the demise of the federal transit pass tax credit, we take a look at how we incentivize transit use
The latest federal budget announced the end of the federal transit pass credit as of July this year. Since 2006, Canadians could reduce their tax bills by 15 per cent of the cost of their monthly transit pass purchases for the year. So, if you bought a year’s worth of Halifax Transit regular adult passes...
Want faster buses? Implement TPMs already.
Hold on to your hats, transit riders, your city is spoiling you this year by adding a couple of signs and a priority light signal at Robie and Almon Streets, to help about 24 buses a day run faster. The tiny transit priority measure will allow buses to use the southbound right turn lane on...
It’s not too late for Halifax to hit mobility targets
First round of consultations starting for Halifax's new mobility plan
The first of three rounds of public consultation start this week for city’s new Integrated Mobility Plan. I spoke with IMP project manager Rod McPhail about what the consultations will be like, and why we should bother showing up. First, a quick refresher on the IMP: Staff started working on this plan back in February […]
Fast, frequent, and walkable
New report identifies walkability as key to building frequent transit ridership
A study by transportation think-tank Transit Center has taken a closer look at who’s using public transit in the US, in hopes of taking away lessons on how to get more people on board. The report, Who’s On Board 2016: What Today’s Riders Teach Us About Transit That Works, found that in addition to speed […]
Don’t try this at home: Examineradio, episode #75
Paul McLeod had a storied journalism career here in Halifax – with stints at the Daily News, Metro Halifax and allnovascotia.com – before lighting out to Ottawa to cover national politics with the Chronicle Herald and, later, Buzzfeed Canada. Next month he moves to Washington, DC, to cover the U.S. politics and the presidential election. We speak about […]
Put that in your pipe and smoke it: Examineradio, episode 64
This week, in our ongoing series profiling the ever-more-crowded slate of candidates for the municipal election, we speak with District 8 contender Brenden Sommerhalder. We also chat with Halifax Typographical Union veep Frank Campbell about the breakdown in talks between the Chronicle Herald and the striking workers. Plus, city council debates innovative disruptions to the transit system, a […]