Halifax West Armdale is made up of a mixture of urban and suburban dwellers forking out from around the Armdale Rotary. As a result, it contains some of the highest amounts of traffic into and out of the peninsula.
Eligible voters: 21,379 (as of 2014)
(Up about 500 people from 2012)
Past voter turnout: 42.03 percent
The Candidates
Incumbent Linda Mosher, regional councillor since 2000, is running once again this election, though has had to take some time away from her campaign due to her husband’s health. Although she says it could not be a worse time for an election, Mosher is still very much in this race (she did win with 57 percent of the vote last time around). Front-runner Front-running challenger Shawn Cleary is attempting to unseat the longtime councillor. Cleary is a Mount Saint Vincent University business professor and PhD candidate. The political rivalry between the two took a bizarre turn back in May, when Mosher admitted to buying domain names for Cleary’s first and last names—later releasing them after the news broke. Also on the ballot is security guard Kyle Woodbury, who calls himself a youthful alternative for council and a working-class “regular joe.”
The Issues
Traffic and transit issues rule the day in Halifax West Armdale. Both Mosher and Cleary are critical of Halifax Transit’s Moving Forward Together plan, with the councillor pushing for a ferry from Purcell’s Cove and Cleary wanting real-time transit data before blowing up the route network. Congested commutes through the Armdale Rotary also remain a problem for residents. Mosher blames part of the district’s unsafe streets on those rushed commuters. Traffic calming measures, new crosswalks and interconnected bike lanes would go a long way to helping the residents of District 9 feel safer on their own roads. Across the Northwest Arm, the district’s small businesses on Quinpool remain concerned about taxation in an area that, like much of the peninsula, is seeing unprecedented growth. Cleary is also concerned about tree maintenance, and says falling branches are not addressed in a timely manner by HRM. Whoever’s representing Halifax West Armdale come November, they'll need to lead the way on improving road safety and transit options for their residents (along with everyone else in HRM).
Click here to find out more info on how, where and when you can vote in HRM’s election.
