[Image-1] Think of it as a really, really, really expensive Christmas craft fair. On Wednesday proposals for 18 developments in the urban centre will be presented en masse to the public at two planning information meetings (held from 12-2pm and 6-8pm) in the Atlantica hotel. It’s a way for HRM’s planning department to tie off loose […]
Jacob Boon
Posted inNews + Opinion
School closure leaves the most vulnerable at greatest risk
[Image-1] On Monday morning a recalled Nova Scotia legislature will begin the first steps to forcing a new collective agreement on teachers and taking away their right to strike. At the same time, outside Province House, angry crowds will join in a protest against the Liberal government’s battle with the Nova Scotia Teachers Union (NSTU). […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Children locked out of school by province
[Image-1] Instead of locking out unionized teachers, the Liberal government has decided to lock out Nova Scotia’s students. All public schools in the province will be closed starting Monday, December 5. Education minister Karen Casey made the unprecedented announcement at a press conference held Saturday morning. The province says the planned work-to-rule action by the […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Halifax scrubs rubber ferry tub toy tender
Hope you didn’t have ‘rubber ferry tub toy’ on your wish list this year. Plans for bathtub toys shaped like Halifax Transit ferries are dead in the water. The transit authority was toying with the idea of selling the keepsakes to residents and tourists for five or six bucks a pop, and issued a […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Struggling to understand HRM’s gun violence
[Image-1] Solving a homicide is, to some degree, quite simple. You just need to find the hand that pulled the trigger. Understanding why that person picked up a gun in the first place isn’t so cut and dry. As Halifax reflects on what’s been a violent 2016, the police department and the municipality are trying […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Richard Zurawski wants a science advisory committee at city hall
[Image-1] It’s foolhardy to make decisions without the proper advice, which is one reason councillor Richard Zurawski wants to create a science advisory committee for HRM. “When you start talking about the politics and the decisions without a science council, you’re stabbing in the dark,” says the councillor for Timberlea-Beechville-Clayton Park-Wedgewood. Zurawski broached the idea […]
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Auditor general report slams province over plans for new schools
[Image-1] A report from Nova Scotia’s auditor general says the provincial government is doing a poor job planning for the future of its schools. The report, released Wednesday, says the department of Education and Early Childhood Development has “an overall casual approach to decision-making” and is without a longterm capital planning process. Auditor general Michael […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Halifax’s recycling plant in need of expansion
[Image-1] The good news is Halifax is recycling more. The bad news is all those extra bottles and cans have put HRM’s recycling plant past its operational capacity. Currently the Bayers Lake facility can process 28,000 tonnes annually. In July, Regional Council approved an expansion to raise that limit by an additional 8,000 tonnes. The expansion […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Fire chief Doug Trussler to retire next summer
[Image-1] Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency Services chief Doug Trussler will retire next summer. The municipality posted a request for proposals online Monday to recruit a replacement. The fire chief’s contract was set to end this December, but according to municipal spokesperson Brendan Elliott he’s negotiated a six-month extension to stay on until July, 2017. […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Talks break down between province and teachers
[Image-1] Negotiations for a new collective agreement between the Nova Scotia Teachers Union (NSTU) and the province have broken off. The two sides had met this week with a conciliator to try and stave off a strike. A work stoppage could now happen as early as December 5, though what form that will take has […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Who got served? Council sets HRM’s priority outcomes for 2017 and beyond
[Image-1] Halifax’s government is on its knees looking for an answer: are we human, or are we customer? Councillors new and old came together Thursday afternoon to set HRM’s priority outcomes for the next four years. It was a high-altitude planning session that came down to some precise word choices. Nowhere was that more evident […]
