At Tuesday’s council meeting, the city’s elected officials learned that one of the city’s departments is slowly but surely suffocating Halifax’s future. But before that happened, there was a piece of good news: The Halifax Common Master Plan came back to council and got approval. It was in 1763 that then-king of Canada George III […]
Matt Stickland
Matt spent 10 years in the Navy where he deployed to Libya with HMCS Charlottetown and then became a submariner until ‘retiring’ in 2018. In 2019 he completed his Bachelor of Journalism from the University of King’s College. Matt is an almost award winning opinion writer.
Posted inNews + Opinion
The Grand Parade podcast: It’s time for Halifax to ban drive-thrus for real
When former HRM councillor Richard Zurawski made a pitch for regional staff to explore banning drive-thrus in Halifax back in 2018, he was hoping for a different future from what we see today. At the time, the Timberlea-Beechville-Clayton Park-Wedgewood councillor and Green Party hopeful told his Environment and Sustainability Standing Committee peers he was “deeply […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Saving Centennial Pool, a tale of two committees
The city’s Community Planning and Economic Development Committee met on Thursday, Jan. 18, and talked about water sports. First on the agenda the committee heard from Trevor Brumwell, who was representing the Save Centennial Pool Committee. On top of Brumwell’s presentation, there was a slew of public speakers who also voiced support for saving the […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Is Halifax becoming a fire prevention leader?
The city’s Audit and Finance Committee got together Wednesday Jan. 17 for a pretty routine meeting. First up, mayor Mike Savage brought forward a financial indicators report as an information item. In a bureaucratic rondelay, the HRM compiles information, sends it to the province, the province sends back this report and then the city can […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Halifax Wanderers announce 2024 home opener, tease full schedule release
Three months, one week and two days. That’s all that remains before professional soccer returns to Halifax, when HFX Wanderers FC hosts its first game of 2024 against a newly-retooled Atlético Ottawa and their hometown signing, Matteo de Brienne. The Wanderers will kick off their home schedule on Saturday, Apr. 27—two weeks after the Canadian […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Everything you need to know about HRM council’s Jan. 9 meeting
The Property Valuation Services Corporation gave its annual presentation to council at the Tuesday, Jan. 9 meeting, council’s first meet of this election year 2024. PVSC is the independent arms-length government agency that sets a property’s value so that it can be taxed based on that value. (Assessments are right now arriving in the mail […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Mission creep has Halifax police caught in a bind
After the annual elections of the chair and vice-chair, Halifax’s Board of Police Commissioners used its Monday, Jan. 8 meeting to vote to recommend council approve an additional six RCMP officers in the 2024/25 budget: two for domestic violence, four for general duty. After commissioner Becky Kent kept her seat as chair and vice chair […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
The Grand Parade podcast: Two fixes for Halifax’s money problems
The New Year always comes with the worst hangovers, doesn’t it? When HRM council resumes on Tuesday, Jan. 9, Halifax’s councillors will be confronted once again with a thorny problem: How to dig the region out of a $68.7 million deficit that no-one on council seems to know how to wriggle out from under. (That […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Halifax’s police board presents accountability theatre
In much the same way an elementary school puts on a holiday show to end the year, Halifax’s Board of Police Commissioners used its last meeting before the holidays for a bit of theatre. At its Dec. 13 meeting, the board got a pitch from the RCMP about its recommendation of approximately $1.1 million in […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Everything you need to know about HRM council’s Dec. 12 meeting
Halifax’s budget pre-season is in the books, and reading the tea leaves, it is wildly unclear what the future will hold. (More on that in the Notable Debates section below.) This meeting was quite quotable as various councillors started coming to terms with the realities of the society we built. Councillor Pam Lovelace said homes […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
The Grand Parade podcast: Where did Halifax’s budget crunch come from?
Halifax councillors have a choice to make, and neither option will leave them looking good: They can either opt to raise property taxes to cover a $68.7 million shortfall—a move council seems especially reluctant to do—or they can cut a mix of programs, services and capital projects from a growing list of the region’s needs. […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
The Wanderer Grounds podcast: A Christmas Extravaganza
The Halifax Wanderers were a gift to watch in 2023: After two straight years of missed playoff appearances and MVP runs cut short by injury, the Canadian Premier League soccer club won back the hearts of its supporters with fluid football, a roster loaded with more talent than ever before and a slew of instant […]