[Image-1] Life in the digital age means it’s user beware on the social network front. It also means local governments must use the benefits of social media to connect with their communities. Social media is the new town crier in terms of notifying the citizenry, said a Town of Bridgewater staffer to delegates at the […]
Michael Lightstone
Posted inNews + Opinion
Going it alone
It’s been a year since Andrew Younger was ousted from the provincial Liberal caucus and premier Stephen McNeil’s cabinet. An experienced politician, going back to his days as a member of Halifax Regional Council representing East Dartmouth-The Lakes, Younger is now the independent MLA for Dartmouth East, a seat he first won in 2009. He’s […]
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Getting acclimated to acclamation this election
[Image-1] The race for re-election this year for four Halifax council members turned out to be a non-starter. Councillors Lorelei Nicoll (Cole Harbour-Westphal), Tim Outhit (Bedford-Wentworth), Bill Karsten (Dartmouth South-Eastern Passage) and Steve Craig (Lower Sackville) all won their seats by acclamation. In the 2012 municipal election, Nicoll defeated two challengers and Outhit bested one […]
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Building a better election
[Image-1] If you were part of the conscientious minority who voted during the last municipal election in the Halifax region, you may recall city hall’s reporting of results was a tad slow. In 2012, not enough election workers using too few telephone lines set up by staff often couldn’t get through to the city’s main […]
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Strong civilian oversight needed for Canadian police, says George Elliott Clarke
[Image-1] Nova Scotian George Elliott Clarke is Canada’s seventh parliamentary poet laureate. He’s a writer, scholar, university professor, much-travelled pundit, civil-rights advocate and a mentor to young poets and other writers. Last year, he penned a newspaper commentary about race, prejudice and strong civilian oversight of police forces after yet another white cop in the […]
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How to deal with the media while running for city council
So, you’re a candidate for council in this year’s municipal election. Now what? If you’re running for public office, or are already in there, getting attention is obviously a necessary part of the game of politics. No doubt you will be receiving advice—and some of it will be lousy—about the fine art of media relations. […]
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Democracy’s other Bernie
[Image-1] Bernie White knows municipal elections. He should—the man spent decades working in municipal government before retiring in 2014 as clerk of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality. Now, the 59-year-old from New Waterford is working a three-year term as this province’s municipal elections officer. Part of White’s duties involve training local returning officers and trying […]
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Jason MacLean wants to bring back union pride
[Image-1] Say hello to Jason MacLean, the new president of the Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union. The 42-year-old corrections officer was acclaimed last weekend at a Halifax convention, and takes over from former leader Joan Jessome. MacLean is the second black NSGEU president, after Noel Johnson, who served in the 1970s. His inaugural […]
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Cecil Clarke talks Nova Scotia’s future
[Image-1] Politicians and bureaucrats are gathering this weekend May 4 to 6 in a Greenwich inn for the Union of Nova Scotia Municipalities’ seasonal meeting. Items on the agenda include the “strategic” spending of infrastructure money collected from taxpayers, and a report from the organization’s current president, mayor Cecil Clarke of the Cape Breton Regional […]
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Halifax (and Boston) get ready to commemorate the Halifax Explosion’s centennial
[Image-1] It’s a century-old tale of two seaport cities. The start of it was shaped by a carnage-causing mishap in the cold waters of Halifax Harbour. And the epilogue, created by a grateful province, continues today with a warmhearted, seasonal “thank you” from one city for the crucial humanitarian aid sent by the other. […]
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One-on-one with Stephen McNeil
[Image-1] Earlier this month premier Stephen McNeil joined other Canadian premiers on the other side of the country for the much-publicized first ministers conference in Vancouver with prime minister Justin Trudeau. Those meetings covered such environment-related topics as climate change and carbon pricing, and were meant to lay the foundation for a national climate strategy. […]
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Crosswalk flags a success despite bureaucratic obstruction
[Image-1] A crosswalk-safety measure that was in the slow lane at City Hall for years has grown in popularity across many parts of the municipality. Right now there are 74 crosswalks in HRM with pedestrian-safety flags. Six months ago, the flags were only available at 36 crosswalks. Use of the flags was introduced several years […]