I know I’m nearly alone in my view that Canada’s housing market is in a huge bubble, which will soon burst, just like the American housing market did two years ago. I’ll leave the details of my argument to another time, but for the moment, let me point readers to a press release I recently […]
Tim Bousquet
Posted inNews + Opinion
Halifax firefighter union pulled commercials under threat of disciplinary action
Last week, as theChronicle-Herald reported, the Halifax firefighter union was preparing to air commercials to protest the Fire Department’s plan for rolling temporary closures of four fire stations: King Street in Dartmouth, Lady Hammond Road in Halifax, Bedford station and Upper Sackville. But those commercials never ran. “All I can say is that we’ve been […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Saint Leonard’s Society to build transitional housing project on Gottingen Street
The operators of the Metro Turning Point homeless shelter are planning to build a four-storey transitional housing project on Gottingen Street, at the corner of Cunard, on what is now an empty lot next to the Company House bar. Ross Cantwell, who is the brain behind several other Gottingen-area projects, says he has been working […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Wilderness terminated
The proposed expansion of Metro Transit’s Bridge Terminal is one step closer to reality, as Halifax council Tuesday gave its final OK to placing the new terminal on land occupied by the Urban Wilderness Park in the Dartmouth Common. Council still has to approve architectural plans and allocate the money to build the terminal but, […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Barrington Street shuffle
[image-1] There’s a retail shuffle going on on South Barrington Street. Cafe Chianti has moved into the former Bear space in the YWCA building (1241 Barrington Street). Then, Uncommon Grounds, having closed its Upper Water Street cafe, has moved all the furnishings and equipment to the former Cargo and James space in the same building. A couple of blocks up, renovations on the Freemasons Hall building (Barrington & Salter) continue, and a sign on the window announces a new Korean restro in the works.
Posted inNews + Opinion
Corporate Research Associates poll is completely meaningless
The Chronicle-Herald, CBC and Metro have completely botched their reporting of a Corporate Research Associates poll that supposedly showed a collapse in support for the provincial NDP. In truth, the NDP may or may not be losing support, but the polling data doesn’t support either conclusion. At issue are the responses to one of three […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
HRM auditor general to investigate Halifax fire department
Halifax’s auditor general will examine how the fire department manages its equipment, and is focusing on how the city responds to freedom of information requests. Auditor general Larry Munro released his work plan today. The plan outlines in very broad terms what the AG’s office will work on for the 2010/11 fiscal year. Included in […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Ferraris roll into town
Eight Ferraris have shown up in the courtyard of the Paramount, next to the Lord Nelson on South Park. People at the scene were cagey about what’s up. Apparently each car has a different owner, and they’ll be on their way to Montreal, either tomorrow morning or Saturday, depending on who I was talking to. […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Barry Dalrymple
2010 grade: D- 2009 grade: D Dalrymple is angry: just ask him. By his way of thinking, everything HRM does is purposely designed to screw over the people of Fall River—every recreation plan, every extension of a water line, every road paving contract is, in Dalrymple’s mind, unjustly penalizing the residents of his district, and […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Mary Wile
2010 grade: F 2009 grade: D 2008 grade: D 2007 grade: C+ “Most of most of the time Wile is simply in over her head,” I wrote in last year’s report card. “She’s confused, she loses the conversation, she doesn’t understand what’s going on.” Since then, Wile’s shortcomings have slid from “most of the time” […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Peter Lund
2010 grade: D 2009 grade: C Number One: Peter Lund is a nice guy. Number Two: I’m still waiting for him to make a significant contribution to council. He only gets graded for one of those things. I find Lund interesting, in that his professional background as an environmental engineer tells him he should be […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
David Hendsbee
2010 grade: D 2009 grade: C 2008 grade: D 2007 grade: D+ There’s no question that David Hendsbee is the most unpredictable of the councillors, but whether that’s because he’s a free thinker with a broad streak of independence or because he simply can’t make up his mind is open for debate. I’ll give him […]
