What’s in a name? That question sent HRM councillors into convoluted conniption fits Tuesday, as they toyed with councillor Linda Mosher’s suggestion that the name of Halifax Regional Municipality be changed to Greater Halifax.
While Mosher’s intention was clear, the suggestion immediately got bogged down in parliamentary processes, and for two hours councillors haggled over just what exactly they were trying to do. Most councillors initially seemed OK with letting economic development and tourism promotion staff call this place whatever they want for advertising purposes, but some councillors wanted all the road signs, logos on city trucks and so forth changed, at least over time, while others objected to any expenditure at all for those purposes. A suggestion that the issue be tossed to the District Boundary Review Committee to study was amended to say the committee would deal with after it completed its district review work, but then a councillor pointed out that the committee wouldn’t exist after it finished its work, a point that was met with a collective shrug.
Finally, councillor Jackie Barkhouse lost her typical cool and argued that re-branding of an entire city shouldn’t be done on the fly at a confused council meeting. “Branding is a proper exercise that has to be done in a proper manner,” she said.
That observation gave councillors pause, and they punted the entire name-change issue into the undated future.
This article appears in Feb 11-17, 2010.
Wow, you mean we’d be the HTA? It doesn’t quite roll of the tongue like GTA.
We pay these mutants a ton of money to debate this dreck. The cat by-law, the chicken by-law, the name change by-law – where is Mayor Bumble in all this high stakes debate? bbbuh buuh buuh thats all folks!
Sorry, that comment was before I drank my requisite 3 cups of coffee to wake up. It would be the GHA, which actually does roll off the tongue better than HTA or GTA.
WHY change the name?? This would cost money – rebranding, reprinting/redesigning, reiterating the change – when HRM is fine as it is. It’s a regional municipality, a city (Halifax), surrounded by outlying (Regional) communities (together, a municipality). If people – here, there, anywhere – want to refer to the HRM as Halifax, let them, shit. Most people know the city as simply Halifax anyway so why waste money that could DEFINITELY be better spent elsewhere? I’m certain those that live in Bedford still refer to their home as Bedford, likewise Dartmouth residents say they are from Dartmouth. Just like Toronto is the “heart” of the GTA and folks there hail from Scarborough, North york and the like, so too is “Halifax” the bowels of the HRM. Leave it alone. Leave the cat issue alone. Let people raise chickens if they want to. Spend your time on infrastructure, do something about the vacant Barrington Street.
If it means we can finally get rid of that awful lighthouse logo, I’m all for it.
GHA: will put you to sleep even faster than GHB!
Why not ask the peeps what we want?
Who is the Mayor of The Greater London Authority ? (No Googling Allowed)
Who is the mayor of Hamilton-Wentworth Regional Authority ?
Who is the mayor of MUC ?
This is exactly what we need !
ANOTHER ABSOLUTELY FUCKING USELESS WASTE OF TAXPAYER MONEY !
So you just know these idiots who came up with it, will implement it.
In a couple years (if they even wait that long) they’ll be back with something just as dumb…similar to what the Hospital system has done over the years…I can’t even remember what it’s called anymore, one time we had individual Hospitals & they were all named, then they “amalgamated” & the fuckin’ change of Stationary started every 10 -11 months or so !
You know if the paper pushers have nothing better to do than come up with this shit.
FIRE THEM !
They’ve obviously got too damn much time on their hands !
I think calling it GHA will be a good thing, if it mean the rest of the world will know who we are. Sheet Harbour will still be Still be Sheet Harbour in the Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia, even if it HRM or GHA. I all for the name change, if it mean everyone eles in the world know what our great municipality is. I use the word great because of the Greater Halifax Area and not Halifax Regional Municipality!!!!!!!!
It should be call the GHA, NOT, NOT, NOT Halifax or Halifax Regional municipality. Greater Halifax Area the best for the Sheet Harbour Area. HRM is not know outside nova scotia, and Halifax world mean that Sheet Harbour world have to give up it right as a name community, and that not right at all. Great Halifax Area or nothing eles.
Greater Halifax is the only sensible solution! A “regional municipality” is practically an oxymoron!!! A municipality does not connote a big city, and a region connotes an area larger than a metropolitan area. A metropolitan area is what we are dealing with, and “Greater” is the common term for a metropolitan area. SO DO IT!!!
The next step is to get rid of Dan English’s job, separate the Council (legislative branch) from the Mayor (executive branch), giving the Council more autonomy, and have it elect a Council President to preside at council sessions, instead of the mayor!!! Then the mayor won’t be able to control the agenda of council meetings as he now does, and the council can meet without him; the council president will balance out the mayor’s power as it should be done.
This is from someone who lived in Dartmouth most of his life. HRM is not sticking and neither will Greater Halifax. How often do your hear people say, “hey lets head into the HRM tonight”. Ridiculous. Just call it Halifax like everyone else does. It would be a total waste of money changing it from one useless name to another.
There are people in Dartmouth who don’t want Dartmouth call Halifax, just like there are people in Sheet Harbour who don’t want Sheet Harbour to be call Halifax.