Mike Savage arrives at Barrington’s overstuffed Starbucks with muddy shoes and hems. He’s been at a Lake Banook dragon boat race. As we walk to Cabin Coffee on Hollis he says he just judged the cutest costumed kid at the Alzheimer duck derby. He’s also hit the Westphal-Cole Harbour Fire Department’s 50th anniversary and several Tim Hortons, and after this interview with me he’s got Oktoberfest, a certified accountants dinner and a celebrity dance-off.
Experienced on the campaign trail and in office as a Liberal MP for Dartmouth-Cole Harbour from 2004 to 2011, Savage is the clear frontrunner for mayor. He’s taking nothing for granted, though, and so built a campaign budget of $200,000 and has garnered endorsements by politicians and businesspeople from all political stripes— from NDP MP Megan Leslie to former Conservative Party candidate and downtown Dartmouth business leader Tim Olive to Green Party leader Elizabeth May.
“I’ve done it before but never from Hubbards to Ecum Secum,” Savage says of the campaign grind. “We can’t get to everything. I don’t like to just drop in and leave quickly…it’s disrespectful.”
He’s the son of John Savage, the Dartmouth mayor who went on to become premier of Nova Scotia from 1993 to 1997. His memories of his dad harken back to the ’60s, growing up with three brothers and three sisters in a house that “was the centre of activity. You didn’t miss church unless there was a bone showing.” He’s still a churchgoer for whom faith matters a great deal.
When he was a boy, dinner was at 6pm sharp, at a table where discussion on all topics was encouraged. “My father was an early advocate of things like drug and alcohol counselling, sex education. We talked about this stuff and it shaped us.”
Like many Nova Scotians, Mike Savage did his time in Toronto, in his case working at Procter & Gamble after graduating from Dalhousie, before realizing his heart had stayed home. He came back and became a businessperson, with stints at home heating retailer S. Cunard & Co. and Nova Scotia Power.
By the time he won his first election in 2004 he was in his 40s and a father of two. Politically, he held his seat through two more elections before losing to the NDP’s Robert Chisholm by fewer than 500 votes.
“It was disappointing,” he says. “But it was the end of the campaign, not the end of the world. I spent most of my adult life in business, and that was my intent to get back in and I did. But as people came to talk to me about this opportunity [to run for mayor] it occurred to me that my abilities, experience and talents matched it.”
Savage believes Halifax is at a turning point thanks to a smaller city council, new shipbuilding contract and offshore oil and gas opportunities. “It’s time to take stock of where we are. It’s about potential.”
Throughout his campaign, Savage has presented himself as a conciliator, the man who will bring together sage voices before taking considered action. But it’s the city’s lack of action that he emphasizes today.
“There’s a whole lot more that we could do to encourage arts and culture. We see holes in the street that need to be developed. We need density downtown. It came down to who would be well-suited to look at these divergent interests and bring people together around the more common goal of building the overall community?”
While Savage is the clear leader in polls, aside from cordial conduct and forging new business partnerships, it’s been hard at times to decipher his stance on key issues because he says he wants to “have that conversation” before moving forward.
His firmest answer comes on the question of holding a referendum on the divisive new convention centre. “No,” he says. “If there’s one thing I think that’s stymied the municipality it’s this inability to make a decision and stick with it. I think [the convention centre] can be a very positive thing for HRM.”
One goal he’s been forceful on is “open government.” It’s the first thing he mentions when I ask what issues he most wants to tackle. “Shedding light on our municipal processes. We need more open meetings; we need more connections to the people.”
Consultation with the public, something for which Halifax has a poor reputation, seems to be the key for Savage. On his website, Savage says any vision for the city “will be most effective if it is informed by the thoughts and aspirations of citizens from all parts of HRM.” What Savage hasn’t articulated is how citizen input will be fairly solicited and analyzed. He is definite, however, in his stance against being called Your Worship. “It’s anachronistic and outdated and pompous, ridiculous terminology,” he says.
Savage says his experience with federal party politics, which forced him to take a national view beyond his own riding, will serve him well as mayor of a large and disparate municipality. “The mayor has to explain to people that it makes sense to invest in downtown Halifax. At the same time we have some assets in rural HRM that people downtown have to understand are worth investing in.”
He also sells himself on his economic chops—in addition to decades in managerial positions he was president of the Halifax Executive Association in the mid-’90s. He wants to see the city use economic growth as a means to address poverty—specifically, developing an anti-poverty plan.
He is not, however, a fan of universal mandatory affordable units for all new residential development, or of rent control. Instead, he’d prefer to “partner” with the private sector in addressing homelessness and housing for the working poor. “Killam Properties is doing some very interesting things in supplementing rents in their buildings, working with the Department of Community Services and Community Action on Homelessness.”
Savage also wants an integrated transit plan. He is critical of the municipality and Metro Transit’s short-term planning. “The Five Big Moves that Metro Transit are working on are more operational than strategic,” he says of the current transit plan. But he doesn’t support increasing the Metro Transit budget, preferring to “more effectively use that $100 million.”
And while he wants to get people out of their cars, he doesn’t commit to halting the Bayers Road widening. “The new council is going to have to sit down and figure out what has been expended and committed and where we’re going,” he says. “In some cases we have to make improvements for traffic.”
Savage stresses his commitment to density in a number of ways, including reduced corporate tax rates downtown, generating roughly the same total revenue. “If you want to have a vibrant downtown you need to have small and medium-sized businesses,” he says. “Our taxation system is driving them out.” But again, he doesn’t commit to specific changes and wants to explore various models consultatively.
Savage also says developers need to contribute to the city’s capital costs when new suburbs necessitate new infrastructure. “If we have a discussion with the development community, homebuilders, end users and people that want to protect rivers and lakes and wilderness areas, we can come to some reasonable conclusion,” he says. “If we can’t, then we step in and mandate it.”
And he supports “greenbelting,” protecting outlying areas from development so they remain farmland, wilderness or natural resource operations. But again, he has questions about process. “How do you deal with greenbelting in areas where people want to develop?” he asks. “In certain cases say ‘no.’ In other cases we need to have some ability to work out a solution that makes sense.”
He is perhaps clearest in his stance on the arts, saying we need more investment in them, that they are an untapped economic opportunity. “Halifax has close to the lowest if not the lowest funding for art and culture of any major community in Canada,” he says. He wants a municipal arts council with more grants, studio space and mentorship.
He stresses that he is budget-conscious and cautious about proposing any increased spending, but hopes the money to pay for his ideas will come in partnerships with the private sector and other levels of government. “If you look at issues like our infrastructure, water and sewer we have major challenges; we can’t do it alone.”
While many of his policy positions remain undefined, Savage’s pitch is clear: he’ll be the business-savvy, decorum-conscious, partnership-building, consultative mayor. And given that the mayor’s power over policy is largely indirect, exerted through influence and negotiation, there is logic to his tactic of holding off on specifics.
The question remains, however, whether voters buy his pitch. After years of cronyism and buffoonery, a chance for a remade council and guaranteed new mayor, residents are hungry for something special. A visionary, a bold leader unafraid to take a moral stand. Is Savage that leader? In all likelihood, we’ll soon find out. And however things go, the promise of listening to the people will be remembered in four years’ time.
See our other mayoral candidate profiles:
Tom Martin
Fred Connors
Aaron Eisses
Steve Mackie
Robert (Wesley) McCormack
Related Stories
Tom Martin: The fighter
Fred Connors: The voice of passion
Aaron Eisses: The techno farmer
Steve Mackie: The comedian
Robert (Wesley) McCormack: The enthusiast
This article appears in Oct 4-10, 2012.
Savage will bring us another term of medocrity and back room deals. He’s the only candidate that refuses to disclose his campaign finances and donors, yet he’s running a $200,000+ campaign. He’s hiding something. Nobody raises that kind of money for politics in HRM wihtout owning favours. He’s obviously scared of how HRM would react if we could see who’s supporting him.
Tom Martin has my vote. He’s got the experience. He’s got good ideas that aren’t parrotted from someone else, and above all, he’ll tell you the truth even if you don’t like it. Savage will tell you whatever he thinks you want to hear. And he’s trying to bring party politics and baggage down to the level where government is closest to the people. I hope HRM doesn’t make another mistake by electing a career politician with the same old bag of tricks.
Tom Martin relies on a script. At every debate his opening and closing is read from his notebook. Pathetic.
With regards to partnerships with business, I wish someone would explain to the banks that occupying the main floors along Spring Garden Road is NOT the key to vibrancy. I would like to know if anyone has ever gone on vacation and looked for a vibrant downtown location where they could go hang out in banks or insurance offices.
Cafes, boutiques, bistros, pubs, art spaces, independent bookstores and funky places like Freak Lunchbox are what lend vibrancy. Prime example is the TD bank at the corner of Spring Garden & Birmingham where, for years, I saw people stopping to browse and buy unique socks!
We only have to look to Moncton’s main street where the main floors have been taken over by banks and insurance offices and where the people have disappeared. Thank goodness for the new Chicken Burger (at least it’s affordable and quirky in its own way).
So, yes I agree with Savage about making it more affordable for small businesses to set up shop downtown!
I might be convinced to vote for Savage if he was willing to take a single stance on bloody near anything, or if he was willing to practice what he preaches in any way. Thus far, however, all we’ve got from Savage is a tonne of rhetoric and non-statements. It’s the way he’s running his campaign, and really, it’s not a stupid way for him to be doing it – coasting along on his name and the hope that the citizens of the HRM are too apathetic to get engaged in this process. I just hope that he’s underestimating the intelligence of the voting public.
Savage has consistently said “We need” instead of ” I will”…..well guess what!
We need- someone who’s not a politician
We need- someone who’s going to look out for our best interest
-not that of political parties
We need- someone who’s transparent
-not hiding behind *rules* of municipal election
We need- someone who’s willing to show his financial donations before the election
-to show transparency before they’re elected
-especially when all other candidates are willing to do so
We need- someone who has vision, passion and ideas
-instead of just repeating what other candidates have said
We need- someone who doesn’t use the sale of st pats to try and gain support
-when you didn’t get involved at all during the community meetings etc
We need- someone who doesn’t think Occupy has ended because it “ran it’s course”
-occupy exists today, has existed for years, and the future is not yet defined
We need- someone who will work on more affordable housing
-not say it, then vote no when given the chance to make a difference
We need- someone who doesn’t name drop every chance they get
-our mayor needs to get elected based on his merit, not who he knows or where he’s been
We need- someone who doesn’t think skilled workers are beneath him
-my fathers a welder/pipefitter/boiler maker, you got nothing on him
We need- someone who doesn’t need a $200,00 campaign budget to get elected
-our mayor needs to be fiscally responsible
We need alot….but most of all we need Tom Martin as mayor of HRM.
When are the people of HRM going to realize that Savage is just Peter Kelly 2.0 ?! Time to wake up and look for a candidate that has passion, has answers, an innovator and not some washed up politician who couldn’t even get re-elected in his own riding. We don’t need another politician, who hides behind avoidance answers, who is just another lame cog in the already bankrupt leadership. We need a seriously fresh perspective. Fred Connors for Mayor!!!!
You heard it here first from Joeblow, reading is pathetic. Or maybe preparation is pathetic. Either way, I’d laugh if I weren’t about to cry.
If that creep Savage gets elected jelly Kell’s handing of the old widows estate will just be an exercise in petty cash. Remember it was the Lieberals who conceived Adscam, and it will be Savage who will bring it to HRM, Never saw a Lieberal yet who would not sell their mother if she could fetch a buck.
Ah Savage, the more he yaks, the less he says. He has yet to answer a straight question with a straight answer, if he even answers at all. I wonder what a poll would say now. He lost every debate he was in and I believe he’s losing a lot of ground as the campaign goes on. I wonder what his excuse is going to be when he loses. This is the last person we need as mayor.
You people are all dreaming. We do not live in fantasy land and unfortunately there is no mayor on earth who will and can do all the things you want. If only the peninsula voted, maybe you hipsters would get your man (if you even vote) but seeing as the mayor has to represent all of HRM, I would have to say every other candidate is fucked and Savage is gonna win.
Savage does not want you to know where his moola is coming from because it is coming from the stuffed shirt establishment. All they want is a mouth piece, they had it with jelly kelly and now they want it from stooge savage. Just wait until he gets tossed on election day. The south end will be in shock, the guard dogs will be let loose, so stay north of Inglis St if you value your life.
I’ve been preaching this for quite awhile … time for 1 additional voting box on every ballot for all elections, it goes at the bottom of the ballot, & it says “None of the Above”.
If/when an election comes back where “none of the above” wins, no candidate on that ballot can ever run for an elected position in any election ever !
I would truely love to see the results of elections after that choice has been included on a ballot ~:)
I like Fred. All around best prospect for Halifax. If he doesn’t win, Halifax will get what it deserves.