Halifax is tidying up for Juno weekend, fussing around like a nervous granny who keeps squawking that “company’s coming!” It’s one thing to empty the litter box and make the bed when you’re expecting guests, but the city’s cleaning smacks of desperation: People are coming who are better than us, so we’ve got to look better than we are.
This week on Brunswick Street across from the Metro Centre—where the Juno awards ceremony happens Sunday—a traffic crew was replacing slightly banged-up pedestrian crossing signs with shiny new ones. At the same time, a couple guys walked down the street with paint cans, slapping a coat of black on the bases of parking meters. Are these efforts related to the Junos? “That’s all it is,” says one of the workers. Another makes noises about regular maintenance before admitting “this area is getting special treatment.” And don’t forget the recent initiative to beautify around Historic Properties by cutting locks and getting rid of derelict bicycles—the dreadful, dreadful scourge of derelict bicycles. That was most successful at fucking over students who’d commuted to NSCAD, only to come out of school and discover the city had stolen their rides.
A city that worries about what Mulroney-list celebrities will think about its rusty parking meters obviously has problems. Halifax can trace its insecurity back to April 1, 1996. That day the City of Dartmouth, the Town of Bedford, the City of Halifax and sprawling Halifax County were merged by provincial order to become the Halifax Regional Municipality. Soon after amalgamation, we elected Peter Kelly, a man happy to be mayor of an acronym. Check his official welcome letter at the halifax.ca site and notice he doesn’t once call the city simply Halifax. He’s all HRM this and HRM that, like the regional municipality exists as anything more than a concept. But nobody wants to live there.
Earlier in March, I asked the mayor and our 23 city councillors where they live, and not one said HRM. Krista Snow lives in Fletcher’s Lake, Brad Johns is in Middle Sackville, Gloria McCluskey’s proudly in Dartmouth (“You can’t take that away from me”), Sheila Fougere says “west end peninsular Halifax” and Kelly himself says Bedford. Steve Streatch was the lone councillor to mention the regional entity at all. “My general home is in Middle Musquodoboit,” he says in an email, “which is located in the heart of the Musquodoboit Valley…the only farming belt located within HRM.”
Ten years after amalgamation, we’re over the shock of the forced marriage and all the old communities are still around, so what the greater municipality is called shouldn’t matter. But as an umbrella that gives the area a shared identity, “Halifax Regional Municipality” is the face being put forward to the rest of the world. The city’s greatest desire—why it’s excited about the Junos, why it’s vying for the Commonwealth Games—is to be considered world-class. Unfortunately, “Halifax Regional Municipality” is only a world-class handle in terms of sucking. HRM is even worse, ugly to both eye and tongue. As long as we live under that name, we’re not going to be happy with ourselves.
This article appears in Mar 30 – Apr 5, 2006.
re Your comment’Ten years after amalgamation, we’re over the shock of the forced marriage and all the old communities are still around, so what the greater municipality is called shouldn’t matter. ‘I disagree with your statement. The HRM entity will shock and awe Halifax residential taxpayers far into the future.Halifax falls short of reality in several areas. The HRM entity has made the urban areas filthy of the HRM entity, dangerous and filthy. The HRM entity is most definitely NOT a safer and healthier place to live. We even have FEWER COPS AND FIREMEN now that before amalgamation. How does that make us SAFER??The increasing volumes of commuter and commercial traffic, due to suburban sprawl, and cross harbour commercial traffic, which clog our city streets and commuter highways, aggravate the large population of Haligonians with HEALTH PROBLEMS such as respiratory disease, and ever increasing TRAFFIC FATALITIES.. Recently, the respiratory health dangers of vehicle emissions were affirmed by Health Canada and the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment. The HRM and the Province have ignored the CCME/Health Canada vehicle emission study results. The government staff and politicians are FULLY aware of the vehicle emission health dangers the study confirms.HRM and Halifax County investment in infrastructure has left MANY publicly unanswered questions, and poorly managed environmental threats. The Halifax landfill garbage dump, which was placed on top of an aquifer, continuously leaks into the Nine Mile River, already an open sewer from run-off. The trucking of toxic effluent from the landfill has already resulted in toxic highway spills, the latest reported by media was last year. The landfill is RAPIDLY FILLING UP due to the HRM approved suburban sprawl, which is producing MORE garbage than predicted. SOON a new, INCREDIBLY EXPENSIVE Halifax municipal garbage dump will be required. The HRM entity has NEVER publicly discussed the possibility of CHEAPER, GREENER municipal incineration, which doesn’t WASTE LAND.The ‘$333 million’ HRM Harbour sewage project is far from being a success. The technology only clean about 40-60% of the municipal sewage out of the sewage flow, and does not clean out any of the DANGEROUS chemicals such as HORMONAL ‘MIMICS’, which flow into the Halifax Harbour in HUGE quantities every day. Some of the technology will make new parts of the Harbour dangerously polluted.HRM has been SECRETIVE and SNEAKY all through the Harbour Solution contract process. HRM and its’ LOBBY GROUPS even CLAIMED that it would be safe to swim in the harbour again. THIS IS A LIE. One of the municipal lobby groups says Halifax SHOULD CONSIDER ITSELF LUCKY?? WE will surely need LUCK when the HRM entity starts TRUCKING toxic municipal excrement some 20 miles to the airport lagoon SEVERAL TIMES A DAY over CITY STREETS. How many toxic spills will that add up to each year? How much will trucking excrement cost taxpayers in ever increasing amounts for vehicle FUEL every years???The HRM entity and COUNCILLORS seem stupid and inept when it comes to development and traffic, and seem in DENIAL by not addressing many serious municipal issues that will continue to cost residential taxpayers far more than the value received.There is NO GOOD in the HRM ENTITY, NONE at all. Every day more Halifax people are realizing this. I believe THERE WILL BE A DAY OF RECKONING for the misguided HRM staff and politicians, very soon.I agree with your statement:'”Halifax Regional Municipality” is only a world-class handle in terms of sucking. HRM is even worse, ugly to both eye and tongue. As long as we live under that name, we’re not going to be happy with ourselves.’
Mr. Ewert, Please don’t use caps lock to emphasize what you’re saying. It makes it sound like you’re shouting and only distracts people when you do it all the time. And that goes for everyone commenting.Thanks,
Thank you for reading my comments, WHICH REFLECTS THE MAJORITY OPINION OF HALIFAX RESIDENTIAL TAXPAYERS WHO, IN 1996, OPPOSED THE IDIOCY OF A FORCED AMALGAMATION, AND WHO STILL OPPOSE THE FORCED AMALGAMATION, AND WHO SEE A NEED TO ABOLISH THIS FORCED ABOMINATION, BEFORE IT TURNS ALL ORDINARY TAXPAYERS INTO BEGGARS, AND OUR COMMUNITY INTO A DANGEROUS, UNHEALTHY PLACE TO LIVE.THE HRM DISASTEROUS CONSEQUENCES WERE PREDICTED BEFORE THE LIBERAL GOVERNMENT FORCED THIS ON HALIFAX.THE HRM ENTITY IS A DISASTER, THAT CAN BE REVERSED, IT WILL NOT BE TOO EXPENSIVE TO DO SO,IT WILL BE TOO EXPENSIVE not to.NO honest, informed, Haligonian can honestly deny this.