Halifax city council voted at its Tuesday meeting to allow people without a home to sleep in parks legally. This change was specifically presented to council because changing the bylaw for park use “is the only legislative or administrative option that we have,” said Max Chauvin, parks and recreation special projects manager in his presentation. […]
Affordable housing
Posted inNews + Opinion
NS government announces 22,600 new homes, and 373 of them will be affordable
On Friday, March 25, the Nova Scotia government designated nine new “special planning areas” in HRM. Appearing alongside HRM mayor Mike Savage, provincial housing minister John Lohr said this means development proposals will be fast-tracked and up to 22,600 units of new housing will be built. “As we all know, the housing issue has reached […]
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Shelter siege protesters going back to court Wednesday
Twenty-four Haligonians are heading back to court for charges stemming from the August 18 shelter siege. That’s when protesters at the old Spring Garden Road library site were arrested after police showed up to pepper spray and disperse the crowd, which had gathered against the eviction of unhoused people living at the site. The charges […]
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Housing advocates hosting a rally outside Province House on Sunday
People are invited and encouraged to gather outside the Nova Scotia legislature building on Sunday, November 28 to rally in support of housing for all. The event at Province House, titled “call back the house until we all have one,” will take place from 1-2pm and is being organized by members of P.A.D.S. (Permanent, Accessible, […]
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Halifax considers taking over housing from the province
On Tuesday, Halifax Regional Council met to discuss a motion on whether the municipality should do more when it comes to housing, among other things. The four-part motion originated from a report council requested back in January 2018 by downtown Halifax councillor Waye Mason. Two city staff, Jill MacLennan from planning and development and Scott […]
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Weighing the costs of HRM’s crisis housing options
Late in September, Halifax announced a plausible, partial alternative to the unhoused population living outdoors this winter—a set of 73 modular housing units that cost $240,000 total and would be ready for habitation “before the snow flies.” Then came weeks of silence on the subject, followed by the admission at last Tuesday’s meeting of Halifax […]
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Revealed: the city’s plan to manage councillor reactions during the shelter siege
Early this summer, Halifax had given and missed its own deadline for removing shelters from the old Halifax Memorial Library grounds. The next steps were unclear, but tensions on all sides were rising and it was clear the city was gearing up to do something. In early July, councillor Shawn Cleary told The Coast that […]
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Activists build a crisis shelter as Halifax stays silent about modular housing plans
Tuesday at its regular biweekly meeting, Halifax Regional Council is supposed to receive a long-awaited update on the city’s plan to deploy modular housing units, which were announced in late September as a way to create shelter for dozens of unhoused Haligonians. The update could be related to council agenda item 15.1.7, Options for Increased […]
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A People’s Park success story
In late August, Malcolm Kay first experienced homelessness in Halifax. He spent nearly six weeks without a permanent address. First, he was sleeping in a tent at People’s Park, then was promised—and ousted from—a room at the Comfort Inn, spent a few nights at the Gray Arena and went back to the park. Finally, as […]
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Surprise second eviction looming for some crisis shelter residents who took city help
Tuesday morning, a group of houseless people who had been evicted from public parks and put up by the city at the Comfort Hotel in Dartmouth got some disturbing news: once again, they are being evicted. “We are a bit frantic this morning and quite upset,” says Rachelle Sauvé, site coordinator for P.A.D.S. Community Network, […]
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Jagmeet Singh talks affordable housing and access to voting
Note on election coverage: The Coast has reached out to the federal Liberal, Conservative and Green parties to request interviews with their respective leaders. The Liberals declined but offered an interview with local candidate Andy Fillmore, and the Conservatives and Greens have yet to respond. Jagmeet Singh says there’s one issue that seems to have […]