In the fallout from several racially charged statements made by elected officials and more than a dozen conduct complaints submitted to city hall, Halifax Regional Council has agreed to collectively take part in cultural sensitivity training. The idea was unanimously approved Tuesday night after three hours of in-camera discussion. 

 “We could all use a […]
City Hall
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Tony Mancini wants stronger sanctions for disrespectful HRM councillors
As Drake would say, Halifax council is coming back on its worst behaviour. Harbourview–Burnside–Dartmouth East representative Tony Mancini is asking for a staff report at Tuesday’s meeting of HRM Regional Council on updates to the municipality’s code of conduct for elected officials. Part of that report will look at creating a new integrity commissioner at […]
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LED streetlight project delayed, millions of dollars over budget
The light at the end of the tunnel is costing Halifax an extra $8 million. The municipality’s budget for installing energy-efficient LED streetlights has increased from $47 million to $55 million—a result of several operational delays in the massive public works project. Council approved the increase as part of a yet-to-be-declassified staff report back in […]
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Council choo-choo-chooses not to fund downtown “road train”
The Halifax “road train” will have to conduct its business without any funding from city hall. A vote at council to provide $50,000 in municipal money for the downtown people-mover was defeated by an 8–8 tie on Tuesday. Councillor Waye Mason, a member of the Halifax Community Road Train Society, recused himself from the vote. Ambassatours […]
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Matt Whitman is sorry if he offended anyone by using the word “negro”
For the third time in his political career, Matt Whitman has issued a public apology. The councillor stood at the start of Tuesday’s committee of the whole meeting to address his Twitter fight last week with fellow elected official Shawn Cleary and his use of the word “negro” on TV. “I apologize to my colleague […]
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The fall of the house of Elmwood
“So much of mankind’s varied experience had passed there—so much had been suffered, and something, too, enjoyed—that the very timbers were oozy, as with the moisture of a heart. It was itself like a great human heart, with a life of its own, and full of rich and sombre reminiscences.” —Nathaniel Hawthorne, The House of […]
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David Hendsbee surprised Halifax didn’t use a red tarp to cover Cornwallis statue
Days after calling Indigenous protestors “hotheads on the warpath,” Halifax Regional councillor David Hendsbee privately joked with his council colleagues about smoking a “peace pipe” and expressed surprise that the tarp the municipality used to cover the statue of Cornwallis wasn’t red. The comments were made this past summer after hundreds of protesters gathered in […]
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Halifax councillor calls for municipal lobbyist registry
At the next meeting of Regional Council, councillor Shawn Cleary will ask for a staff report on the creation and maintenance of a municipal lobbyist registry to keep track of the people and businesses trying to influence HRM. Currently, there’s no record of the consultants, business owners, property developers or special interest groups who bend […]
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Cloudy sales for Solar City
The sun isn’t shining as brightly on Solar City these days. Phase two of Halifax’s solar energy financing project has a budget of $13 million for the next three years, but in its first six months has only managed to spend $311,257. It’s not as bad as it seems, though, cautions HRM manager Shannon Miedema. […]
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Pain and no gain: HRM looks to write-off nearly $300,000 in gym fees
Changing banks was easier than cancelling a Sackville Sports Stadium gym membership, and that could end up costing HRM over a quarter of a million dollars. A report headed to Wednesday’s Audit and Finance committee is asking city council to write-off slightly over $295,000 in outstanding accounts from the Lower Sackville fitness centre. The lost […]
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10 things that happened at city council
ACCESSIBILITY INACCESSIBLE Steve Craig is fed up with the lack of accessible transportation options in HRM. It’s been three years since the Lower Sackville councillor tried to expand the city’s door-to-door paratransit service, and now he’ll have to wait at least a few more months for an outside consultant’s strategic review of Access-a-Bus service. “I’m […]
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Toronto criminology professor hired to study Halifax police street checks
The Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission has hired one of the country’s leading experts on racial bias in policing for an independent review of police street checks. University of Toronto criminology professor Scot Wortley appeared before Halifax Regional Police brass and the city’s Board of Police Commissioners on Monday to answer questions about his upcoming […]
