Editorial

Last Thursday morning was a crystalizing moment for my understanding of Halifax. A crowd of more than 300 people, overwhelmingly male and exclusively white, besuited in the attire of folks who consider themselves movers and shakers, had gathered at the Neptune Theatre on Argyle Street for a masturbatory celebration of the imminent construction of a […]

Two weeks ago I criticized mayoral candidate Mike Savage for his continued support for the proposed convention centre, and for what appears to be an unwillingness to challenge provincial crown corporation Trade Centre Limited—an issue that will come front and centre in city politics when auditor general Larry Munroe issues his report on TCL’s improper […]

Two weeks ago I criticized mayoral candidate Mike Savage for his continued support of the proposed convention centre, and for what appears to be an unwillingness to challenge provincial crown corporation Trade Centre Limited—an issue that will come front and centre in city politics when auditor general Larry Munroe issues his report on TCL’s improper […]

Leading mayoral candidate Mike Savage is failing to address the most important issue facing the city he wants to run. A single tweet from mayoral candidate Mike Savage’s Twitter account (@MikeSavageHRM) has got me immensely worried about Halifax’s future. It reads: “Part of an appreciative crowd at a Tribute to Fred MacGillivray..put on by St. […]

Last week, Halifax councillors did something remarkable: they held a public conversation about a controversial topic. And you know what? Nothing terrible happened. At issue was the resolution of the bill for the concert scandal—the last $359,550 of secret loans of taxpayer money to promoter Harold MacKay that was not repaid. City solicitor Martin Ward […]

You’ve heard how Halifax mayor Peter Kelly betrayed the trust of of a family friend. What you haven’t heard is how city hall doubly abused the same woman, forcing her to live out her final days in poverty. On February 16, The Coast published my expose of Halifax mayor Peter Kelly’s failure, as executor, to […]

De-amalgamating the Halifax Regional Municipality is the worst thing we could possibly do for this city. I don’t want to re-fight the 1996 forced merger of the cities of Halifax and Dartmouth, the town of Bedford and Halifax County, except to note that while it was heavy-handed and rushed, it was an attempt to address […]

Six weeks ago today, The Coast published the results of my exclusive investigation of mayor Peter Kelly’s failure to properly execute the will of Mary Thibeault. (“A trust betrayed,” February 16). That article showed how, after her death, Kelly had transferred over $160,000 from Thibeault’s bank account, placing the money in the control of himself […]

Last weekend, I was given documents—-the so-called “run cut” of all the various transit routes in Halifax—-that detail how bus drivers’ schedules are derived. Readers can see the documents themselves at thecoast.ca/bites, and come to their own conclusions about what they mean. But what follows is my interpretation of what the run cut means for […]

As I’m writing this, I don’t know if the Amalgamated Transit Union and Metro Transit will come to terms and avoid a strike, or not. I do know, however, that the city’s desire to play hardball with its employee unions is a new thing, and one concurrent with the arrival of chief administrative officer Richard […]

The future of our city is at risk. Back in 2006, city council adopted the regional plan, a blueprint for how the city is supposed to develop over the next 25 years. It’s not a bad document, which is to say it set out reasonable—albeit not great—targets for less suburban sprawl, for densification of the […]

Chronicle-Herald provincial reporter David Jackson should be congratulated for his article published last week that lays out more mendacity on the part of Trade Centre Limited. See, in September Jackson got word that somebody was conducting a public opinion poll about the proposed convention centre. The way Jackson heard it at the time, the questions […]