[Image-1] In the interest of democracy, it’d be easy to puff up our chests and blubber about how voting is important and this is a watershed election for the municipality. Thing is, yeah, it kind of is. In short order after October 15, the Centre Plan will finally be unleashed to (hopefully) guide smart, sensible […]
HRM election 2016
Posted inNews + Opinion
Candidates come prepared for a fight at Halifax South Downtown debate
[Image-1] An incumbent city councillor, his predecessor and a political rookie duked it out over the past, present and future of Halifax South Downtown at an all-candidates meeting Wednesday night. More than 50 people flooded the room at Spencer House, some watching the proceedings with one foot outside as they straddled the doorway. Emotions in […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Trying to fix voter turnout
[Image-1] Municipal politics determine roads, police, garbage collection, the legality of urban chickens and myriad other services that make up daily life—so why is it so hard to get people to care about municipal elections? Past elections have shown it’s very hard indeed. In Halifax’s 2012 election, voter turnout was just shy of 37 percent, […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Not-so-friendly rivalries
[Image-1] This will be the only time Donald Trump is brought up while talking about HRM’s election. Promise. The tire fire of hatred that Trump so expertly stokes in the American presidential race seems a million miles away from the municipal contests being fought in Halifax. This is a place where the four declared candidates […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Rating this election’s campaign signs
[Image-1] Being the critical voice for the arts and city politics that we are, The Coast gathered three opinionated experts to sit down and comment on the best (and worst) election signs dotting the HRM. (Also we thought it’d be funny.) Chris Parsons (activist and occasional writer, @cultureofdefeat), Elizabeth MacMichael (illustrator, @lizmacdraws) and Matt Brand […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Mike Savage wants to keep the good times rolling
[Image-1] “The challenge is, as a mayor, you want to focus on big issues,” says Mike Savage of his past four years. It’s a difficult role—to act as a figure head and authority on an entire municipality. “I was a member of parliament for three terms, and nobody really ever called me up to ask […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Who’s running for the Halifax Regional School Board?
[Image-1] With a municipal election on the way, signs bearing the names of candidates for Regional Council have flooded the city. But there are other names on the upcoming ballot that you may not have heard as much about. On October 15, voters will also be selecting representatives for the Halifax Regional School Board and […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Lil MacPherson wants to change the conversation
It takes some gusto to challenge an incumbent, especially if you’re the only one doing it. But Lil MacPherson was called to action last year after attending the United Nations climate change conference in Paris. “They talked a lot about the role that municipalities can have,” she says, “the role that mayors can have and […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Getting acclimated to acclamation this election
[Image-1] The race for re-election this year for four Halifax council members turned out to be a non-starter. Councillors Lorelei Nicoll (Cole Harbour-Westphal), Tim Outhit (Bedford-Wentworth), Bill Karsten (Dartmouth South-Eastern Passage) and Steve Craig (Lower Sackville) all won their seats by acclamation. In the 2012 municipal election, Nicoll defeated two challengers and Outhit bested one […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Don’t encourage the edgy, white liberals running for council
[Image-1] Last week in the north end I came across a large storefront freshly painted in blue. It wasn’t yet another curated artisan gift store, but a campaign office, now manspreading itself along Gottingen Street on behalf of prospective councillor Brenden Sommerhalder. In April, Sommerhalder announced he would stand for District 8 after other candidates dropped […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
15 questions with District 5 candidate Derek Vallis
[Image-1] The Coast sent all 53 candidates running in HRM’s municipal election the same 15-question survey in order to help their residents and our readers know a little more about who’s running for council. Here’s what Derek Vallis from Dartmouth Centre sent back. ——— Why should residents of your district vote for you? I have been […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
15 questions with District 5 candidate Gabriel Enxuga
[Image-1] The Coast sent all 53 candidates running in HRM’s municipal election the same 15-question survey in order to help their residents and our readers know a little more about who’s running for council. Here’s what Gabriel Enxuga from Dartmouth Centre sent back. ——— Why should residents of your district vote for you? I want people […]