[Image-1] The race for District 7 is starting to heat up. Sue Uteck confirms to The Coast she’ll be running in October’s municipal election—trying to unseat the man who took away her job after 13 years at City Hall. “I’ve received a lot of encouragement, and to be quite honest I miss the diversity of […]
HRM Elections 2016
Posted inNews + Opinion
Public transit should be free
[Image-1] Just like public health care and public schools, I believe that free transit is a public good because we would live in a better world if everyone was healthy, educated and able to get around. We collectively fund public health care because we see it as an important public good, but we fail to […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Reg Rankin won’t re-offer in October’s municipal election
[Image-1] After a quarter of a century as a Halifax councillor, Reg Rankin is calling it quits. The Timberlea-Beechville-Clayton Park-Wedgewood councillor confirms to The Coast that he won’t be running in this fall’s municipal election. “It’s been rewarding,” Rankin says. “I always viewed it as a challenge…but there’s other people in waiting.” “A number of […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Halifax’s campaign finance regulations are limited in scope
[Image-1] The municipality will soon have the power to set rules on how politicians collect and spend money in municipal elections. We need these rules to restore public confidence and make fairer and more competitive elections. While improved regulatory powers are welcome, Bill 154 has one big flaw: it doesn’t explicitly allow HRM to offer […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Lil MacPherson to run for mayor against Mike Savage
[Image-1] Thirteen years ago, Hurricane Juan was the catalyst for Lil MacPherson to open a restaurant dedicated to sustainable agriculture. Now a different environmental crisis is inspiring the co-owner of the Wooden Monkey to once again take action, as she announces her candidacy for mayor of the Halifax Regional Municipality. “I just see all these […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Pamela Lovelace to challenge Matt Whitman for District 13
[Image-1] The weather warms up a little bit and suddenly everyone is jumping into the political ring. Joining the many others making campaign announcements lately, Pamela Lovelace is declaring her bid for District 13 (Hammonds Plains – St. Margaret’s). The former marketing and communications specialist has spent eight years working in various roles for the […]
Posted inArts + Music
Flat Fee: A Tale of Two Bureaucracies launches Sommerhalder campaign
[Image-1] The musty scent of an old, soggy mop that permeated The Bus Stop Theatre on Saturday evening didn’t dampen Brenden Sommerhalder’s mood as he anxiously awaited the arrival of guests. Sommerhalder was preparing to make an official announcement about his upcoming run for city council, which was prefaced by the one-off performance of the […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Lindell Smith wants his community to be heard
[Image-1] Unofficially, Lindell Smith is officially running for city council. His upcoming campaign has been one of the worst-kept secrets in District 8, as until now Smith has avoided any formal declarations. Of course, like everyone else, he won’t actually be able to submit his paperwork and get on the ballot until September. He learned […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Residents of Cole Harbour-Westphal, how would you spend $60,000?
[Image-1] The residents of Cole Harbour-Westphal are about to go on a $60,000 spending spree. District 4, which includes the communities of Cole Harbour, Westphal, Lake Major, Cherry Brook and Lake Loon will have its first participatory budget meeting on Thursday, April 14. The event allows area residents to decide how best to spend the […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Brenden Sommerhalder enters the race for city council
[Image-1] There’s still snow on the ground, but the political race for north end Halifax is heating up. Brenden Sommerhalder will officially announce his candidacy next week for District 8, the Halifax Peninsula North seat currently represented by Jennifer Watts. After two terms at city hall, Watts is not re-offering this fall. Her decision is in […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
City Council Report Card 2016
[Image-1] The mild winter must be making us soft. During last year’s frozen hellscape we chiseled grades out of sidewalk ice and wrote the councillors’ names in the snow. But in preparing the 2016 City Council Report Card we can’t help but think it hasn’t been that bad of a year for HRM. The municipality’s […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Meet the tributes from District 6
[Image-1] Thanks to Darren Fisher’s federal election win, residents of Harbourview-Burnside-Dartmouth East get to vote in a by-election on Saturday, January 23, to fill Fisher’s vacated city council seat. One of these four candidates will soon represent the people of District 6—at least until October, when the general municipal elections happen and the seat goes […]