Until the end of 2023, rent in Nova Scotia cannot be hiked above a two percent annual increase. Premier Tim Houston announced the measure—a two-year extension of the pandemic-time rent control measure first set out in November 2020—today, following weeks of public pressure on the government amid the housing crisis. The PC leader, who has […]
Waye Mason
Posted inNews + Opinion
Council wants HRM’s enforcement of bad landlords to have some teeth
At this week’s Halifax Regional Council meeting, District 7 councillor Waye Mason got a last-minute item added to the agenda, concerning HRM’s upcoming review of rental requirements. Mason asked for the review to include bylaw options for strong penalties “up to and including the maximum statutory amount”—which is $10,000—”and rapid responses to mediate any unit where […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Three local organizations get government cash to provide affordable housing
Halifax Regional Council gave the green light to three affordable housing projects this week. The city got money to pay for the projects from the federal government’s rapid housing initiative; the funding was earmarked for at least 28 units to the tune of $8.65 million. And with the number of people who are unhoused in Halifax doubling […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
A parking garage on the Halifax Common would mean big changes for Halifax Lancers
There’s one thing in Halifax that no other city in the country has: a one-of-a-kind non-profit riding school and equine therapy centre in its downtown core. This little non-profit-that-could has stood the test of time for over 80 years while the city grew all around it. The Halifax Junior Bengal Lancers, founded in 1936 to […]
Posted inBest of Halifax
Best Councillor
Gold Winner Lindell Smith Silver Winner Waye Mason Bronze Winner Sam Austin The councillor disputes these rankings, for the record. Smith assumed the winners would go Sam Austin in first place, Waye Mason for silver and then, maybe, himself. Don’t get him wrong. He’s “100 percent grateful and thankful” to all the people who voted […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
City Council Report Card 2018
There’s a renaissance of buffoonery at City Hall. Whatever goodwill towards fellow councillors existed two years ago, when this self-righteous clique was elected, seems to deteriorate daily. There are spiteful remarks and passive aggressive attacks, on social media and in front of TV cameras. Some turn the other cheek. More than a few dig in […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Matt Whitman stands by white supremacists’ message
All the people who don’t like Matt Whitman just don’t know the “real” Matt Whitman. So says Matt Whitman. “They just know the guy that criticized an RCMP officer for giving someone a ticket,” says the councillor. “Or the guy that ran around his car with his 19-year-old son after coming from a funeral.” Or […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Waye Mason reclaims seat for Halifax South Downtown
For the second time, Waye Mason has defeated Sue Uteck. The incumbent councillor won another term in office, claiming the District 7 race Saturday night over Uteck and political rookie Dominick Desjardins. “It’s a real vindication of the changes we brought to council and to the government in HRM in the last four years to […]
Posted inBest of Halifax
Best Councillor
Gold Winner Waye Mason Silver Winner Jennifer Watts Bronze Winner Gloria McCluskey Halifax South Downtown councillor Waye Mason scores the hat trick, winning Best Councillor for the third year in a row. “It’s a tremendous honour,” Mason says, on break from at City Hall. “It’s the little things like this that help make it all […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Tuesday’s rundown: 9 things you need to know in Halifax today
1Needing this so badly on this Tuesday-feels-like-Monday-tomorrow-can’t-be-Wednesday-already. Maybe you do too? When Jerry Met Kendrick. 2Our question of the day comes from commenter mira230, who wonders if anyone out there remembers BB King playing Queen Elizabeth High School back in the ‘70s. “I cannot find any record of it online, but it happened. I was […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
It’s time to do away with councillor slush funds
This is interesting. Councillor Waye Mason this morning announced a “participatory budgeting process to distribute $92,000 in capital funding to the community.” Mason is referring here to the money budgeted to each council district for discretionary spending on capital projects in the district. Traditionally, the councillors themselves have decided where the money goes. Before the […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
This week at city council
This year, we’re going to ramp up The Coast’s council meeting reporting. Instead of just one or two articles in the “dead tree” paper, expect much more analysis and comment of council proceedings, with a weekly on-line report posted in this space. This will allow me to touch on issues that I’ve previously ignored. This […]