Shelter Closure

Over the last week, the Tantallon wildfire rightly focused all of our attention. While people were being made homeless by disaster, the Province, however, was deliberately making people homeless in Downtown Dartmouth. On June 1, the Province went ahead with closing the shelter at Christ Church and the closure went …

Fire Update

A quick e-news update to address the fire situation that HRM is in. I know everyone is thinking about our first responders, the residents who have been evacuated, and the residents who have no home to go back to. It has been a challenging couple of days! At times like this we …

E-News May 2023

News Slayter Street Traffic CalmingIf you’ve travelled down Slayter Street over the last few days, you likely noticed the new bike symbols on the pavement and new temporary curb extensions at all the major intersections along the street (Albro Lake, Woodland, School, and Thistle). I have had a few people …

E-News April 2023

News HousingSome disappointing news from the Provincial government. After teasing that they were considering it, Housing Minister John Lohr announced that the Province isn’t looking at building any new public housing (CBC story here). This is a profoundly disappointing decision. According to the 2022 Auditor General’s report on Nova Scotia’s …

Council Update: Parking U-Turn, Non-profit Tax Relief, Playing Field Strategy

Agenda Regional Council April 25Agenda Budget Committee April 25Agenda Committee of the Whole April 25 (policing study)Agenda Regional Council April 4Agenda Committee of the Whole April 4 (playing field strategy) Saturday Paid ParkingCouncil approved the 2023/2024 budget, but not without some last minute drama around parking. HRM has changed course …

Council Update: Shelter, Housing, Banook Grant, Public Safety

Agenda, March 21Agenda, March 7 Shelter Downtown DartmouthIn Council’s March meetings, there was a bundle of decisions related to housing including a motion I brought forward related to the emergency shelter at the Christ Church Hall on Dundas Street. My request was that the Mayor write the Province to ask …

E-News March 2023

Community Policing Office Alderney GateI’m pleased to share that a new community policing office has opened in Alderney Gate. The police office is located on the ground floor between the Customer Service Desk and the Library in office space that had recently become vacant (signage to come). The policing office …

Council Update: Short-term Rentals, Homelessness Framework, Alderney Centre, Parks and Rec

Agenda, February 21Agenda, February 22 (Budget) Short-Term RentalsThe main item on Council’s agenda this week was the regulation of short-term rentals (Air BNB, VRBO, etc). Most of HRM’s existing land-use bylaws don’t allow for short-term rentals in residential areas. Short-term rentals are considered a tourist accommodation use, which was generally …

Council Update: 2023 Budget (Public Safety, HalifACT, Library, Public Works)

Agenda, February 14 (Public Works)Agenda, February 10 (Library)Agenda, February 8 (HalifACT)Agenda, February 3 (Police)Agenda, January 27 (CAO’s Office) Budget time is always the busiest time of year at City Hall. To build the budget, Council reviews each department, which pretty much triples the amount of time we spend in the …