Mobility:
Whether you drive, take transit, walk, use a wheelchair, or ride a bicycle, you rely on infrastructure built by the municipality. How we choose to get around has a major impact on our lives and is shaped by the options we’re offered. We’ve made some major improvements in District 5 and beyond over the last four years, but the work of building complete streets and implementing the Integrated Mobility Plan continues. COVID has created new challenges, but the need for more sustainable transportation hasn’t gone away, it has only intensified.
- Continue to bring a complete streets lens to all projects and encourage street redesigns to fix problematic sections
- Continue to advance work on the Woodland-Lancaster intersection
- Build the Integrated Mobility Plan’s Minimum Grid of cycling infrastructure
- Connect Woodside Ferry to Shearwater Flyer Trail (planning underway now)
- Advance HRM’s ambitious rapid transit plan
- Support HRM’s plan to electrify transit
- Introduce electronic fare payment options for transit
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Downtown Dartmouth:
The revitalization of Downtown Dartmouth has been amazing to see. After several difficult decades, Downtown is thriving again. We need to take advantage of opportunities to enhance Downtown’s revitalization, and provide amenities and services to support our growing community.
- Support streetscaping efforts (potential for Ochterloney)
- Introduce commercial tax reform to better share the tax burden between Downtown and the business parks
- Continue to advance planning for a new museum in Downtown Dartmouth
- Initiate the Downtown Dartmouth Heritage District
- Complete the next phase of the Sawmill River project and the reintegration of Dartmouth Cove into the rest of Downtown
- Explore opportunities for waterfront redevelopment
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Public Spaces:
Our parks are some of our most important public spaces. They’re where civic life happens. We need to take advantage of opportunities to make them and our other public spaces even better. The work towards a one HRM membership for all HRM facilities (Sportsplex, Cole Harbour Place, Canada Games etc) needs to continue.
- Implement the Northbrook Park Plan
- Prioritize investment in the lower end of the Canal Greenway Park as part of the second phase of the Sawmill River project
- Deliver on a new building at Grahams Grove
- Initiate a review of the Park’s plan for Sullivan’s Pond and Banook
- Complete the next phase of the Alderney Gate renovation
- Continue to work towards a one HRM membership solution for municipal facilities (Sportsplex, Cole Harbour Place, Canada Games etc)
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Environment:
Humanity is facing an existential crisis. Climate Change threatens the sustainability of our civilization. We all have a role to play in addressing this threat. HRM has a very ambitious Climate Change Plan that will require sustained political support and ongoing prioritization during budget deliberations. HRM must do its share. Close to home, we’re seeing the impacts of human activity on our lakes with blue green algae blooms in Lake Banook and Lake Mic Mac. Dartmouth isn’t Dartmouth without our lakes. They’re part of who we are. We must continue the work that I initiated over the last two years to restore and protect them.
- Implement and budget for HRM’s Climate Change Plan
- Daylight the Sawmill River and secure fish passage from Sullivan’s Pond to Lake Banook to help restore the watershed
- Implement and prioritize the actions recommended in the Banook Pollution Control Study and introduce a watershed management plan
- Implement the Yellow Floating Heart pilot at Little Albro Lake
- Continue to advance protection of key wilderness areas including Blue Mountain Birch Cove and other locations identified in the Green Network Plan
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Planning:
With the first phase of the Centre Plan in place, we have clarity about how and where we’ll grow. After the final phase of the Centre Plan is complete, we need to focus on revising our suburban plans to ensure suburban growth is sustainable. HRM is increasingly in a housing crisis. While HRM’s jurisdiction over housing is limited,the municipality can provide support to non-profits who provide housing. We need to do more to try and ensure that everyone has a safe and affordable place to live
- Support the proposed landlord registry that will focus enforcement on landlords with repeated building code and bylaw violations
- Establish the Centre Plan’s housing fund to provide support to non-profits who provide housing
- With conclusion of the Centre Plan, begin a suburban growth plan
- Uphold the Centre Plan to ensure certainty for both residents and developers around where growth will happen
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Inclusion:
Our municipality can’t be successful unless it includes everyone. Unfortunately, not everyone has had an equal opportunity to participate. Historical injustices against women, LGBTQ, Mi’kmaq and Black communities ripple through time to the present day. We need to continue the work of reconciliation, addressing anti-Black racism, and providing meaningful opportunities for engagement for all citizens.
- Support the implementation of the Cornwallis Task Force recommendations
- Support HRM’s efforts to combat anti-Black racism, both within HRM and in the community
- Support a meaningful role for HRM’s new Women’s Advisory Committee
- Explore opportunities for police reorganization to better address root causes of crime and address injustice
- Continue to give residents a direct say in how our district funds are spent via participatory budgeting
- Continue to govern in full sentences by engaging actively through my website and newsletter with you on whatever is happening at City Hall and in HRM