District 14 voting guide: A bunch of unknowns vie for power
District 14 was held most recently by Lisa Blackburn who is leaving municipal politics, leaving her seat empty. This district still spans the north western communities in the HRM including places like the Plains of Hammonds, upper and regular, and the Sackvilles middle and upper.
This district is also home to Lucasville, one of Nova Scotia’s long standing African Nova Scotian communities which was founded by Black Loyalists after the War of 1812. When Halifax was amalgamated in 1996 lines were drawn on maps to demark where communities, towns and villages were prior to amalgamation. Those blue signs throughout the HRM welcoming you to various communities are a result of that late ’90s mapping exercise.
Unfortunately, in 1996, the lines were drawn incorrectly, which was discovered by community members Debra Lucas and Iris Drummond when they tried to get the HRM to put up some of those blue “Welcome to Lucasville” signs. After some organizing and lobbying, the city corrected the boundaries for Lucasville in 2016.
In order to determine which candidates running in District 14 would pay attention to detail and prevent past issues like bad mapping from causing issues in the future, The Coast sent out a substantial questionnaire to Candidates to see what each candidate knows about the issues facing the city ahead of the municipal election on Oct. 19. The Coast followed up with more detailed questions to test each candidate’s policy chops.
Unfortunately, none of the candidates in district 14 bothered to fill it out. But hey, at least The Coast is not the only ones being ignored by these candidates.
Has not completed The Coast’s candidate questionnaire. If candidates complete the questionnaire after the deadline of September 18, The Coast will attempt to complete a review in time for October’s election. Until then, we cannot determine if this candidate is worth your vote. If you would like The Coast to assess John A. Young’s potential as a councillor, please ask him to complete the questionnaire.
John A. Young’s website can be found here: Facebook
Has not completed The Coast’s candidate questionnaire. If candidates complete the questionnaire after the deadline of September 18, The Coast will attempt to complete a review in time for October’s election. Until then, we cannot determine if this candidate is worth your vote. If you would like The Coast to assess John Martin Walker’s potential as a councillor, please ask him to complete the questionnaire.
John Martin Walker’s website can be found here: Facebook
Edward Giles
Has not completed The Coast’s candidate questionnaire. If candidates complete the questionnaire after the deadline of September 18, The Coast will attempt to complete a review in time for October’s election. Until then, we cannot determine if this candidate is worth your vote. If you would like The Coast to assess Edward Giles’ potential as a councillor, please ask him to complete the questionnaire.
Edward Giles does not appear to have a website.
Analysis
John A. Young’s campaign has an official agent that is not himself, and his Facebook has been updated more recently than Sept. 4, 2024. This implies Young’s campaign is the most organized and most likely to win. But this is a wild guess due to a relatively poor showing from District 14.
