District 16 voting guide: A strong showing from Bedford
Anywho, as the season and name of the four pad changes, so too will the councillor. But before looking forward, it may be worthwhile to look back at Outhit’s performance during the budget last year. In November the city always starts its budget process with some strategy meetings. These high level meetings give staff the final direction from council before assembling the budget. This is like the pre-game talk a coach gives before the team hits the ice. Last year the budget was shaping up to be more of the same budget as usual with some council priorities jammed into new spending. Outhit pointed out that even though the city has a whole bunch of strategic plans and priorities, the budget was more of the same old spending. He put forward (and council subsequently passed) a motion instructing staff to come back with a budget in line with council’s priorities. And then city staff came back with one of the best budgets the city has seen in years.
In order to determine which candidates in District 16 are up to clearing the bar set by Outhit in last year’s budget, The Coast sent out a substantial questionnaire 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.
And the good news for residents of District 16 is that there are some quality candidates running in this district.
Anita Kirkbride had strong answers to the questionnaire and demonstrated a good understanding of the issues facing the HRM today. In her written answers Kirkbride highlighted the importance of making sure municipal policies play well together and are all trying to achieve the same thing. Kirkbride likes the municipality’s focus on transit oriented development because it “makes so much sense to me for so many reasons: economies of scale, sustainability, traffic reduction. But please, let’s get that BRT plan implemented.”
In a follow up interview with The Coast, the conversation went deep into Halifax Transit and some things that could be fixed by council.
As an example, she mentioned that Halifax Transit does not set ridership goals; it sets ridership expectations. Meaning even though Halifax as a city wants to get more people on the bus due to strategic plans like the Integrated Mobility Plan, Halifax Transit doesn’t seem like it’s trying to make that happen. In March of this year, Halifax Transit told councillors that they were going to increase service and expected ridership to decrease as a result. For fans of professional sports, this would be like having your team’s coach come out before every game and saying the team has improved, but that they still expect to lose.
For her part Kirkbride thinks that the milestones council sets for Transit should be aspirational instead of defeatist. Right now when Transit sets expectations low and then meets those expectations, there is no need for examination and improvement. If the goals set for Transit are aspirational, when they aren’t met, Transit might learn, adapt and improve.
Anita Kirkbride’s website can be found here: anitakirkbride.ca
Scott Maskell’s answers to the survey were a little light, and he said he needed more time to review many of the questions. The Coast will follow up with Maskell in the near future to see how that review is going.
Scott Maskell’s website can be found here: scottmaskell.ca
Aaron Rice demonstrated a strong understanding of the issues facing the HRM. In the written portion of the exam Rice was a little weak on the ‘what he would do about it’ side of the questionnaire. He wrote “While this question is important I need more time for thought.” In a follow up interview with The Coast, Rice had clearly done more reading and given the question about what he would do to fix the HRM a lot more thought.
In the interview Rice explained how he would approach fixing the HRM. Ultimately, he believes that complete communities should be the goal the city is striving towards for a better future. But also, he says that if the city wants the goal of a complete community, it should work backwards from that goal. Too simplistically, it’s the difference between ‘I think this policy will result in a complete community’ vs ‘a complete community has [insert policy outcome], what powers does the city have to get that outcome?’ Rice explained that when thinking about creating complete communities, the HRM’s main tools are zoning and successfully implementing the IMP and the two transit plans, Moving Forward Together and Bus Rapid Transit.
The Coast’s questionnaire is deceptively substantial and asks a lot from rookies who may or may not be familiar with municipal plans. It speaks well of Rice’s professionalism and potential that he continued to dive into municipal plans after submitting his written responses because he recognized the value of knowing the information as a city resident. Being ready for a follow-up interview with The Coast was just an added bonus.
Aaron Rice’s website can be found here: aaronrice2024.ca
Rounding out the strong candidates in District 16 is Jean St-Amand. He demonstrated a good understanding of the issues facing the city and HRM’s plans to fix those issues. As a communicator for the past 25 years, St-Amand is excited about HRM’s plan to improve public consultation. He’d like to see changes to HRM’s public consultation to make it a more active, collaborative process instead of what we have now, which tends to only empower people to say no.
In a follow-up interview with The Coast, one of the policy areas St-Amand went into the weeds on was that of police reform. One of the major costs of running a police force is compensating police officers, things like salaries and benefits. One of the major mechanisms of injury in the police force is mental injuries due to being exposed on a regular basis to the violence and ugliness of our city. Part of police reform is trying to get police out of some of the ugly situations where they are not necessarily required, like mental health calls. St-Amand went deep enough on policy to point out that as an added bonus, this could also lead to some municipal savings in disability payments.
The foray into the weeds of policing also led to an interesting thought exercise. The Canadian Forces have atrophied significantly since the end of the heydays of World War II and the Cold War. If Halifax is aiming to reduce crime and de-task police, how do the city and the HRP avoid the pitfalls of atrophy in a prolonged period of successful police reform? Something to chew on.
Jean St-Amand’s website can be found here: jeanstamandhrm.ca
District 16 candidate Prathibha Narasimhan demonstrated a comprehensive understanding of the HRM issues and the city’s plans to address them. In answering the questionnaire Narasimhan was through in her examination of the HRM’s policies and came up with some good potential tweaks to existing municipal policy.
For example, in writing about the Regional Plan Review, Narasimhan points out that the city wants mixed-use zoning in the urban core and that it could go further to “allow flexibility in mixed-use development outside these areas, such as suburban and rural communities like District 16.” And having more mixed-use places would be helpful to the district because “amenities like shops and services and parks are limited in suburban communities to a large part, further promoting car dependence and long commutes. With increased mixed use and density around transit nodes, District 16 communities can be more self-sufficient and sustainable.”
Narasimhan is yet another really strong rookie in a crowded field of strong candidates.
Prathibha Narasimhan’s website can be found here.
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 and would advise sticking to the known candidate in your district. If you would like The Coast to assess Mohammed Issa’s potential as a councillor, please ask him to complete the questionnaire.
Mohammed Issa’s website can be found here: mohammedissa.ca
Analysis
After all the mayor’s guide and district guides are done The Coast will be putting together our dream team. Who among the available candidates is up to the challenge of shaping a solid foundation for Halifax with a horizon of 2050. In some districts, like District 2, the choice is pretty well defined. Due to the strength of District 16’s candidates, this one will be among the hardest to choose. There are a handful of strong rookies and only one spot on the team.
