How the mayor’s race looks with a month to go
Halifax will have a new mayor after October 19’s election day, and there are lots of candidates to choose from. But on an unseasonably warm Monday, September 16 afternoon, Halifax’s voters got to see just three of them debate.
The mayor’s field for the municipal election sits at 16 people long. The debate featured just three candidates because they are the only incumbent politicians in the race, and are the names most Haligonians are likely to recognize, given the voter turnout of about 40% in the last election. These campaigns are also the most organized and well-funded, and as a result, one of the three is very likely to be Halifax’s next mayor, taking over from Mike Savage after he decided not to run again. But running a good campaign and getting elected is a very different job than governing. So let’s take a look at how the mayoral race is shaping up so far, about a month before election day.
The big names
The debate stage on Monday brought together Andy Fillmore, Pam Lovelace and Waye Mason. The three all benefit from being incumbents—two currently serving as city councillors, the other having just resigned as a member of parliament—which means a lot people already know their names. Last time around, the municipal election had about a 40% voter turnout, so having people know your name is a bigger advantage than it should be. Especially when considering that incumbency and the extra visibility opens up additional fundraising avenues, which results in things like an annoyingly high number of unskippable ads on YouTube, which results in more people knowing your name and increasing the odds that they will win.
Another thing that people can do to try and win is say popular things, even if those things don’t really make any sense if you think about them for more than two seconds. Which leads us to…
Andy Fillmore
The former Liberal MP for the riding of Halifax, Fillmore had a relatively poor showing at the debate and failed to demonstrate even the most basic understanding of municipal governance. For example, Fillmore told the audience that he would freeze property taxes. This is as popular as it is short-sighted. The city of Halifax is heavily reliant on property taxes, which make up roughly 80% of all municipal revenue. Municipal expenses, like paying private contractors a living wage and buying fuel for city vehicles, will increase next year. Ignoring for a second that nine out of the 17 people on council would need to vote for this very stupid policy, Fillmore is promising that if elected, he would ensure Halifax didn’t have enough money for all its bills. Because the bills will need to be paid, and because Halifax doesn’t have the power to take on debt, all that gap between increasing costs and frozen tax revenue will need to be made up from somewhere. At the debate, Fillmore did not mention where that might be.
Waye Mason
Of the big three, District 7 councillor Mason’s campaign provides the fewest reasons to be depressed about the future. Beneath the varnish and sloganeering, Mason’s campaign is based on a policy platform that aims Halifax at a better future. While it is fair to criticize Mason for championing some pretty strange causes in the past, he’s demonstrated himself to be a pragmatic legislator, if a bit too cautious or hesitant for some of his progressive supporters. During the debate, he demonstrated a solid understanding of the challenges facing the city and a coherent vision for the future of Halifax as he sees it. Of the big three, Mason is the only one who is demonstrating he deserves the boost granted by his incumbency.
Pam Lovelace
District 13 councillor Lovelace is a hard candidate to read. On some files, like watershed management, she has very strong policy chops. On others, like transportation, she has weaker policy chops. But we have a bigger concern about Lovelace than policy. In any race, there are rules to be followed. These rules exist to prevent racers from acting in ways that can injure or hurt others. Politics is no different. In politics, The Coast considers anyone from the executive or legislative branch of government trying to use the judiciary to silence criticisms from constituents as a red line that can not be crossed. Lovelace committed this infraction of the norms of democracy in December 2022, and as a result she deserves to be penalized by voters.
The promising rookies
Among the 13 candidates who are not as well known as those with an incumbency bias, it will take a while for The Coast to go over the responses to our candidate questionnaire, read public policy documents and talk with the rest of the candidates, but if the big three have got you depressed, or you just like a good underdog story here are two people showing promise at this stage of the race.
Nolan Greenough
This 23-year-old mechanic comes into the race with little political background, and Greenough seems to be using his inexperience to his advantage. He appears to be asking questions, considering the information received and then taking policy positions based on the best information he can gather. In answering questions on Reddit, he also seems to have a very good understanding of the role of mayor and would likely be a good fit for the job if given the opportunity.
Ross Rankin
https://www.rossrankinformayor.ca/
Ross Rankin campaign photo
https://www.rossrankinformayor.ca/
Ross Rankin campaign photo
Like the other rookie, Rankin appears to have a solid understanding of the HRM’s issues and what the HRM plans to do about them. He has experience in the provincial government, and his early policy positions on social media and his website indicate he understands how policies must be crafted to achieve his desired outcomes in our current governance environment. Of the candidates who had questions about the questionnaire, Rankin was the only one to call instead of email their question. This has no policy significance, but in an age dominated by electronic communication, having a candidate choose to pick up the phone and make a call has a certain intangible je ne sais quois.
The rest
It is still very early in the race, and there are still many candidate questionnaires and interviews for us to analyze in order to get a better picture of how the electoral race to decide Halifax’s future is shaping up. Like any race, this race can change drastically at a moment’s notice, and the early favourites will have many opportunities to crumble under the pressure. All that to say, please check the dates of all stories you read, and stay tuned to The Coast for regular updates about the municipal election and its slate of candidates.
