‘We just have to use the momentum of growth’: Halifax mayor on what’s ahead for 2024

HALIFAX, N.S. — With its ups and downs, it’s time to leave 2023 behind and look ahead to the new year.

Recently Mayor Mike Savage sat down to talk about the year that was and what’s in store for 2024, including more growing pains and the municipal election — will he run again?

Looking back at 2023 — the good and bad

“We’ve kind of moved to being a four-season disaster city now,” he said.

There were record-breaking climate catastrophes —  flooding, wildfires, storms in 2023.

 “We used to have the fall and winter, but we now have had the worst fires in our history in the spring and the worst floods in the summer. I think that’s the way of the world.”

These disasters — that have cost many millions in recovery costs — validate the measures HRM has taken toward climate action, Savage said, many of them included in HalifACT, which is funded through the climate action tax.

“To think that you have the worst fires ever, worst floods ever and you’re never going to see something like that again is just wrong headed,” he said.

Halifax also hosted the World Juniors and the ECMAs to great success in 2023, and had a “good summer for tourism,” Savage said.

HRM’s relationship with the provincial government took a beating in 2023 with the province introducing more legislation aimed at speeding up housing development in HRM by taking away some of the municipality’s power.

“But our job is not to argue with other orders of government, it’s to work with them and people get very frustrated when they see governments not working together,” Savage said, adding the relationship with Community Services has been stronger of late.

HRM has made some strides in increasing the affordable housing stock with the province, he said.

“We’re hoping to have some more good news in the short term on homelessness which is the issue that sits in my head a lot of the time — our fellow citizens who have no place to live.”

HRM homelessness

Every day, Savage can look through the windows of City Hall and see the encampment there. According to the latest count in December, that encampment is full at 28 tents. Bradley Lowe died Dec. 15 in one of those tents.

“I do go out often to this encampment and other encampments,” he said. “I think it’s important for people in this city to see encampments, we shouldn’t just hide them away so people think it’s not a problem.

“There are a lot of people who can’t afford a place to live and so we have to deal with that and I don’t know if there’s any place in Canada that has figured it all out.”

Two years ago, there weren’t any HRM staffers assigned to homelessness, Savage said, and now there is an office of five.

There is progress now from the provincial government but more is needed, he said. The federal government is kicking in with rapid housing funding but the need is not going away anytime soon.

“I think it’s important for people to understand that people aren’t homeless by choice,” he said. 

What’s on the way for HRM in the shiny new year?

Looking ahead, Savage said the good and bad impacts of growth will continue strong into 2024.

“People still like to come to Halifax, we need that, and the challenges that come with that — making sure that there is housing, making sure we’re investing in infrastructure: roads, water, wastewater but also greenspaces.”

Anyone who moves down an HRM road in whatever manner can agree with the mayor that the mobility issue is huge.

“We’re hoping to announce in the short term that we have an arrangement with the federal and provincial governments to fund the ferry system from the Bedford area (the Mill Cove Ferry),” Savage said. “We have to find better ways to move people through the municipality.”

When people move here, they don’t pay property taxes right away, Savage said, but they do start paying sales tax, income tax and others, so a lot of the benefits of growth go to the province.

“We’re the engine of growth for Nova Scotia but we’re not seeing that revenue increase.”

When the next population numbers come out from Statistics Canada later this month, it will likely show HRM close to or over 500,000 people.

It’s not a big milestone for Savage, but he said it signifies that people like something here.

“But they’re also coming here and expecting the infrastructure to keep pace. So if we’re going to have a larger population, we need better transit, we need active transportation, water and wastewater, we need greenspaces for kids to play, we need to protect wilderness areas so people have a place to go,” he said.

The 2024 municipal election — is he running?

The regularly scheduled municipal election is coming up this October and the question around town is: now at the end of his third term, will he seek another?

“I’ll announce early-ish (2024) what I intend to do,” he said.

“I love being the mayor of this city and in many ways it’s the job that suits me best of any I’ve ever had.”

Before becoming mayor, Savage was the Dartmouth-Cole Harbour MP for three terms.

“But I have to come to terms with, is this the right thing for me, for my family and for the city? I give that a fair bit of thought but I’ve always kind of said I’d make a decision when it’s appropriate.”

Candidates start raising money in the spring and the campaign doesn’t officially start until Sept. 15 ahead of the Oct. 19th election.

“But I think people want to know what I’m doing and people have been very encouraging of me that I talk to, that I run again, but I have to make sure that it settles for me comfortably in my head and in my heart.”

Coun. Tim Outhit (Bedford – Wentworth), Coun. Lindell Smith (Halifax Peninsula North) and Coun. Lisa Blackburn (Middle/Upper Sackville – Beaver Bank – Lucasville) have all indicated they will not be running.

When candidates start their door knocking in the fall, Savage said he expects the biggest issue will continue to be housing. Affordable housing just wasn’t an issue when he was first elected in 2012, he said, but now it has become a big part of running the city.

“And I expect during the next election, the issue of climate change will be very significant,” he added.

Halifax Regional Council made history the last time around reaching gender parity and Savage said there’s no reason to think that can’t happen again.

Optimism for 2024

There’s a lot going on to look forward to this year including the Junos in March, Savage said. 

“I think you’ll see the streets come alive for the Junos,” he said. “I think the Mooseheads will win the Memorial Cup, I think the Thunderbirds will win a championship here and the Wanderers will win the CPL.”

There’s a lot of positive things happening here, Savage said.

“We just have to use the momentum of growth to be more inclusive and more sustainable.”