Confused council passes HRM budget with climate tax and carbon subsidies

COUNCIL

Confused council passes HRM budget with climate tax and carbon subsidies

The city has a budget! After months of deliberation and at times confusing debate, Halifax’s $1.7 billion budget has passed the final legislative hurdle, and now our tax dollars have been legislatively approved to be spent. Fun times! The meeting in which the budget got approved was not without controversy, however.

One of the themes that’s been plaguing our local government is that it isn’t really demonstrating a competency in implementing grand strategic plans. Meaning, this council will do things like delcare a climate emergency, raise a climate tax and then, at the last minute, give drivers a carbon subsidy. In the budget process last week, council decided to renege on its promise to make parking more reflective of its true cost to the city.

Ultimately, councillors decided to give drivers a carbon subsidy, partly due to lobbying by downtown businesses and partly because the motion they were voting on might not have been enforceable, even if it passed. Now, some may write in their district newsletter that it’s good that council prevented bad legislation from passing—but it’s not great that bad legislation is able to make it to a vote in the first place.

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Need to know

🌧 Today's weather: Cloudy with a 60% chance of showers in the morning and a risk of thundershowers throughout the day. A high of 9C and a low of 6C.

⚠️ A special weather statement is in effect today for Halifax. Heavy winds of up to 80km/h and 30 to 45mm of rain is possible.

⛔ Robie Street road closure. May 2-12. 24/7. Southbound lanes from Cunard Street to Quinpool Road will be closed to motorists, cyclists, and transit.*

🚶 Argyle Street between Prince Street and Blowers Street will be closed to vehicles for the summer starting May 2 at 8am until Nov. 13 at 8am.

💥 Hot Mondy's exciting new release, Best Laid Plans is out now featuring some of Canada's finest talent. Listen and stream on Bandcamp!*

💉 Starting today, people who are eligible for the mpox vaccine will be able to book appointments at some physician offices across the province.

🎭 Audiences are amazed with Billy Elliot the Musical. Describing it as, “Absolutely brilliant!” “Amazing!” “Incredible.” On stage at Neptune Theatre until Jun. 18. Book your tickets today.*

*Sponsored Post

TOGETHER WITH GARRISON BREWING

Tastes like summer

Have you tried Garrison Brewing’s latest release?! Their Mango Dragonfruit Sour flew off the shelves last year, so don’t wait until the sun sets to try this brew.

They’ve got sunshine on their minds, so expect notes of bubble gum, dragon fruit, and mango on the nose. Bursting with flavours of tropical fruit, cranberries, strawberry, and cherry, this beer has a slightly sour finish and pours a beautiful reddish-purple.

Text your friends right now! Celebrate summer with this release at Garrison Seaport and The Oxford Taproom. Order from the Garrison Brewing website for free HRM delivery.

Cans are available from their friends at Harvest Wines, Westside Beer Wine Spirits, Rockhead Wine & Beer Market, Liquid Assets NS (in the Halifax airport!), and participating NSLC’s.

Follow them on Instagram: @garrisonbrewing

On The Coast

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH NORTH AMERICAN INDIGENOUS GAMES 2023

Celebrate the journey across Nova Scotia from May 1 until July 7

Join the 2023 North American Indigenous Games on a Canoe Relay across the Mi’kmaw communities of Nova Scotia. Their traditional birch bark canoe is hitting the road to each community for a celebration of the young athletes who will be headed to NAIG 2023 in July. Follow the journey @naig2023.

In other news

⚡️ Officials with Pictou County’s Northern Pulp Mill are considering using fallen tree waste from Hurricane Fiona to produce electricity. CBC has the story.

🛴 Halifax’s e-scooters may be good in theory but the Canadian National Institute for the Blind and its supporters are calling on the city to implement more regulations to help keep the sidewalks safe for pedestrians.

👮 The city is working on big changes for how the Halifax Regional Police operates and the HRM’s executive director of community safety, Bill Moore, is leading the shift.

🏕 As the warm weather rolls in Parks Canada is preparing for tourists, however, the aftermath of Fiona has made this year's preparation season challenging. CTV has the story.

🥶 A Newfoundland photographer is going viral after capturing a photo of an interestingly shaped iceberg nicknamed “dickie berg” off the coast of the province in Conception Bay.

🎨 A Halifax woman who was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer in 2021 is finally living out her dream of becoming an artist. CBC has the story.

🌊 Thanks to the Canada First Research Excellence Fund run by the federal government, Dalhousie is receiving $154 million for a research project studying the role the ocean plays in climate change.

🩺 VirtualCareNS, the online service Nova Scotians without a family doctor can use to set up free virtual appointments, is said to be experiencing “issues with capacity and wait time” according to Nelson Ventura with the Nova Scotia Health Innovation Hub.

❤️ School House Gluten-Free Gourmet is asking for help in raising money to replace a 13-year-old industrial walk-in fridge and freezer that costs $45,000 and could put them out of business. A GoFundMe page has already been set up and has raised over $25,000 this past weekend.

SCENE AND HEARD

What’s being filmed, streamed and screened in Nova Scotia right now

When it comes to #NSFilmJobs, business is definitely booming—or at least, so says the province: "The film industry contributed about $180.8 million to Nova Scotia’s economy in 2021-22 up from about $78 million in 2019-20 and $91.6 million in 2020-21,” a release from last June stated. Now, as another banner year in the industry unfurls, Team Coast is keeping tabs on what’s shooting where, what series are screening and streaming, and what’s next in the scene.

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