The mayor of Halifax has invited the leaders of Nova Scotia’s three major parties to the next meeting of Halifax Regional Council in an effort to find out what priorities the municipality shares with each.
In a letter obtained by Global News, Mayor Mike Savage invited Premier Stephen McNeil to speak at the May 23 council meeting.
On Friday, Savage confirmed the letter had also been sent to Progressive Conservative Leader Jamie Baillie and NDP Leader Gary Burrill.
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The letter says council wants to hear the party leaders’ views and also continue building “a strong relationship with our provincial counterparts.”
“[The letter is] inviting them to come to council and outline their vision for the relationship between the province and municipalities in general, but specifically with HRM (Halifax Regional Municipality) which is a pretty predominant municipality within Nova Scotia,” Savage said in an interview.
In the letter, Savage says he also wants to hear from the party leaders about a few issues specific to Halifax — with the primary one being updating the Halifax charter to give the municipality Natural Person Powers.
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Natural Person Powers
At this time, HRM has to get provincial approval to move ahead with projects. With Natural Person Powers, the municipal government would be able to move ahead with its objectives without having to write to the province and wait for legislative changes.
“The old days of trickle down to the municipalities doesn’t work anymore, municipalities across the country and around the world are saying we need to be at the table,” Savage said in an interview. “And there’s a lot of things we want to do as a city that are constantly being held back by provincial control.”
He said the past three governments did give HRM “some freedom to do things” but they still have to go to the province for most initiatives. For example, when the city redoes the Cogswell Interchange they’d like to do District Energy but would need provincial approval as it’s a power utility.
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Each party leader said they’d be open to looking into the issue.
“If there’s a sense, as Mayor Savage has indicated, that this is a priority to have considered, we certainly are wanting to consider it,” Burrill told Global News.
“We have to understand what the impact for us would be, as a province, because we have to deliver services for all citizens, including those in HRM,” McNeil said.
“We’re interested in good ideas that can help reduce red tape and help make it easier for taxpayers and citizens as a whole,” said PC candidate Rob Batherson, who was speaking on behalf of the party.
Savage said in the letter he would also like the three party leaders to address how it would help with transit in the community, in relation to the federal government’s contribution of 50 per cent of funding for repair and 40 per cent for expansion.
The letter also says council wants to hear from each party leader on how the two governments can maintain a “constructive and professional relationship.”
In 2013, when the letter was sent out the first time, only McNeil responded to the call.
On Friday, McNeil, Burrill, and Batherson speaking on behalf of the PCs, told Global News that if the meeting can be worked into the campaign, they’ll speak at council.
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