A month long break for Halifax Regional Council means a full slate at their meeting on Tuesday.
Along with some flashy topics such as a prospective CFL stadium, the second-reading of the municipality’s cannabis bylaw and a possible bid to host the Women’s World Hockey Championships, the city has three separate public hearings scheduled.
Here are some of the highlights coming to the Halifax Regional Municipality’s (HRM) council for its meeting on July 17.
WATCH: Crews remove controversial Cornwallis statue from Halifax park
Advisory panel on Edward Cornwallis
A discussion on Halifax’s controversial founder has made its way back to regional council.
Tuesday will see councillors consider amendments to the creation of a special advisory committee made up of a panel of experts that will review and advise regional council regarding the commemoration of Edward Cornwallis, and the use of his name on city assets such as Cornwallis Park or Cornwallis Street.
Tuesday’s motion recommends that council enlarge the committee from eight people to 10, and increase the number of members appointed from a slate of nominations put forward by the Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaq Chiefs from four to five.
A bronze statue of Cornwallis — which faced towards the mouth of Halifax Harbour since it was erected more than 85 years ago — was placed in storage in January, after council voted 12 to 4 to temporarily take the statue down until a permanent decision can be made.
Cornwallis is a disputed character, seen by some as a brave leader who founded Halifax, but by others as the impetus of the 1749 scalping proclamation against Mi’kmaq inhabitants.
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READ MORE: Halifax committee asking council to commit $300K to bid for women’s world hockey championship
Bid for women’s world hockey championship
Council will examine a request from the municipality’s special events advisory comittee to commit $300,000 if the municipality secures the 2020 IIHF Women’s World Championship.
If passed, the funding will go to Hockey Nova Scotia and is also conditional on the organization securing an addition $350,000 in funding from the Province of Nova Scotia and from the Town of Truro and Municipality of Colchester.
The money would be pulled from the HRM’ s community and events reserve fund.
WATCH: CFL discussion coming to regional council
Discussion on possible CFL team
Halifax council is being asked to give direction to the municipality’s chief administrative officer (CAO) to officially enter into preliminary negotiations with the company hoping to bring a football team to Canada’s East Coast — Maritime Football Ltd.
What type of support Maritime Football Ltd. may request has not been detailed in public, though at least one councillor has speculated on some possibilities.
The planned motion seems to be the resolution of a closed-door meeting held between the municipality and Maritime Football Ltd. at the latest council meeting, which was held in June.
Premier Stephen McNeil has said that the province is also expecting a request for support from the organization hoping to establish a CFL team in Halifax.
However, he made it clear on Thursday that the province would not use taxpayers dollars to help fund a stadium.
The debate on this should be a lively one.
Three public hearings
Council is set to cap off a busy day with three separate public hearings on Tuesday.
First up is a hearing on amending the land use by-law surrounding possible development of the former Motherhouse lands, which are located off the Beford Highway.
HRM’s council will also hold a public hearing on the Schmidtville Heritage Conservation District Plan and then a hearing on a conservation easement on the Purcell’s Cove Backlands.
The hearings are scheduled to start at 6:00 p.m.
READ MORE: Halifax takes first step in tightening regulations around cannabis use
Cannabis bylaw
Cannabis legalization is on its way and Halifax is set to modify its nuisance bylaw to address the new challenges associated with marijuana.
Council will carry out the second reading of a slate of amendments meant to tighten its regulations around public consumption of smoking on all municipal properties.
The amendment would prohibit smoking on municipal lands, streets and parks. The only exception would be in “designated areas.”
Breaking the proposed bylaw would result in a ticket between $25 and $2,000.
The proposed amendments would also prohibit the cultivation of cannabis outside of a dwelling.
Marijuana is set to be legal in Canada starting October 17.
With files from The Canadian Press
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