Coronavirus: Halifax councillor calling for HRM trails to remain open

Halifax councillor Shawn Cleary is looking to make a change to the language of a municipal bylaw that is forcing all municipal trails to remain closed amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“Very few people know what’s a provincial trail, what’s a municipal trial, for example, and there’s even some confusion amongst some folks at the city,” Cleary said.

READ MORE: HRM closes parks, trails and beaches as province declares state of emergency

The Nova Scotia government declared a provincewide state of emergency on Sunday. As a result, the province closed all provincial parks and beaches, but kept provincial trails open.

Premier Stephen McNeil said the declaration was made after large groups of people continued to gather in large numbers at beaches and parks without following proper social distance.

1:53 Coronavirus outbreak: Nova Scotia declares state of emergency, fines possible for violations

Following the province’s declaration, the Halifax Regional Municipality announced it would be closing all municipal parks, beaches, playgrounds, sports fields/courts and trails.

But Cleary says since provincial trails are open, municipal trails should be, too.

“Going out on something like the Chain of Lakes trail, keeping your social distance, six feet away from everyone, not travelling in groups bigger than five, that sort of thing. You should be able to do that quite safely and not endanger the health of yourself, or others,” he said.

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The Chain of Lakes trail, which is owned by the city, is one of the many trails forced to close due to the city’s P600 parks bylaw, which defines a trail as a park.

Cleary wants to get that bylaw changed.

“I don’t think it was their intent to close municipal trails, but our municipal trails ended up getting closed because we define a trail as a park,” he said.

“It’s just about change. So changing the definition in bylaw P600 to remove trails from the definition of park, so we can keep our trails open.”

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Cleary has sent a motion to the clerk asking council to consider the amendment. For the time being, he’s urging calm.

“This is not going to go away in the next week or two, this is going to be with us for a while,” he said.

“We’re going to have to learn to live with it and get used to it, but the important thing is to look after yourself, look after your neighbour, be kind to others, and have a sense of community.”