The premier slammed Halifax Regional Council, Thursday, saying there was a “serious, serious disconnect” between how they serve citizens of HRM and the decisions they are making.
Tim Houston made the comments when asked about possibly implementing strong mayor powers for Andy Fillmore and referred to their recent decision to make Morris Street one way.
Council voted 13-4, Tuesday, to shave the busy downtown roadway down to one lane but keep bike lanes that run in both directions.
“I think people are scratching their heads and saying, ‘Why would this be the time to take that street and take half of it for bicycles?’ I think those are the things that give people pause for thought. It certainly gave me pause for thought,” said Houston.
He even went so far as to say that the province is considering using Bill 24 to overrule the vote, but it has yet to be proclaimed.
It passed legislature in March and would give the Public Works minister the ability to order a municipality to add or remove infrastructure.
When asked if Nova Scotia would be overstepping with a move like that, the premier doubled down.
“When you look at some of the decisions that council seems to be making, they don’t seem to be focused on citizens. They seem to be focused on something else. I don’t know what that is,” said Houston.
He added that they will have discussions on what tools to give HRM to manage itself, “for the citizens”.
Strong mayor powers
There has been a lot of buzz around the idea of strong mayor powers in Halifax.
They would give Andy Fillmore veto power on municipal decisions with little council support.
Halifax Regional Council passed a motion Thursday afternoon, tabled by Councillor Sam Austin, to write a letter to the province requesting to have a say before strong mayor powers are implemented.
It also asks for a report on how strong mayor powers have played out in other provinces.
“My number one worry is the potential for strong mayor powers to really undermine what I see as one of the greatest strengths of our municipal government – our professional civil service. If we give the power of appointment of the CEO and senior staff to one person, the bureaucracy becomes responsible to that one person, rather than council as a whole,” said Austin in his opening remarks.
Among several other councillors who backed him up, Danielle Steele stressed concern about what strong mayor powers would do to democracy.
“These are slippery slopes and I for one, don’t want to be sliding down that slope,” said Steele.
Councillor Sean Cleary said a strong leader does not need strong mayor powers.
“When we think of what leadership is, it’s the ability to influence people, to motivate them toward common goals, to work with them,” said Cleary.
‘Hard truth’
Fillmore said strong mayor powers would, if anything, strengthen democracy by making the mayor more accountable.
He said it’s been difficult to deliver on his election platform including things like affordable homes and alleviating traffic congestion.
“Since taking office, I’ve discovered a hard truth. The system that we operate under is not designed to deliver on that mandate with urgency,” said Fillmore. “Let me be clear. This is not finger pointing. It’s not about process failures or personal agendas. It’s about structures.”
Ultimately the vote was 16-1 in favour of writing the letter, with Fillmore the only vote, opposed.
