HRM is home to tens of thousands of university & college students. Starting this municipal election, students who’ve lived in Nova Scotia for three months or more can vote, even if you went away to work during the summer.
The universities and colleges in Halifax are huge economic and social forces, making the city better in ways beyond counting. Your voice counts and needs to be heard.
STUDENTS ARE HALIFAX’S FUTURE
Students need to feel that they are recognized as valued members of the community. If you came here to go to school, I want you to feel that Halifax wants you here and is your home away from home.
When you graduate we need you just as much! We need to attract skilled workers who want to make our city their home and help the city succeed. We need YOU, and lots of you, to love your stay in Halifax and want to make it your home when your graduate.
Halifax needs to work to make sure that we can offer you the jobs, homes, and the lifestyle you want so you can and will stay here.
Students can make their voice heard and help determine Halifax’s future. Here are some things students have told me are important to them:
TRANSIT
We need a dedicated network of bus lanes and HOV lanes to Bedford, Sackville, Dartmouth, Clayton Park, and to the new transit terminals. We need to rework the bus routes to move people to terminals and get them on high-capacity fast transit links. We need a world class transit system, the kind of thing More the Buses has been promoting.
You can read more about what I wrote about transportation in Halifax here.
CYCLING
Halifax needs more people on bikes and out of their cars. Investment in cycle infrastructure that makes it easier and safer to bike is critical. We have to build the Cross Town Connector, running down Agricola to Young Avenue. We need the institutional bike lane plan on Robie and University/Morris, connecting SMU, Dal, and the hospitals, with investments in changing rooms, showers and bike racks. We need all the plans to tie the peninsula together with safe and well designed bike lanes.
We need bike lanes & paths and to embrace active transportation in Halifax.
AFFORDABLE HOUSING
Housing in Halifax is expensive, and the cost is only going up. HRM needs an affordable housing strategy, something I wrote about here. This strategy needs to include public housing, a land bank to create investment funds, a definition of affordable housing, and speeding approvals and permits for developments to increase housing supply. We need to take steps for students, for grads, for citizens of all means and incomes, to make sure everyone has access to safe and affordable housing.
PLEASE VOTE AND HELP ME CHAMPION THESE ISSUES IN HALIFAX
Students voting can change the course of this election. I need your help to make sure Halifax is a great place to study and a great place to stay when you graduate.
Give me your vote, and I will make sure these issues are heard, and students have an approachable and effective representative on HRM council.
Anyone who has lived in Nova Scotia for three months or more can vote, even if you went away to work during the summer:
- residents from anywhere in Nova Scotia who moved to Halifax to go to school can vote
- students who have been here for a year of school already can vote
- and anyone who moved to Nova Scotia three months or more before school started can vote
It’s easy to register!
“All you need to do is show up at one of a number of voter registration booths that will be set up around HRM between October 6th and 20th (locations to be announced) with an ID and proof of address (like a bill or lease agreement). They will ask you to swear an oath that you are eligible to vote, give you a card, and you will be able to log onto the voting website and vote away!
Alternatively, you could also wait until October 20th and show up at a paper ballot polling station with ID and proof of address, swear an oath, and vote to your heart’s content.” (http://dalstudentunion.tumblr.com/post/32410640307/what-are-these-hrm-elections-all-about-anyway)
More voting info here:
HRM site: http://www.halifax.ca/election/VoterQualifications.html