In this issue

My Council Update includes info on my return to work, Remembrance Day, Nora Bernard Street, HFXgo, and green cart tips.

Public Engagement section shows upcoming Council meetings.  Roadworks is starting to slow down as we head into winter. Community Events & Information has a lot of events information and also information on upcoming grant opportunities.

Councillor Update

Hi everyone,

It has been some time since my last email update, the longest break between newsletters in 10 years!  Short version is I caught COVID and it laid me out for two weeks! It's been slow getting my energy back, but I'm almost back to normal now, but the backlog of work and emails to catch up on is pretty large, so forgive me if you are waiting for a call or message back.  I think I should have it sorted by end of next week.

As you are aware Remembrance Day is November 11.  Thank you to our Veterans and those who courageously serve our country today. Please consider attending a Cenotaph ceremony on November 11^th and wearing a poppy leading up to Remembrance Day to honour them.

Unfortunately the ceremony will not take place in Grand Parade is year.  This decision was made by the Legion and not by HRM or on the advice of HRM.  The morning before the announcement I had been talking to staff about the plan for November 11 and they all were confident it was going ahead as normal. I do respect the Legion's decision and hope to see the ceremony return next year.

Residents of District 7 are encouraged to attend the ceremony at the Sailors Memorial in Point Pleasant Park, the ceremony on Province House grounds, or the ceremony at Royal Artillery Park instead.

On Monday HRM officially completed the renaming of Cornwallis Street to Nora Bernard Street.

As directed by Regional Council, the renaming of Cornwallis Street is one of the recommendations of the Task Force on the Commemoration of Edward Cornwallis and the Recognition and Commemoration of Indigenous History, and a step towards reconciliation.

After two surveys collecting suggestions for the new street name, an Advisory Group reviewed the survey results and made the recommendation of Nora Bernard Street. The recommendation was based on the number of votes received, the appropriateness of the name, the cultural significance of the name, whether the name reflects the diversity of the municipality, as well as the originality of the name.

It was very moving to participate in this process and attend the ceremony on Monday, and I am happy to see this change take place. Further information can be found at: halifax.ca/task-force

Halifax Transit is launching a new mobile fare payment app, allowing customers to purchase and use tickets and passes from the convenience of their smartphones. HFXGO will launch for iOS and Android devices in early November.

HFXGO is a secure, easy to use mobile fare payment app that allows Halifax Transit customers to purchase tickets and passes directly from their smartphones, or via the web portal.

Provided by Masabi mobile ticketing and fare payment solutions, HFXGO is a Halifax Transit branded version of Masabi’s JustRide app (https://www.justride.com/), which has been implemented in over 75 transit agencies worldwide.

Users of the app simply need to purchase their desired ticket or pass, activate the ticket, and show it to the Operator or ferry security staff just prior to boarding.

Passengers can still purchase paper tickets and passes at a retail partner  or use cash fare.

To learn more, visit: https://www.halifax.ca/transportation/halifax-transit/fares-tickets-passes/hfxgo.

HRM's Solid Waste Resources team has some helpful tips for dealing with our green carts in winter.

When temperatures drop, materials in green carts can freeze and cause issues for both residents and waste haulers. To avoid some of the problems associated with green cart in the winter, they suggest some of these helpful tips:

• Line the bottom of the green cart with newspaper or boxboard, like a cereal box or yard waste bag, and line your mini-bin and green cart with a paper bag
• Food waste can be stored in the freezer until collection day, then deposited in your green cart just before collection
• Place your green cart in an area where the sun can reach it, if possible (to avoid freezing!)
• Wrap food scraps in newspaper, boxboard, or a paper bag
• Put out your green cart to the curb for every collection, even if the cart is not full

More information on green carts can be found on the Halifax webpage:  https://www.halifax.ca/home-property/garbage-recycling-green-cart/green-carts-leaf-yard-material

That's all for now! Please be safe, be kind, be patient,

Waye

 

 

Public Meetings, Hearings & Engagement

Halifax Regional Council – Halifax City Hall, Council Chambers
If you want to read reports coming to Regional Council (posted mid-day Friday prior to the Tuesday meeting) or to check the agenda. Upcoming meetings:

• Tuesday November 14 10am
• Tuesday November 28 10am

Agendas here: https://www.halifax.ca/city-hall/agendas-meetings-reports?category=127

Halifax & West Community Council – Halifax City Hall, Council Chambers
Community Council meets on Tuesday evenings alternating with Regional Council. Please check the webpage here for agendas (usually available a week before the meeting), locations, and times.

• Tuesday November 21 6pm if required

Agenda here - https://www.halifax.ca/city-hall/agendas-meetings-reports?category=140

Regional Centre Community Council – Harbour East Marine Drive Room, Alderney Landing
Community Council meets on Tuesday evenings alternating with Regional Council. Please check the webpage here for agendas (usually available a week before the meeting), locations, and times.

• Wednesday, November 22, 6pm if required

Agenda here - https://www.halifax.ca/city-hall/agendas-meetings-reports?category=140

Halifax Peninsula Planning Advisory Committee & Design Advisory Committee
The Nova Scotia government has suspended the meeting of planning advisory committees and most forms of public engagement in planning for three years, ending April 2025.

Information about how to watch or participate in virtual meetings can be found on the agenda pages. Please confirm meeting dates and times on our website as dates and times are subject to change.

Roadworks Update

Projects continue to be started: You can find out road closure details on the HRM Roadworks map:https://www.halifax.ca/transportation/streets-sidewalks/RoadWorks

• JENNINGS ST from OXFORD ST to PRESTON ST, starting on 2023-09-16
• MAITLAND ST from PORTLAND PL to CORNWALLIS ST, starting on 2023-10-12
• JUBILEE RD from ROBIE ST to VERNON ST, starting on 2023-10-11
• ELM ST from OAK ST to CHEBUCTO RD, starting on 2023-10-14
• ROBIE ST from CUNARD ST to COMPTON AVE, starting on 2023-10-10
• SOUTH ST from BARRINGTON ST to HOLLIS ST, starting on 2023-10-13
• WELLINGTON ST from INGLIS ST to TOWER TERR, starting on 2023-10-25
• QUEEN ST from DOYLE ST to SPRING GARDEN RD, starting on 2023-11-01

Cogswell Construction Project
This major construction project, one of the biggest HRM has ever undertaken, is well underway.  Construction will take three years.  More info can be found here:  https://www.halifax.ca/about-halifax/regional-community-planning/construction-projects/cogswell-district-redevelopment

Jubilee Road CN Bridge - Updated
Canadian National Railways (CN) and Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) are proceeding with bridge and roadway rehabilitation work on Jubilee Road in April 2023. The work will include rehabilitation of the arch bridge structure, full replacement of the roadway, railing, and sidewalks as well as work to the water and wastewater services. Construction is planned to last for seven months during which time no pedestrian or vehicular traffic will be permitted.

Updates will also be provided on HRMs webpage at halifax.ca/cnbridgesrehabilitation. If you have any tenants at this address, please forward a copy of this letter for their information.

Please contact CN at 1-888-888-5909 or at contact@cn.ca if you have any questions.

 

Community Events and Info

AfterWords Literary Festival
October 29 to November 5 | Various Venues
The fifth annual AfterWords Literary Festival is where writers and readers meet. With a packed schedule of events including conversations and readings, workshops and panel discussions, celebratory events, and even an afternoon funfair for kids, AfterWords unfolds October 29 to November 5 in venues around Halifax, Dartmouth, and Millbrook.  Find tickets and more information at https://www.afterwordsliteraryfestival.com/

20th Annual Holocaust Education Week: November 1- 7, 2023
An Atlantic Jewish Council Presentation | ALL PROGRAMS ARE FREE TO ATTEND

November 1 | 6:30 P.M |Paul O’Regan Hall, Halifax Central Library | 5440 Spring Garden Road, Halifax, NS
Holocaust Survivor Speaker: Marie (Mariette) Doduck.
Copies of A Childhood Unspoken by Marie Doduck, published by The Azrieli Foundation are provided to audience members compliments of The Azrieli Foundation | Reception to follow the program. Marie was only five years old when the Nazis invade her hometown of Brussels, Belgium, in 1940. Soon her family was torn apart, and Mariette and her siblings scattered across the city and countryside, hiding with non-Jews and in convents and orphanages or working for the resistance. After the war, she was reunited with her surviving siblings and immigrated to Vancouver, Canada, as part of the War Orphans project with three of them. She was fostered by a Jewish family, married, had children, worked, and became an active member of her community.

November 3 | Noon | Bronfman Theatre, Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 | 1055 Marginal Road, Halifax, NS
Dear Fredy | Documentary |Israel |74 minutes | Hebrew, English, Czech | English subtitles | 2017
Fredy Hirsch was born in Germany, a proud Jew, and an openly gay man. The Nuremberg Laws were passed when he was 19 years old, and he fled to the Czech Republic where he became a sports teacher in a Jewish youth club. Upon his deportation to Auschwitz Fredy persuaded the Germans to set-up a daycare centre where he provided children with final moments of happiness. In his final days at Auschwitz, he was much admired, and his sexuality was fully public in the community. The film combines interviews, archival materials, and animation.

Introduction and Q&A: Dr. Dorota Glowacka, University of King’s College, Halifax, NS
November 5 | 2 P.M | Rowe Hall, Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 | 1055 Marginal Road, Halifax, NS
Speaker: Dr. Wolf Gruner, Founding Director, University of Southern California (USC) Dornsife Center for Advanced Genocide Research, Shapell-Guerin Chair in Jewish Studies and Professor of History, USC.
Books available for purchase, with a reception to follow the program.
Dr. Wolf Gruner presents his newly published book Resisters: How Ordinary Jews fought Persecution in Hitler's Germany (2023). Drawing on twelve years of research in dozens of archives, this book tells the story of five Jewish people who bravely resisted persecution and defended themselves in Nazi Germany. These stories have not been told until now, and each case is one of many, as Gruner shows by resurfacing similar accounts of Jewish refusal to accept persecution and violence in Germany and Austria upending the notion of passive Jews and expanding the concept of resistance.

Introduction: Dr. Dorota Glowacka, University of King’s College, Halifax, NS
November 7 | 6:30 P.M | Paul O’Regan Hall, Halifax Central Library | 5440 Spring Garden Road, Halifax, NS
Ellen Korman Mains, guest speaker, author, in an interview with Olga Milosevich, retired CBC Radio Broadcaster.
Books available for purchase with a reception to follow the program.
Ellen Korman Mains’ memoir Buried Rivers: A Spiritual Journey into the Holocaust (2018) is the winner of 4 awards.
When Ellen began practicing Buddhism at the age of 19, her perceived disloyalty nearly tore her family apart. Her parents were Polish Jews, from Lodz and Kozienice, who had survived the Holocaust. Over 3 decades later in 2005, on the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, Ellen embarked on a series of life-changing journeys to Poland.
Born in Montreal, Ellen divides her time between Colorado, Nova Scotia, and Poland where she continues to engage with her ancestral roots, while promoting Polish-Jewish dialog and Jewish cemetery restoration.

Marketing Levy for Short Term Rentals
Due November 15, 2023
On October 1, 2023, changes to municipal By-law M-400, Respecting Marketing Levy, will come into effect. Hotels currently collecting the levy will see the levy increase from two per cent to three per cent. Short term rentals will now be required to collect the three per cent marketing levy as well. The first remittance will be due November 15, 2023. Learn more at halifax.ca/marketinglevy.

1st Annual Dr. Hennen Memorial Lecture
Thursday, Nov 16, 5:30pm - 8:30pm | Lecture Hall B/Link, Charles Tupper Building, Dalhousie
It’s a great pleasure to announce the very first annual Dr. Hennen Memorial Lecture event taking place on November 16 to honour the memory and work of Dr. Brian Hennen, (1937-2021) a lifelong advocate and fierce fighter for the rights of persons living who developmental disabilities to have full and fruitful happy lives in their communities.  Our first event will focus on the theme of INCLUSION IN THE WORKPLACE and will have two keynote speakers, Frank Fagan and Dr. Brian Foster from the inclusive employment program Ready, Willing and Able who will address the challenges, contributions and untapped potential of persons with disabilities in the workforce. There will also be a panel including First Voice employees and employers and a job coach. And because Dr. Hennen valued the healing potential of art, each annual event will include the participation of such groups as the Inclusion Choir as well as other artists with diverse abilities showcasing their work and providing hands on demonstrations for participants. Our annual events will be challenging, inclusive, interactive, professionally challenging and joyous.

Volunteer Conference 2023
November 17, 2023, 8-4:30 | NEW LOCATION Marriott Dartmouth, 240 Brownlow Ave
The conference is an opportunity for volunteers to connect, celebrate, and learn relevant skills. Delegates representing a variety of organizations and causes will participate in two training workshops and networking activities and enjoy a keynote speech and seated meal.
This year's workshops will cover topics such as: treasurer 101, inclusion, meeting changing community needs, self-care, funding, being an active neighbor, cultural awareness, working together in partnerships, project management, and building better teams. Registration will remain open until Sunday, November 12, 2023. For more information, including a complete schedule, visit our website .

Accessibility Advisory Committee's Annual Town Hall
November 21, 2023 from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. |  Halifax Central Library, Spring Garden Road
The Accessibility Advisory Committee’s Annual Town Hall is an opportunity for Halifax Regional Municipality staff to provide updates to the community on current accessibility initiatives at the municipal level and receive questions, feedback, and input from residents. Staff from various Business Units at Halifax Regional Municipality will be present at this year’s event to give an overview of the successes, challenges, and updates on accessibility-related projects that business units have undertaken since the 2022 Town Hall. Join the Town Hall on November 21, 2023 from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. Attend in person at the Halifax Central Library, join virtually in Zoom or watch the livestream on YouTube.

Register online at https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_iOevLYM_RQO3ti2O2QKYiQ#/registration

Learn more at https://www.halifax.ca/about-halifax/diversity-inclusion/accessibility/accessibility-townhall.

Tax Relief for Non-Profit Organizations Program
Deadline November 30, 2023
The municipality is pleased to announce that the Tax Relief for Non-Profit Organizations Program is now accepting applications for 2024-2025. Organizations applying for acceptance into the program (or the addition of another property) must submit a complete application on or before Thursday, November 30, 2023. The Tax Relief Program for Non-Profit Organizations application form is available online on the Program’s website at www.halifax.ca/business/doing-business-halifax/tax-relief-non-profit-organizations or by emailing non-profittax@halifax.ca.

The 2024 Volunteer Award Nominations are OPEN
Due January 11, 2024
Each year the Mayor and Halifax Regional Council recognize the extraordinary contributions of outstanding individuals and groups who volunteer their time and skills to provide services and programs in our communities. This annual event puts a spotlight on amazing people who give of their time in our Municipality.  There are three categories in which to nominate deserving volunteers: Youth, Adult, or Group. You can download the form or nominate online. Learn more at https://www.halifax.ca/about-halifax/volunteering/volunteer-awards.

Service Canada Supports Communities Online
Does someone in your community need help with Employment Insurance (EI), Canada Pension Plan (CPP), Old Age Security (OAS), and more?  Are you or one of your community members a person with a disability or need extra support to get Service Canada benefits and services? Access support online at https://eservices.canada.ca/en/service/  Does someone in your community need a Social Insurance Number or confirmation of their SIN? Access help at  https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/services/sin.htm

Coastal properties owners: your feedback is wanted.
Virtual, Ongoing
Nova Scotia is feeling the impacts of climate change. Stronger and more frequent storms, coastal flooding and erosion, rising sea levels, storm surge and warming ocean temperatures are all having an effect on the province’s coastline. Coastal property owners are invited to share their ideas on how to safeguard our coastline, including natural areas, homes, buildings and people, from the effects of climate change. We need to re-think how we develop our coastline to better protect our homes, communities, natural areas and each other. You can participate by taking the survey and learning more information by visiting https://novascotia.ca/climate-change-coastal-protection-consultation/.

Seniors Snow Removal Program
Applications Open Now
There’s no denying it – winter is on its way. There is a snow removal program available for seniors (ages 65 and older) and persons with disabilities to help ensure safe access to your home. The Senior Snow Removal is a YMCA program provided in partnership with Halifax Regional Municipality, and oversees the clearing of front and back steps, walkways, ramps, and access to fuel tanks. Please note that the program does not include driveway clearing. Those 65+ or persons with disabilities must also meet the following eligibility criteria:

• the participant must reside in a single dwelling home which is owned or rented;
• the participant, also including all individuals who live on the premises aged eighteen or older, must not exceed a total gross household income of $32,000, and;
• the participant may not be a landlord.

The Senior Snow Removal operates on a first-come, first-serve basis. When maximum capacity is reached, the program will come to a close and individuals will be placed on a waitlist. Call 902-483-3678 for more information. You can download the 2023/2024 application package online by visiting: https://ymcahfx.ca/communityymca/ymca-senior-snow-removal/

Help Identify hazards, risks and vulnerabilities in our communities
Underway Now
Are you concerned about how emergencies and disasters could impact your community The municipality is seeking input from residents on hazards, risks and vulnerabilities across communities. Feedback will inform the development of a comprehensive Hazard, Risk and Vulnerability Assessment. For complete details, visit: shapeyourcityhalifax.ca/hrva.

HRM Affordable Housing Grant Program
Open Now
Are you a non-profit or charitable organization looking for financial help with the development, renovation or purchase (including land) of affordable housing units? Be sure to apply for the 2023 Affordable Housing Grant Program. The program is now accepting applications until December 1, 2023. Apply and learn more here: https://brnw.ch/21wDdwB

How can we help?

311 – HRM’s Call Centre
HRM’s call centre is open 7 days a week, Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday & Sunday 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. to respond to routine inquiries and complaints from HRM residents. Please use this service since it helps HRM keep track of issues that are of concern to residents. More info here: https://www.halifax.ca/home/311

Call my office
Call my office for assistance with your municipal issues. Please try 311 first, and when you call the office have your 311 reference number ready. Vicki Palmeter is my Constituency Coordinator. Vicki can be reached by email at Victoria.palmeter@halifax.ca or by phone at 902-490-2012.

Call or email me
I’m always available to help residents. Email is always better than a phone call, as I am often in meetings and much of the time I cannot answer the phone. If Victoria or 311 cannot assist you, please email me at waye.mason@halifax.ca or call 902.430.7822.