In the 2020 election, I made 19 promises, and as I enter the last year of this term 14 are complete, 6 are underway and 1 is delayed past the promised implementation, but all are on track to be completed.
Of the 4 that are underway, 2 should be in the next year, the BRT plan should receive significant funding in the next six months, and one, “addressing issues of systemic racism, discrimination, and lack of equity”, will never stop being work that needs to be done.
The delayed item, AAA bike network is now scheduled to be completed by 2028.
I took a trip down memory lane to look at my past promises and saw that of the 30 commitments made during the 2016 election, 24 are done, 3 are partially done, 3 cannot be completed, and of the 30 promises in the 2012 election of which 27 are done today. I am proud of this track record of service to HRM and District 7.
Here are the details of my 2023 report card with links to reports or news stories on each promise.
Empower
Work hard, keep confronting and addressing issues of systemic racism, discrimination, and lack of equity
- Underway – Office of Diversity and Inclusion and Human Resources annual reports show progress to date – more here
Launch the Density Bonus Funded Affordable Housing Program
- Done – more here
Complete the Centre Plan delayed by COVID-19 by 2021
- Done – Centre Plan passed October 2021 – read it here
Complete the suburban and rural land use plan and main street investment reviews by 2024
- Underway – Regional Plan phase 4 was approved by Regional Council Tuesday December 12 for final adoption this late spring pending a public hearing – more here
- Underway – Streetscaping Program for Suburban Commercial Main Streets report is delayed, coming 2024
COVID-19 economic recovery plan in 2020-21
- Done – more here
Continue our award-winning red tape reduction program.
- Done – more here
Develop a new Halifax Partnership five-year economic strategy
- Done – read it here
Green
Provide EV car-charging infrastructure at all municipal facilities by 2025.
- Done – municipal plan adopted first chargers installed this fall more here
Transition 50% of the Halifax Transit bus fleet to long-range battery-electric buses by 2028 and 100% by 2034.
- Done – 60 battery electric buses were ordered in May 2022 and the first arrived in December 2023. more here
Expand the Solar City (PACE) program to include residential energy efficiency, including building envelope and main panel upgrades.
- Done – program expended to deep energy retrofits – more here
Purchase land toward complete regional parks, such as Sandy Lake and Blue Mountain Birch Cove, while continuing to renew district parks, especially implementing the Common Master Plan
- Underway – Sandy Lake ecological study was adopted in May 2022 by Council, to guide future growth of the park more here
- Underway – The report regarding Blue Mountain Birch Cove sets up the strong potential for the park to become a National Urban Park in partnership with the Government of Canada, still waiting on the Federal decision – more here
- Done – The Common Master plan was approved in principle in May 2022. more here
Commit the municipality to produce or purchase 100% renewable electricity as early as 2025.
- Done – HRM has voted to participate in the Green Choice program – https://www.halifax.ca/sites/default/files/documents/city-hall/regional-council/210608rc1112_0.pdf
Connecting People and Places
Complete the construction of the Regional Centre All Ages and Abilities bike network within three years, while strengthening connections to Woodlawn, Bedford and mainland Halifax.
- Delayed – due to COVID delays and ongoing labour shortages the five-year build is now anticipated to take two additional years to complete the original proposal. The head of Public Works confirmed at December 12 budget once again that the new build schedule is being met. more on the revised timeline and reasons why here
Secure funding and start construction of the Rapid Transit network plan for bus rapid transit fast ferry plan, with a completion date of 2029.
- Underway – Anticipated announcements of funding for the battery electric fast ferry and the Burnside garage are awaiting an official Federal ribbon cutting. This is over $450 million in investment in transit and sets HRM for BRT, but not the full BRT build-out – More here
Implement digital transit fares and contactless payment on Halifax Transit by 2022.
- Done – The HFXGO app is live, as the first phase of the Transit payment system upgrade. Over the next year the validators will be installed to allow open tap and scanner validation of tickets purchased in the app. more here
Completing the work to include accessibility impact in staff reports, provincial support for more wheelchair-accessible taxis, and support for a diverse, representative, accessible, municipal workplace.
- Done – The wheelchair taxi program (Extra Care Taxi) is operating! – more here
- Done – Accessibly impact in reports – instead of a stand alone section, all staff reports will be reviewed in an accessibility and inclusion framework – more here
- Done – Office of Diversity and Inclusion and Human Resources annual reports show progress to date – read last years here