To split or not to split?

Note: Malcolm Fraser says the following comments are his own and are not representative of either of the above organizations.

I don’t like the word “de-amalgamation.” I don’t want to undo the work that’s been done. But I do want to see a new governance model.

The issues and development plans are very different in HRM’s rural and urban consistencies.

What type of governance model makes sense for a municipality that’s comparable in size to Prince Edward Island? We need more local management of resources, more community councils. There are all sorts of neighbourhoods in any city. I think those neighbourhoods should have a say in how money gets spent. Let people have more impact on local decision making. That’s why voters are so disengaged nowadays, they have no ability to do anything.

The overall regional council would make major region-wide decisions, but local issues should be under the jurisdiction of local areas.

HRM has dense cores and less populated areas. The current governance model waters down the effectiveness of decision-making for all concerned. We’ve seen a consistent inability for regional council to make decisions.

Here’s an example of inequity between rural and urban jurisdictions. The taxes that a business pays in Bayer’s Lake versus Quinpool Road are substantially different. We have a sprawling city. Infrastructure is expensive to put in place (in rural areas), and it’s subsidized by downtown taxpayers.

Is it fair that only one or two per cent of all tax dollars raised in the downtown is spent in the downtown? The imbalance is causing the core to crumble.

We need appropriate infrastructure and appropriate taxes for each area. I’d like to see this, and the re-drawing of boundaries, be a serious election issue.

An even bigger election issue is leadership. That’s what is lacking, more than anything else.

A strong community leader is someone who is credible, positive, forward-thinking. Someone who has a vision and ideas to develop Halifax. I haven’t seen that from the current leadership.

In the last municipal election, there was significant activism for change from groups like Fusion, Citizens for Halifax, etc… this makes for engaged citizens and it’s exciting for democracy. These groups were very effective. They put pressure on officials and created some change because these officials knew they were being watched.

I’m not sure if my group (Citizens for Halifax) will ramp up its activities for this next election. We’ll be watching events, seeing how things unfold.

No, I won’t be running for office in this election. But I’d like to.

No, the municipality is not doing an effective job of meeting rural and urban needs. HRM is bigger than P.E.I. with four times the population.

There’s an imbalance in the number of councillors with urban councillors outnumbering rural councillors, so they get what they want. It causes a tremendous mismatch in services. We tried to bring in tax reform but the issue is so complex it didn’t happen.

My district has the highest total tax assement in HRM. We have big lots, lakeside properties but we don’t have bussing or community pools. We have a volunteer fire department. Why are we paying for services we don’t get?

The excuse (for the lack of services) is that it’s too expensive, that it costs more to provide those services to rural areas. A higher density doesn’t mean that the cost is less. Here, there might be one street to service while there would be multiple streets in the urban core.

When I ran for council, I wanted to de-amalgamate. But I don’t think that now. I believe HRM will eventually work – it can and it will work.

I spent a year on the boundary review committee; we’re down from 23 districts to 16. Governance reform and improvement is part of the boundary review process.

I think the community councils have to have more authority and power in local decision making.

There are six community councils and I site on two of them. We get together at least once a month, more when we’re busy. It’s quicker and more efficient when decision making is done at the local level.

Here’s an example of why we need more local decision making. About four years ago, we put up a new $8 million recreation centre in Fall River. A $50,000 sign was erected as part of that construction. That sign hasn’t been turned on yet. It’s prohibited by the regional council, not allowed in that district. Why doesn’t a councillor from downtown Halifax or Dartmouth get to vote on that?

The decision on whether or not the community councils can have more authority, more power can’t be made by HRM. It’s a provincial government decision.

On the positive side, we are seeing a gradual spread of services beyond downtown Halifax. And for the first time, my district is not just a cash cow – I feel it’s finally a part of HRM.

Will I run for council again? I don’t know. I don’t need the job and I’m thrilled with how things have gone.

There’s a bigger issue facing HRM, an issue much, much bigger than the rural/urban divide. That’s the $50 million download coming next year when the province downloads $50 million in expenses onto the municipality. We’re going to have to pick up that cost. How are we going to do that?

I don’t see how the tax base in a new rural HRM municipality could support the services that would have to be delivered. Yes, to the first question. Don’t see the evidence of this issue (second question). The third question is a separate process and is not tied to the size of council, etc… that is being decided now. The boundaries of HRM could be adjusted into a more urban, suburban municipality with rural areas joining rural municipalities next to them. This was suggested by some at the time of amalgamation.

First, with due respect I would suggest that the term, “potentialde-amalgamation,” is inaccurate and misleading. There is no official effort underway to change the governance and is at best is a desire led by a few within the municipality. Rather than continuing down the path of dwelling on the past we need to face the challenges of our region collaboratively and find solutions and not dwell on perceived problems.  

1) We can certainly always improve on how we meet the needs and requirements of all our residents, be it service delivery or customer service related. I have said many times before that the improvements within an organization the size of our Municipality is a “journey” and not a “destination.” I believe that residents needs are being met, contrary to the results of some surveys on this issue that are often framed to get a desired result.    

2) Truthfully, that question should not even deserve an answer. It is bound to happen to a certain degree in any case scenario examined. If one were to believe that a municipality should operate on the principal that each area receive prorated equal funding or that decisions should be made with that in mind we would truly be a regressive society. If one accepts the fact that we are one region with diverse needs it would be easier to accept that capital budgets are spent on priorities that are for the better good of the entire region.   

3) Regional council has given direction by unanimous motion that requests that legislation be changed that would take regional council out of any part of the governance/boundary review issue on a go forward basis. I am in favour of models of governance being reviewed at that time. However, I have also stated publicly that I believe this whole review process could be moved to every 12 years as to where now it is every eight years. I believe that if the question were asked, that residents are tired of the many changes to district boundaries.

It’s not true that Halifax’s downtown taxes don’t get spent there, that they are going to subsidize rural districts. My district is a rural district and we’re running neck and neck with south end Halifax for taxes. We’re paying equivalent taxes with no sidewalks and no fire hydrants.

Commercial tax in downtown is only one part of the urban core. Downtown is only a portion of what’s considered urban Halifax, and the downtown is hollowing out.

I’m an advocate of incentives to bring business back downtown, such as a tax holiday. Say, for instance, there’s a vacant lot. I believe we shouldn’t charge any taxes on that lot as an incentive to have that lot developed, then gradually increase the tax rate on that lot over a five year period to bring it in line with the normal tax rate.

Parking is a problem downtown, but it’s not in the suburbs where there’s free parking and it’s easier to get around. Plus, leases are more expensive downtown. There’s an automatic disincentive to build downtown because property owners can’t get the rent they need to justify the construction cost. It’s easier to rent space in business parks.

Historically, the county created area rate taxes on top of residential taxes and the area rate taxes were used for special projects – those area rate taxes are still in place. Parks and recreation centres are built through those area rate taxes. The combination of area rates and residential taxes puts rural areas in the same tax bracket as urban areas.

We need a more equitable tax system in HRM. We attempted it two years ago, but got stalled.

We amalgamated 15 years ago and we still hear people saying they wish they hadn’t amalgamated. They say their taxes have gotten higher without an increase in services.

HRM is trying to focus its attention on investing in regional facilities such as the four-pad arena. It’s easily accessed from the highway which means it’s accessible for a lot of residents.

I think governance reform will happen, but it’s still too early to tell. The UARB wants to cut a third of councillors and have the remaining councillors take on larger constituencies. How governance will change over time due to the reduced council size remains to be seen. I expect it’ll be harder for people to get in touch with their councillors, and councillors will be more hands-off in dealing with the public. Council will set policy and staff will enact it.

I would have liked to see council reduced to 18, not 16. Think about it: district councillors will often have more voters than the MLAs. It’s going to be very hard to keep communities and interests together.

Communities near the outer boundaries of HRM don’t relate to Halifax or Dartmouth. These areas don’t have same services as Halifax or Dartmouth, but they’re paying much higher taxes than communities which are in close proximity but just outside the HRM boundary.

There are service inequities between rural and urban parts of HRM. The province has put a cap on the amount of residential taxation so that it can’t exceed the consumer price index. Last year, this was 2.9 per cent while operational costs went up six to seven per cent. How can we increase services without increasing taxes? These are complicated issues.

Are resources being unfairly reallocated from urban areas to rural ones? I think that’s something narrow-minded people would say. I think it’s an insult. What would they do if we cut them off from the water supply? What if we installed a toll at the landfill?

I know I’m being a bit facetious, but what’s good for one is good for all. People need to look past the sidewalk at the front of their house. There are benefits to being such a large and diverse community. And we (HRM council) are doing the best we can to support both the rural and urban parts of our municipality.

It’s sometimes easy for people in rural areas to feel ignored. I counter this by saying that support for big ticket items in the urban center, everyone benefits from that. We’re trying to satisfy the needs of all communities. But you don’t need big ticket items everywhere. Mosher got $50,000 for a local community hall – that’s a big deal for them. So yes, we’re doing our best to be fair and satisfy everyone’s wants and needs.

I don’t think that ripping things apart now would help anybody. And anybody who’s spreading that kind of negativity needs to look in the mirror.

Why does this issue keep coming up?

Corporate Research Associates does polls on this issue (de-amalgamation) all the time. I think Don Mills (CRA’s president and CEO) is seeding public opinion, not searching for it.

(I sense) a distinct disdain from him for the rural way of life.

I wish he’d promote unity rather than divisive discussion. Honestly, I don’t understand why he doesn’t move on to something else. You know what they say, ‘be careful what you wish for, you might get it.’

I disagree with comments that council is focusing too much attention on rural areas and not enough on urban.We (HRM council) know that there are problems in the urban core. We know there’s not as many people living downtown as there used to be. That’s why we’re approving residential developments there. Council is doing what it can to help. HRM as a whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

I do believe that dividing the municipality into two distinct municipal units, one for rural residents and one for urban citizens would be in the best interests of all citizens. Interestingly, it is the rural areas of the municipality who are more in favour of such a division. The current governance model which encompasses an area the size of PEI has proven to be essentially ungovernable given the distinct differences in the needs of those living in the more than 130 communities that compose HRM. There is simply no common purpose for these communities to be united nor a community of interests. Let me give you an example: issues like traffic congestion, crime and public transportation are not as important to those living in communities like Hubbards, Ecum Secum or Musquoidoit Harbour as they are to those living in the urban core. Just as the issues related to cats and chickens are very different between the two constituencies. Both would be better served by having their own separate councils to provide the level of services expected by both. It is completely ridiculous to say I have a disdain for the rural way of life. Completely contrary. I believe that rural citizens are not as well served by the current municipal structure as they were previously under the old county of Halifax model. I do have complete disdain for parochial politicians, however, who are unable to see the better picture.