Our sixteenth council meeting of the year was held on Tuesday, 19 August 2025.
The full meeting agenda, reports and video recording are linked below.
Halifax Regional Council – August 19, 2025
Here are the District 7 highlights from Tuesday’s meeting:
10.1 Wanderers Block Functional Plan
That Halifax Regional Council direct the Chief Administrative Officer to:
1. Consider facility needs for the redevelopment of the horticulture complex and parks depot on the Wanderers Block as outlined in the staff report dated April 11,2025, including the relocation of those municipal uses that may be suitably accommodated at other locations, through future business plans and capital budgets as outlined in the staff report dated April 11, 2025;
2. Confirm the interests and prospective funding contributions from tenants, proponents, and other orders of government to determine the viability of the uses and proposals as outlined in the Functional Plan and the staff report dated April 11, 2025, and
3. Return to Regional Council with a staff report with a recommended redevelopment approach, including an assessment of financial feasibility and consideration of its priority in the context of capital priorities and infrastructure deficits.”
A friendly amendment was made to this motion by Mayor Fillmore requesting that an economic impact analysis be included in the next staff report back to council.
Approving this motion means that Council is interested in hosting a permanent soccer (and potentially rugby) stadium at the Wanderers grounds, and in finding the best way to host and improve the other current users of the block: the Lancers, the Power House Youth Centre, the Wanderers Lawn Bowling Club and the Parks Horticulture Facility. It is possible that the proposed Public Gardens Conservatory may also be added to the block. To allow the most space for all of these functions, it is likely that the part of the Parks Depot Sport Fields West will be relocated.
Three layout options for the block were presented in the staff report. There are tradeoffs in each scenario. This next phase of staff work will seek to understand what funding each party and other orders of government are willing to contribute to the project and return to council with a recommended redevelopment approach and a clearer picture of the financial impact of the project.
Events East will be consulted as stakeholders, at it may be a good fit for them to manage the proposed stadium as well as Scotiabank Center and the Halifax Convention Center.
HRM will approach the province about possibly acquiring more land from the Natural History Museum property to add to the space we have to work with.
The next decision point will be the tough one. We have a list of over $2B in mid-year capital funding requests including BRT corridors, this Wanderers block, the Mill Cove ferry and proposals from community groups. We simply cannot afford to do everything we would like to without support from external funding sources.
This motion passed 12 – 4. I voted Yes.
13.3.1 Update on the status of the Regional Plan
It seems that the province rejected our regional plan because they felt it was not focused enough on building more homes faster, and HRM is responding by saying that rejecting the plan is holding back thousands of units from being developed. We need to get on the same page here quickly, so we can advance our common goals together.
The effects of the decision from the Minister are listed on pages 10-14 of this staff presentation. It’s quite sad to be delayed on important work like the Suburban Plan, Phase 5 of Regional Plan, the Rural Plan, Strategic Growth and Infrastructure Priority Plan and our Priority Plans (IMP, HalifACT, HGNP, CHPP, Economic Prosperity).
15.5.1 2025/2026 Marketing Levy Special Event Reserve 2nd Intake Report
That Halifax Regional Council approve total funding from the Community and Events Reserve (Q621), as follows:
1. Award $50,000 for the Davis Cup World Group I tie based on Special Events Advisory Committee’s evaluation for economic merits as a tourism event;
2. Increase the grant award for the Taekwondo Canada National Championships to $50,000;
3. Increase the grant award for the 2026 Karate Canada U21 & Senior National Championships to $20,000; and
4. Decline the grant award of $75,000.00 to The Gifts We Carry: Youth Empowerment Event Honouring Residential School Survivors as the application does not meet the eligibility guidelines.
Council chose not to debate item 1, due to the highly sensitive nature of the topic at hand (any council member could have spoken about the issue as this motion was on the floor). Councillors voted individually with our own framework for decision making on whether or not to fund the grant (Canada is playing Israel in Halifax). At the Special Events Advisory Committee meeting last week, I voted Yes, as we worded the motion above to indicate we were making a decision based on the merits of the event matching the requirements for receiving a grant.
At council, I chose to vote No, as I am disturbed by the actions of the government of Israel in Gaza. This was not an easy decision for me, as I do not wish to cause anyone to feel more pain or experience discrimination as a result of council’s decision.
Some residents would like to see HRM cancel the event. Any decision to cancel the Davis Cup event (or ban any nation from participating) would come from the International Tennis Federation or our federal government, not HRM.
Councill unanimously voted for items 2 and 3.
For item 4, I requested that my colleagues vote No to this recommendation from the committee. The Gifts We Carry Event does indeed meet the criteria to be funded from the marketing levy reserve. Last week, the committee felt that the gathering was a conference without enough hotel nights to quality, but staff indicated and reiterated that this this interpretation does not line up with how well the event scored when evaluated.
This motion failed 12 – 4. I voted No. (See item 15.6.3 below.)
15.6.2 Councillor White – Argyle Street Pedestrian Zone
15.6.3 Councillor White – Funding Support for The Gifts We Carry: Youth Empowerment Event Honouring Residential School Survivors
“Motion:
That Halifax Regional Council approve funding in the amount of $75,000, from Reserve Q621, the Community and Events Reserve, for The Gifts We Carry: Youth Empowerment Event Honouring Residential School Survivors from the Marketing Levy Special Events Reserve (MLSER), pursuant to Section 38 of the Marketing Levy Special Events Reserve Administrative Order, on the basis that Council is satisfied the grant will promote tourism in accordance with the Halifax Regional Municipality Charter.”
Through conversations with Events and Finance staff, I am sure that the MLSER is the right place to fund this event from. Students will visit Halifax from local communities and across the country. They will gather together here in Kjiputuk and share the event story through CBC and APTN news. It will be a memorable event that may encourage them to return to HRM in the future to spend more time.
Council voted 14-2 in favour of this motion. I voted Yes.