Our eight council meeting of 2026 was held on Tuesday, 28 April 2026.
The full meeting agenda, reports and video recording are linked below, as well as the draft Minutes.
Halifax Regional Council – April 28, 2026
April 28, 2026 Regional Council Draft Minutes | Halifax.ca
Items most relevant to District 7 are highlighted below.
13.1.1 Fly-past Request – HMCS Sackville Recommissioning Celebration
Motion:
“That the Halifax Regional Municipality grant permission of a flyby by a Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) Aircraft as low as 500 feet, for the HMCS Sackville Recommissioning being held at Sackville Landing for transit, practice and shows on May 15, 2026, between approximately 11:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m.”
A number of councillors enjoyed networking, lunch and a quick tour of HMCS Sackville at the dockyard last Friday. During Tuesday’s meeting, Councillor St-Amand sailed from the dockyard to the downtown berth by the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. You may see the ship offshore at Point Pleasant Park on Sunday 3 May for a ceremony, and the 85th anniversary of its launch will be remembered on the 15th.
If you have an interest in visiting the ship this summer, all the relevant info can be found here:
This motion passed on the consent agenda.
15.4.1 Community Museum Grants Program: Recommended Awards: Fiscal 2026
Motion:
“That Halifax Regional Council approve five (5) Project Grants as described in the Discussion section of the staff report dated March 17, 2026 at a combined cost of $60,500 from Operating Account M310-8004.”
The Army Museum Halifax Citadel received a $22k grant to replace some display cases and upgrade their exhibit signage. Another staycation idea for a place to visit.
This motion passed on the consent agenda.
15.5.2 Councillor White – Prioritizing the Maintenance of Active Transportation Routes During Building Construction
Motion:
“That Halifax Regional Council direct the Chief Administrative Officer to prepare a staff report regarding:
a) policy that maintains the municipal right-of-way (ROW) during building construction projects for pedestrians and/or people cycling/rolling/wheeling regardless of whether the sidewalk or bike lane on the opposite side of the roadway is open or not.
b) developing or refining HRM policy and/or fee structure to deter building construction project footprints from encroachment into the municipal active transportation (AT) ROW.
c) developing or refining HRM policy and/or fee structure to encourage developers to re-open the municipal AT ROW as soon as possible during building construction projects when closing the AT ROW is necessary for a time.
d) developing or refining HRM policy that prioritizes temporary protected pathways for pedestrians and/or people cycling/rolling/wheeling in the vehicular ROW over parking spaces and unnecessarily wide vehicle travel lanes during building construction projects.”
During discussion of Item 15.1.4 Proposed Amendments to Administrative Order 2018-005-ADM, Respecting Construction Site Management – Temporary Pedestrian Paths Through Work Sites – Apr 14/26 Regional Council, the practice of allowing sidewalks to be closed for building construction projects if a sidewalk on the opposite side of the roadway is open was discussed.
Sidewalk closures are an inconvenience, an accessibility issue and a public safety issue. Our road safety statistics for vulnerable road users indicate that crossing a roadway in HRM involves risk and should be undertaken only when necessary.
HRM should ensure that residents who are walking/rolling/wheeling to their destination have the most direct routes possible to support their safety and to help achieve the strategic mobility goals of the municipality.
This motion aligns with Action 7 (new) in the Integrated Mobility Plan Action Update.
As discussed during debate, the construction industry will be consulted as part of this work, per regular staff work process. Councillors do not direct the work of staff independently, nor do we set policy without advice in advance in the form of a staff report. I brought this motion, council approved it, and now staff have the direction they need to consider the ideas brought forward, consult with industry and report back to us with recommendations for or against the ideas. I received feedback from staff in advance of moving it that this motion was clear and in line with how other cities have addressed this issue. We all want the same thing: effective policy to support the growth of our region and safety of residents.
This motion passed 14 – 1. I voted Yes.
16.1 Mayor Fillmore
Motion:
“That Halifax Regional Council directs the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) to prepare the 2027/2028 budget by holding expenditure levels flat with the consideration for increases for inflation, contractual commitments, mandatory provincial contributions, and items approved by Council.”
“Holding expenditure levels flat” for a growing municipality concerns me. Council will have lots of opportunity to decide on items to include in the budget beyond whatever a flat $ value lays out for us, but I am concerned with what may not be presented to us at budget time due to this motion. For example, this year I had to bring a specific motion to council in order for staff the include consideration for hiring more parking compliance officers, because it was considered a “budget over” (13 January 2026 HRM Council Meeting: Missing Middle Housing, Heavy Vehicles, Parking Enforcement item 18.1.) In the end, this item will save us $62 800 this year, and $560k over four years. I worry that this motion will stifle staff creativity in proposing budget items and inadvertently exclude items that should be included for a growing municipality.
Another example is that Year 1 of our Transit Core Service Plan was not recommended by staff to be funded in 2026/27 because it was a service enhancement, and we passed similar direction last year to keep expenditure levels flat (08 April HRM Council Meeting: Cancer Screening, Budget, Trees & Bluesky item 15.5.2).
To me, it means service cuts as the starting point. How will we maintain the new capital projects that we open this year with a flat expenditure level for 2027/28? The project on my mind here was the Lockview fall-weather field monitors. We had to consider the $145K cost to manage this new asset as a separate line item during this budget season. It is listed in our 2026/27 operating budget as “contractual increase”. When we bring new facilities online, we need to maintain them, and there is a cost to this.
Given the discussion and feedback from our Acting CAO, my colleagues were fine with this as a starting point. We’ll sort out the best path for HRM as we did this budget season, but I wanted to register my concern with my vote.
The motion passed 14 – 1. I voted No.