CBRM council agreed unanimously on Monday to apply for contribution funding under the federal government’s $4 billion Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF). I missed the council meeting during which the application was discussed (I’d hoped to be able to watch it before press time, but the video has yet to beRead More

CBRM council met on May 10 for a “Strategic Vision” workshop that, despite it’s rather vague title, actually had a clear—and important—purpose: councilors met to discuss quality of life, family recreation, public transit and affordable housing and homelessness. I’m going to focus on the latter because I think ensuring accessRead More

The CBRM is one of 41 Canadian municipalities “pre-determined” to receive funding (worth $5 million)  under the third round of the federal government’s Rapid Housing Initiative (RHI), one component of its National Housing Strategy. The announcement, which I completely missed, was made on November 10, but council didn’t get aroundRead More

Premier Monkey’s Paw I was watching that Simpsons’ Halloween special where they spoof “The Monkey’s Paw” (a short story Wikipedia informs me was published in 1902 by the English author W.W. Jacobs) when I had a sudden revelation. It’s a “three wishes” story—the wishes being granted by the monkey’s pawRead More

My problem this week, as I got back to my regular publication schedule, was that my story ideas were all too big to turn around in time for this week’s edition. I don’t like scratching the surface of things, but while I dust off my shovel and get ready toRead More

It’s been roughly a year since I wrote about two Nova Scotia housing reports, one by the Nova Scotia Affordable Housing Commission, the other by the Housing for All Working Group of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA), NS Office, and after a flurry of “affordable housing” announcements fromRead More

In a December 2021 article about the difficulties facing non-profit groups trying to develop affordable housing, the CBC’s Elizabeth McMillan spoke to Pauline MacIntosh of the St FX Extension Department who had spent nine months “gathering feedback through the Build Together project, a partnership with a national non-profit based inRead More

During last week’s CBRM council meeting for March, a “non-profit” called the Urban Neighborhood Development Association presented preliminary plans for an amazing, mixed-income housing development on the site of the former Tartan Downs harness racing track in Sydney. Don’t worry, I haven’t lost all critical perspective here, but I haveRead More

Here’s an item from last week’s CBRM council session on affordable housing that I really wanted to follow up on:  Deputy Mayor (and District 2 Councilor) Earlene MacMullin proposed the municipality look into the possibility of turning the Northside General Hospital, scheduled for closure and demolition, into affordable housing —Read More

Monday’s special CBRM council session on affordable housing was so full of information that I find myself forced to choose one part to write about today, for fear of overwhelming you with facts and figures. It started with a presentation by Paul LaFleche, the deputy minister of Municipal Affairs andRead More