Mayoral candidates spar over how to address Halifax housing crisis at debate

The issues of housing, public safety and traffic dominated a debate between three of the candidates vying to be Halifax's next mayor.

The debate on Monday afternoon was sponsored by several business district associations in the city, and their members voted on which candidates could participate. Pam Lovelace, Waye Mason and Andy Fillmore made the cut out of the 16 candidates for mayor.

Lovelace and Mason are current city councillors, and Fillmore recently resigned his seat as an MP for Halifax to run.

Housing and homelessness

Some of the most heated comments of the night came during questions about how to respond to the city's housing crisis.

Fillmore said he would halt the expansion of homeless encampments in the city and remove any tents appearing in a non-designated area within 24 hours. He said Halifax Regional Police have told him that a "flag that was raised above HRM that is attracting homeless folks from across the country into the parks and public spaces of downtown."

Mason pushed back on Fillmore's claim, saying there has been no formal statement from the police about an increase of homeless people from other provinces. He described Fillmore's approach to the homeless encampments as policy-making based on "This is what I heard at Tim Horton's."

WATCH | Halifax mayoral debate recap:

Where Halifax mayoral candidates stand on homelessness, taxes and transit

3 days ago

Duration 2:29

Councillors Pam Lovelace and Waye Mason and former MP Andy Fillmore debated against one another for the first time on Monday. Haley Ryan has the story.

Lovelace also addressed Fillmore's comments, asking if he would evict the victims of human trafficking who find themselves in tents.

"That's not how we treat people. We provide the resources to them, we provide the support they need," Lovelace said.

Mason said he is pushing for a human-rights based approach for encampments. He criticized Fillmore's stance, saying the work to help those in the encampments is underway through the development of shelters and case management for homeless individuals, which would be undermined by Fillmore's proposed removal of tents.

"That's just wrong. I can't support that," Mason said, addressing Fillmore.

Fillmore said he would work with the province to provide support to those struggling with homelessness, but that there is a dire need to build more affordable homes by accelerating the approval of building permits.

Lovelace said making life more affordable is needed just as much as building homes at a faster rate.

She said the construction industry and developers should be consulted to ascertain what is needed to build homes quickly, including establishing partnerships with trade schools like NSCC to address the construction labour shortage.

Public safety

Lovelace said as mayor, she would want to address the root causes of crime, such as poverty and substance abuse. Lovelace said she has worked closely with social services and Dalhousie's Faculty of Health, putting her in the best position of the candidates to work with experts.

Fillmore said that police should have the tools needed to handle crime, specifying that body cams should be required to both enhance the work they do and the safety of the public.

Mason echoed Lovelace's sentiments about public safety, emphasizing a need to address the economic insecurity of residents. He also said police should be re-tasked to focus on crime instead of dealing with bylaw issues or addressing noise complaints.

Transportation

Mason said he is well prepared to improve transportation, listing off the various city plans already in development such as the Bus Rapid Transit plan, which needs to be deployed more quickly. Mason said it's important to also work with the other levels of government to secure funding to procure better transit systems, including in rural areas.

Fillmore said the time of day in which road construction is happening is imperative to reducing road congestion and also said he would get to the bottom of recruitment issues at Halifax Transit.

Lovelace differed from the other two candidates as she called for the municipality to bring back trains. Lovelace said buses aren't reliable because of constant congestion and trains that connect Halifax to other commuter communities would mitigate traffic.

She said she would work with the provincial government to remove legislative barriers, in addition to working with the federal government and surrounding municipalities to ensure trains can make a comeback.

October election

Advance online and telephone voting in the municipal election starts on Oct. 8, with election day on Oct. 19.

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