January 5, 2026 • 51 mins
We sit down with newly elected Mayor Andy Fillmore after his first year for a wide-open conversation about what it takes to steer a city that’s growing in every direction: more people, more jobs, more pressure on streets and services. He talks frankly about trading the heat of Parliament for the hands-on grind of City Hall, where a mayor is one vote among many and every policy hits a sidewalk, a bus route, or a household budget.
We dig into mobility first. Halifax is in a loop where buses are stuck in traffic and riders default to cars. The mayor lays out a clear case for bus rapid transit—express routes, priority, comfort—and the provincial congestion review now underway on the peninsula. We also tackle the grid: how well-meant restrictions can slow the whole system, why data matters, and how to balance safety with movement. If you’ve felt the drag getting across town, this is the roadmap, warts and all.
Housing and budgets keep the stakes high. The city needs roughly 8,000 homes a year and is building about half that, with infrastructure capacity—water, wastewater, stormwater—now a key bottleneck. Add major defence spending set to flow into Halifax, and the urgency doubles. The mayor explains last year’s flat tax rate, this year’s 10.5% pressure from inflation and contracts, and his push to protect core services while partnering with the private sector—think smarter ferry models and transit hubs with amenities—to keep costs down and quality up. We also get into the assessment cap’s market distortions and why revenue reform isn’t about raising more, but raising better.
Along the way we talk civic culture: what makes Halifax kind and welcoming, why the waterfront still stuns, and how to grow without losing our feel. You’ll hear candid reflections on early missteps, lessons in council diplomacy, and a clear view of what quality of life should mean here: affordability, safety, things to do, and transit worth choosing. If you care about how Halifax moves, builds, and stays itself, this one’s for you. Subscribe, share with a friend, and tell us: what would you cut or fund to keep the city on track?
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:17):
Cheers, cheers.
Cheers, everybody.
Nice to be with you.
SPEAKER_02 (00:21):
Welcome to the afternoon fight.
I'm Mike Tobin.
SPEAKER_01 (00:23):
I am Matt Conrad.
SPEAKER_00 (00:24):
And I am uh Mayor Andy Fillmore.
SPEAKER_01 (00:27):
Mayor Andy Fillmore.
SPEAKER_02 (00:28):
Wow.
SPEAKER_01 (00:28):
The last time you were on our show, you were mayor
candidate, Andy Fillmore.
SPEAKER_00 (00:33):
I was mayor wannabe, yeah.
And uh I did want to be.
And that was uh what was thatlast summer sometime, or maybe
sep maybe September.
SPEAKER_01 (00:41):
It would have been uh yeah, it would have been
yeah, it was September that wehad you on.
That's right.
SPEAKER_00 (00:47):
About a year ago out in Sackville.
That was a very goodconversation.
And uh yeah, nice to be backwith you.
SPEAKER_02 (00:51):
Yeah, 100%.
Last our last episode with SteveMurray was just over there at
the old triangle, right?
That's right.
Yeah, my gosh.
And this is uh a pretty nicelooking spot.
This is our first time here, uhmy first time in the mayor's
office.
SPEAKER_00 (01:02):
Welcome to the mayor's office.
Yeah, it's a pretty nice placeto come to work every day.
Very lucky.
We I can keep an eye on what'sgoing on in the grand parade, as
you can see.
Yeah, and right now theChristmas tree is all lit up.
It's looking wonderful outthere.
There's a menorah that's got acouple of candles lit, and uh
the place is looking prettyfestival.
SPEAKER_02 (01:18):
And your staff all likes you.
They all think you're a goodguy.
Yeah, they all seem very happyand relaxed out there.
So that's a that's a good vibe,right?
I'm glad you noticed that.
Feel like we're in a safe spacehere.
SPEAKER_01 (01:28):
I will I will say that you know, anyone who thinks
that politicians don't keeptheir word, when he was on the
show, he did say that you madeyou just it it felt like a
throwaway, but you said we'll doa podcast at City Hall if I win.
And here we are.
SPEAKER_02 (01:42):
Here we are.
SPEAKER_01 (01:43):
Politician keeping his word.
We're drinking non-alcoholicbeer, though.
We are drinking non-alcoholicbeer, yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (01:48):
Because it's a dry zone, and I mean that that's
fair.
SPEAKER_00 (01:50):
City hall's dry, so thanks for rolling with that.
But you picked uh you picked avery nice uh option here.
So thank you for for that.
SPEAKER_01 (01:57):
Yeah, the crafty rattlers are pretty good one to
have at the end of a day.
Pump house crafty rattlers.
Shout out to Monkey Nova Scotia.
There you go.
Yeah, so yeah, let's uh let'sroll into this stuff, though.
We got we got uh a lot of thingsto talk about, and we know
you're a very busy guy, so wethank you very much for having
us on here and doing this.
So um yeah, so let's start withuh rewind a little bit.
(02:17):
You went from uh uh uhParliament Hill to City Hall.
SPEAKER_00 (02:23):
So and boy, my arms tired.
SPEAKER_01 (02:27):
So much has happened in that time, though.
Like so, I mean, we're gonna getyou unpack it a little bit, but
I mean just uh uh anyonelistening who because sometimes
we get people from othercountries, um we've had you know
you you uh decided to notre-offer as MP, decided to run
for mayor, uh we had JustinTrudeau resign as leader and
(02:48):
prime minister.
Right.
Carney Wynn now is in possess inin in the position where he's uh
uh one seat away from amajority, which is also pretty
crazy.
And here you are, and you'veyou've been in the seat now for
a little over a year.
SPEAKER_00 (03:01):
Yeah, about 14 months, that's right.
SPEAKER_01 (03:03):
Yeah, so uh unpack everything, like you know, about
the whole moving from federal tomunicipal.
SPEAKER_00 (03:09):
Well, I'll say it's been uh a lot of fun to watch
all the goings on in Ottawa fromHalifax.
I'm so glad to be here and andnot in the midst of all of the
uh of all the excitement.
But um it was quite uh a drama,wasn't it?
Watching uh Justin Trudeauwithdraw, watching Mark
Kearney's ascension, watchingthe near-majority election on uh
(03:31):
on election night, and uh peoplegetting back into politics that
had resigned, and uh a leaderexpecting to be prime minister
who didn't quite make it, andand now right up to the this
past week with another yetanother floor crossing, putting
the prime minister within oneseat of uh of a majority
government.
So it's been fun to watch it.
I'm glad I'm watching it fromhere in Halifax.
SPEAKER_01 (03:52):
Right.
That that's what I was gonna askis like uh, you know, like any
is there anything in the back ofyour head thinking like, oh,
maybe I should have stuck it outthere?
SPEAKER_00 (04:01):
Not in the least.
You know, there's a little bitof nostalgia, you know.
I I made a lot of friends upthere on on all sides of the
aisle, and I see them uh goingthrough the this uh the fun and
games, and there is somenostalgia for sure.
But no, I was I did nine yearsof that, and I resigned my seat
to run for mayor, and it was agreat decision.
SPEAKER_01 (04:21):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (04:22):
Awesome.
SPEAKER_01 (04:22):
Yeah, I think I think the the Shannon who took
over in your spot is seems to bedoing a pretty good job so far.
SPEAKER_00 (04:28):
She is.
Uh Shannon worked at HRM formany, many years.
She led the sustainabilitydepartment, and she's bringing
that ethos to Ottawa, and she'sdoing a great job.
SPEAKER_01 (04:36):
Yeah, you guys just like tagged each other in or
something.
SPEAKER_00 (04:38):
That's right.
Isn't that funny?
And it's it's a the story goesback even further because you'll
remember that Mike Savage hadbeen an MP and became mayor.
And so who knows what's next forShannon?
Maybe she's uh she'll be our ourmayor down the road.
SPEAKER_02 (04:49):
She'll be the next one running the place.
There we go.
When Andy's ready to what do youthink's like the biggest mental
ship going from uh um you knowfederal politics to municipal
politics?
SPEAKER_00 (05:00):
Yeah, well, everything's very much more
local, right?
Uh in the other in the other jobin Ottawa, I was um I had my
focus on Halifax, but on thosenational issues like employment,
like immigration, like nationaldefense.
Um so even though they'rethey're local, they are they are
a piece of a national puzzle.
In council, it's local with acapital L.
(05:22):
It's you know the rec center inmy district, it's the sidewalk
outside uh my my house, it's thepothole, the bus, you know, it's
it's extremely local.
So that's very different.
However, you know, I think youguys know that my career for
over 20 years before politicswas city planning.
SPEAKER_03 (05:39):
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (05:40):
So I'm kind of right back in my in my sweet spot,
back in my comfort zone here,um, being the mayor of a of a
city of a half million that'sthe fastest growing city in the
country and that is going tocontinue to be, and that is just
so full of opportunity.
I'm I'm thrilled.
SPEAKER_02 (05:53):
Were you a city planner here in Halifax?
Or were you where did you docity city planning?
I was.
SPEAKER_00 (05:56):
I did city planning.
I studied at Dalhousie, but I Icut my teeth down in Boston on a
project called The Big Dig, andthen worked in Maine in a very
small rural community for a fewyears and moved home uh to
Halifax in 2005 and worked atthe city for seven years, led
the creation of the downtownplan, the HRM by design downtown
plan it was called.
That's what that necktie is overon the wall over there.
SPEAKER_02 (06:19):
Oh, okay.
Yeah, cool.
I don't know if the camera willbe able to get it.
No, probably not.
SPEAKER_00 (06:23):
Uh when I when I uh left the city in 2012 after
delivering the downtown plan, myteam had the the downtown
concept plan printed on anecktie and mounted in that
shadow box.
So that's my full circle momentthere of being back here at HRM.
SPEAKER_01 (06:38):
Very cool.
Yeah.
Well, uh, in terms of thetransition, like what do you
feel?
And maybe it maybe there wasnothing, but what do you feel
was like the biggest surprise uhentering into municipal politics
versus federal politics?
SPEAKER_00 (06:52):
Yeah, I'll I'll I have an answer for that.
You know, uh one thing that youyou learn to do in federal
politics during debate is tobring your A game.
Like you bring the passion,you're you bring your research,
you you're on your feet, you'respeaking with passion and and
conviction.
Um and um that's how I turned upin the council chamber.
(07:13):
Uh and uh boy, uh it turns outthat's not exactly a common uh
common way to do it.
So I learned that uh folks areexpecting a much more sort of
calm and measured, uh uh maybemore um uh le I don't want to
say less enthusiastic, but lessuh um expressive way of
expressing your your opinionduring debate.
(07:34):
So I've learned to tone it downa little bit so I don't ruffle
feathers and and catch peopleoff guard.
SPEAKER_01 (07:39):
I think it can be a good mix between the two because
council can be pretty dry andpretty slow.
I would say I'd say councilwould be more civil, wouldn't
they be?
Oh, they're definitely morecivil, uh, because I don't know
if you've ever watched uh theHouse of Consumer.
I mean, I mean I mean it's it'squite a performance, is what I
should say.
It's a quite performance, butit's formative art.
It's not even like the when whenyou're standing up there and
you're talking to Mr.
(07:59):
Speaker, and yeah, that's onething.
That's a bit of a performance.
The stuff I don't like, and youknow, you get the you get your
little jabs in there sometimes,which is funny.
Uh can be funny, but what Idon't like about it, because we
have these people who we'veelected to kind of serve as our
government and all that, is thestuff that's in the background,
right?
The cat calling and the insectsand the heckling.
Yeah, I think that should justbe wiped out.
(08:22):
There's none of that in council?
SPEAKER_00 (08:23):
No, no, no, no, no, there's actually not.
Uh I mean sometimes people umhave side conversations that can
be distracting, but uh whenyou're in the chair, you try to
you try to give a little handsignal to to because when
someone has the else has thefloor, they do find that
distracting.
They could lose their train ofthought, and you can see the
people who have a littleconsternation on their brow.
You so I try to address that andkeep it uh keep it all fair.
(08:45):
But I don't miss the heckling.
That was really um speaking ofdistractions.
Oh my gosh, you're trying,you're on your feet trying to
give a speech or make a point,and you're getting all kinds of
things hurled at you, but itdoes toughen you up, I'll tell
you.
SPEAKER_02 (08:57):
I bet.
Yeah, I bet it does.
So we got a re rear view realquick.
So this is episodes coming outin 2026, dry January.
So Pump House, please send meanother case of these.
Uh uh uh but uh but you know,what was one of your biggest
accomplish accomplishments for2025 that you think you did?
SPEAKER_00 (09:15):
Uh here in HRM in the in the new job.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (09:19):
Well, I will say one of our listeners wrote on our
Facebook, because I said on myFacebook said we're talking to
you today, and he said, I'mgoing back to listening to the
episode that he was on becauseyou made a commitment about what
the things you'd like to do inyour first hundred days.
He says, Let's see if heaccomplished the things that he
wanted to do in his firsthundred days.
SPEAKER_00 (09:37):
I I should have re-listened to I should have
listened to that too.
SPEAKER_02 (09:40):
I you're you're you're you're a good company,
man.
I don't remember what you said.
SPEAKER_00 (09:43):
Yeah, all right.
Well, I mean it was it was tohave you fellas back in about a
year or so.
We have checked out boxes.
Check that out box checked.
Um well the I would say, youknow, when you when you run to
be elected, you run on aplatform.
And the platform um I believe islike a contract with the people
that you're asking to vote foryou.
And in my contract that I made,I said that I would do
(10:05):
everything that I could to holdthe tax rate flat in my first
year.
And I did.
So we were delivered a a budgetthat did not have a flat tax
rate.
In fact, it had a uh fairly goodincrease.
And over the months of debate ofuh with my colleagues, I was
able to beat it down to a zeropercent increase on the tax
rate.
So promise made, promisedelivered.
(10:26):
I feel good about that one.
SPEAKER_01 (10:27):
Yep.
Yeah, well, and we'll we'll getto the the the upcoming one that
we'll talk about that one alittle bit because yeah.
But um, yeah, I think that's athat's a good thing.
I think that's much needed.
People are struggling, right?
Increasing taxes.
And I mean, yeah, we like Isaid, we can get to that other
stuff, the other solutionsfurther down, but I'll go I'll
jump over to the next bit.
SPEAKER_02 (10:46):
So this is just a hit and a hit and a miss, or uh,
what's one thing in 2025 lookingback that you kind of regret or
wish we could reverse or workharder on in 2026 that we just
don't really have got right yet.
SPEAKER_00 (11:00):
Listen, I'll take some responsibility here.
Um I I mentioned a few minutesago that uh you know about the
way I turned up in the councilchamber with a lot of energy and
uh some pretty big ideas, andum, I think that kind of rocked
some of my colleagues a littlebit.
They they um you know let let'ssay this HRM has a new mayor for
(11:21):
the first time in 12 years.
Half the council is new.
I started a new job, a newposition for the first time in a
decade.
There is a lot of changehappening right now, and so I I
reflect on how I showed up inthat change.
And uh I I'll wear it that I Iwish I had, if I could go back,
I would have shown up a littlebit more in a more conciliatory
(11:42):
uh way with my colleagues to tryto get them to believe and
support some of the things thatI believe and support and the
things that I ran on.
Um, because I think my my earlyenthusiasm might have been a bit
off off-putting for people.
SPEAKER_02 (11:55):
Yeah, but I in fairness, there's probably a lot
more you all have in common thanwhat you don't have in common.
Isn't that not true?
SPEAKER_00 (12:01):
That's absolutely true.
Right.
That's absolutely true.
We're often, even though we'resaying it differently, often
we're saying the same things.
And so it's worth taking time toto listen carefully to each
other and to and discern what itis that we actually agree on and
and act on those things.
SPEAKER_01 (12:14):
That and that's I guess some of the thing is like
the um uh I know we had a couplecomments on when we when they
said we were talking to you,like a couple people did make
comments and saying how they uhthe the way you kind of came in
was almost kind of like uh likeis that really how uh mayor
should kind of come in andcharge you and all that stuff?
And I know there was the wholelike uh strong mayor or super
(12:36):
mayor, super mayor, yeah,whatever it was.
I don't know if you got a capeif you get that or not, but like
the um I got lots of kryptonitebecause of it, I'll tell you
that.
That's good.
I mean that being said though,uh maybe maybe there was a
healthy balance or somethingthat in there.
That being said, I I personallydidn't dislike the energy that
(12:59):
you brought to it.
SPEAKER_02 (13:00):
Um because you have the exact same energy though.
SPEAKER_01 (13:02):
You're I had the same energy because I ran in
2020, right?
For council, yeah.
And uh I probably would havebrought the same energy that you
would have because I do thinkthat we need a little bit of
shakeup and a little differentthinking and things like that
here.
Um like I said, that in-between,not quite you know, cat like not
(13:24):
quite quite uh Parliament Hill,but a little bit more than what
we got going on, kind of thing.
SPEAKER_00 (13:28):
So yeah, yeah.
Well, you you mentioned uhstrong mayor powers.
That's what they're called inOntario.
I I always refer to them asaccountable mayor powers here,
um, or even accountablegovernance.
Um, and so the the challengethat I saw and that I tried to
articulate was um people inevery district in HRM voted for
uh by a pretty good margin.
(13:49):
I didn't quite double my nearestcompetitor, but pretty handy to
doubling my nearest competitorin terms of the vote count.
Um, voted for a mayor with areally clear platform on
affordability, mobility, andhousing.
And um when it gets down to it,uh there's there there's no way
for the mayor to expresslydirect any kind of change.
You have to work through thecouncil process, bring people
(14:11):
along.
So you are very much one vote of16, one vote of 17, chair of the
board.
And I think that I think it's areasonable question to ask that
in the 20, the complicated 21stcentury, with challenges
breathing down our neck, withopportunities coming at us
lightning fast, is uh agovernance structure that was
designed for a smaller,slow-moving city serving us?
(14:34):
And that and that was thequestion that I was asking.
SPEAKER_01 (14:36):
Yeah, I mean, uh like I think I think reform of
some sort could be viewed as.
Um how do you feel about likehow Quebec does it?
Because they bring in parties.
There's parties in municipalpolitics in Quebec.
How do you what do you feelabout that?
SPEAKER_00 (14:49):
Yeah, there are other cities in Vancouver.
I was just chatting with theex-mayor of uh Vancouver on the
weekend, Gregor Robertson, who'snow Canada's Minister of
Housing.
Uh, we were talking about that.
Um, I I don't I I was happy toleave partisan politics behind.
Now, could there be organizingideas that sort of uh that that
bring people together uh incandidacy so that you know if if
(15:09):
we can all agree that my gosh,there is a housing crisis and we
do need to get bus rapid transitgoing, well then wouldn't that
be good to express that to thecommunity so they can say, you
know, there's a group of peoplethat will actually act on the
things that we are that'simportant to us.
So I wouldn't I wouldn't put italong partisan pol party lines,
but I might say that there isroom for organization around
(15:30):
ideas.
SPEAKER_01 (15:31):
Yeah.
Well, that's uh I think that'sthe thing.
I mean, really you have to be ayou know a good negotiator to be
sitting on council.
SPEAKER_00 (15:38):
You do it's it's a game of relationships.
Um and and and I learned a lotabout that this past year.
It really it really does turn onon those on those personal
relationships.
And so the trick is how do youlive up to your your own ideals?
I'll I'll just talk aboutmyself.
My how do I live up to myideals?
How do I live up to what Ipromised the voters I would do
(16:02):
in that contract called a callto campaign?
Yep.
Um but in a way that I have toum navigate that with 16 other
opinions and and perspectives.
It's not always easy, and that'swhy you don't win every vote.
SPEAKER_01 (16:14):
No, exactly.
And I think I think a lot ofpeople don't really fully
realize that because they thinkmayors, they think mayors do
have these authorities orwhatever it may be, right?
Your one vote.
SPEAKER_00 (16:24):
You're a tiebreaker, basically.
I think it's true that themajority of HRM residents
believe that the mayor is theboss, and uh, and that's not the
case.
SPEAKER_01 (16:31):
No, yeah.
Yeah, so I mean that's a thing.
Uh it's uh so yeah, maybethere's some sort of some sort
of reform in there, but I thinkthat's a good conversation.
I think it's a good conversationto have.
SPEAKER_02 (16:40):
Absolutely.
Yeah.
So I'm gonna move like and askabout some pressure points that
are going on in Halifax rightnow.
You know, I know people aregoing to be listening to this
episode and they're probablygonna be, you know, are they
gonna ask some of thesequestions?
So we're just gonna dive inthrough through some of the
things.
Uh, but first I want to say,like in your own opinion, how
would you describe the state ofHalifax in a sentence or just a
(17:01):
blank statement?
Like, how are we doing right nowand how do you think we're going
to get through 2026?
SPEAKER_00 (17:08):
I think we're doing a good job of managing the
challenges of growth.
Uh, and I believe we are facedwith remarkable opportunity in
the in the years ahead.
So I think Halifax is in a greatplace.
I I would stack it up againstany other Canadian city, ain't
even going beyond Canada.
Um, we uh we are a place thatthe world has discovered.
(17:31):
Um we are we have a physicalnatural beauty here that people
envy and and want to be part of.
The um this the tech and startupcommunity has found us.
There's the ocean clustercommunity that's found us,
there's biotech, there's theresearch, uh, AI now now and now
defense.
This brings us to defense.
You know, the NATO has set uptheir one of two defense
(17:52):
innovation accelerators uh ofthe North Atlantic in Halifax,
one of two globally.
Potential bill.
And that exactly, and that'stapping into the existing
aerospace and defense clusterthat we have here, building the
ships of tomorrow's Navy, and weare in an incredibly enviable
position to win the in-servicesupport contract for Canada's
future submarine fleet.
(18:13):
And that is going to be likeshipbuilding all over again.
SPEAKER_01 (18:16):
That's billions and billions and billions of dollars
into our con and there's alsosome other stuff, like other
tech stuff that's going on inthis city.
I mean, we last year we had uhWilliam Burt on.
Right.
And he was talking about how hewas taking uh carbon out of the
air and actually inserting itinto the water.
Yeah.
And like that's being done herein Halifax.
SPEAKER_00 (18:32):
It is.
Uh over at Cove, uh, they'rethey're doing I'm just blanking
on the name of the company.
Do you think it's gone?
It's a good name, but yeah,they're they're they're good.
Sequestering carbon.
SPEAKER_02 (18:42):
Carbon Cure is another company that does
something similar.
I mean, there's so many of thesegreat companies.
SPEAKER_00 (18:45):
Into concrete, that's exactly right.
But uh, but yeah, Cove and theOceans Cluster are just
unbelievable right now.
SPEAKER_01 (18:51):
Yeah, exactly.
So there's a bunch of tech stuffthat's going on.
I mean, we obviously we knowthat there's uh just next door
is uh is Volta.
SPEAKER_02 (18:58):
Yeah, right.
Absolutely.
And we did a couple things thereas well, lots of great
incubation and development goingon there.
We're 100% for development inHalifax, so we applaud seeing
that kind of stuff happen.
Now, one of the big hairy thingsis uh traffic, right?
I uh even today uh I don't wantto tell you.
I mean, but uh uh there was anaccident in one spot, I had to
(19:20):
go another route, and then ohdear, like you know, wherever
you go in this city, you know,right now expects to to take a
significantly longer amount oftime to get there.
How are we going to even startto entangle this this this web
of getting down to thepeninsula?
SPEAKER_00 (19:36):
Yeah, and what a what an important question.
Um, and the we're not gonnasolve any problems uh unless we
can speak candidly andtransparently about those
problems.
So so that's what I've beendoing, and I'll continue to do
that, whether it's traffic andtransportation or any of the
other things.
Um we need to get bus rapidtransit going in Halifax.
That is the next level ofsophistication that our
(19:59):
transportation system uhrequires.
The the way that um congestionis and the way the the bus
service is now, people are, youknow, the buses are stuck in
congestion.
So people are are making thechoice.
I may as well be in my car.
And of course, that's justreinforcing the congestion, it's
slowing the bus.
So we're in a we're in what somepeople might call a doom loop
here, but it's we can get out ofit.
(20:19):
Um when we build that bus rapidtransit system, you know, it's
those are express buses withfewer stops, they're comfortable
buses.
You might you can imagine maybea fold-down table to put your
laptop on and a and a coffee uhcup holder for your coffee.
You're doing work on yourcommute or you're you're
communicating with your withyour people in your life on your
commute.
Um that's gonna be a gamechanger for us.
(20:40):
Um, but there's something evenmore immediate and interesting,
and that was you might havenoticed that this past week,
what day are we now uh Tuesday,it was last week, um, the
provincial minister oftransportation, Fred Tilley,
announced that he has releasedan RFP seeking uh uh an
engineering or some such companyto do a review of congestion on
(21:01):
the peninsula of Halifax.
I did see, yeah, I saw that.
And and so that's an example ofthe provincial government taking
an interest in the well-beingand economic functioning of the
capital city, which I think isentirely appropriate.
Yeah, and will yeah, willing tobe a partner with us to make
some to make some moves toimprove congestion and move
people around a little bitbetter.
We we we don't know what thatstudy is gonna uh show.
(21:22):
Um I think it'll have to do withnew new commuter routes.
Um it possibly could be the waythe premier would get his uh his
uh often talked about light railsystem started.
Um it could be new bus routes,it could be um improving the
function of intersections withsmart signalization.
Um and then the minister has hasidentified a couple other things
that he might try to.
SPEAKER_02 (21:42):
So we're not sure, but we're working on it as well.
Well, they're working on it.
You're looking at everything.
SPEAKER_01 (21:47):
So this is a perfect moment because I made this
comment on one of the radiostations that announced this
study.
Sure.
So I'm gonna give you a hardtime a little bit, but not you
directly because this happenedbefore you were in municipal
politics.
But it is a frustration of mine.
Uh and you said talk candidly,so I'm gonna talk candidly.
Driving up Quimpool in goinginbound between 7 a.m.
(22:12):
and 9 p.m.
or 9 a.m.
You cannot turn right, not left,right to go down to the until it
cannot to go into the south end.
The frustration with that isthat it bottlenecks.
So for me, looking at it,there's only two conclusions why
(22:32):
I come to that.
The wealthy in that neighborhoodhas petitioned their counselor
to prevent rush hour traffic todrive through their
neighborhood, or someone hasintentionally bottlenecked the
like to bottleneck it.
Because when you look at gridsystems, the idea is that you
(22:54):
should be able to take offroutes to spread the traffic out
so they're not all comingthrough.
This directly does the oppositeof that.
You're either not letting mywife who takes that route every
day.
Are you trying to get a job inthe transportation?
Absolutely not.
No, what I'm trying to do is getthose signs taken because I
think it's not right.
SPEAKER_00 (23:15):
Yeah, you so I was having this conversation just
this weekend about theimportance of a functioning grid
in a city, you know, a grid thatuh presents you with choices
left, right, straight at everyintersection that you get to.
Right.
Um, and that's how you keeppeople, buses, bikes, uh
anything, trucks, deliveryservice vehicles, everything
fire trucks, uh, ambulancesmoving is uh through the choice
(23:35):
that a grid offers.
And as soon as we start tomonkey with the grid, you know,
no right turn on red or uh, youknow, restrict timing, make
introduce complications into thegrid.
The functioning of the gridbreaks down and things start to
move less slowly, you have aless efficient, less efficient
city.
Uh you gave two options why itmight have happened.
I think it's I think it's thelatter of your two options.
(23:56):
Um the previous council gavereally clear direction to city
staff to put uh pedestriansafety ahead of all other
considerations.
And so those no right turns onreds are in the name of
pedestrian safety.
Now interesting.
SPEAKER_01 (24:10):
So this is not right on red.
SPEAKER_00 (24:11):
This is right at all.
Can't turn right at okay.
All right.
This is right at all.
So okay, so that's a that's asimilar issue, related issue.
Um uh now I lost my train ofthought, buddy.
Sorry.
That's okay.
I know what I'm like, I do thattoo.
That's all right.
Oh, I was gonna say the but thedata is showing since the
introduction of these thesecontrols, and particularly the
(24:32):
no right on red, yeah, therethere's really not a positive
indication of change.
Like the data doesn't show thatthings are better.
So um uh data probably showsthat congestion's worse.
In fact, it does show that.
So, you know that the um I thinkwe have some consideration to do
of whether we're doing thisright, whether we're uh we're
actually serving all of thepeople that use the roadways,
(24:53):
whether they're pedestrians orcyclists or or all the other
user groups that I justmentioned, yeah, in a way that
everybody can have their needsmet without sacrificing the
needs of some of those groupshaving their needs met.
SPEAKER_01 (25:04):
So I'm gonna go ahead and take those signs down
because Mayor Andy said thatthey this is not right.
We'd take them down.
Okay, yeah.
How about you doing uh someshort videos there with this
episode?
Yeah, it's just gonna be that.
It's like just take them down.
You're on your own, cowboy.
We won't do that to you.
Okay.
But one thing is that we doobviously another part element
of traffic is that there's a lotof people moving here.
(25:25):
Um, that's another big thing.
There's two things there.
So, how do we handleinfrastructure and population
growth and housing?
SPEAKER_00 (25:33):
Yeah, well, that's a big question.
Pretty open-ended.
So, we right now we have to bebuilding around 8,000 units of
housing per year across.
SPEAKER_01 (25:42):
What are we doing now?
SPEAKER_00 (25:43):
We're barely, we're not even cracking 4,000.
We're just like just below 4,000for the last three or four
years.
So we've got a lot of work to doto move faster.
And some of that has to do withuh approvals time, some of that
has to do with rezoning of land.
Um, but more and more it has todo with Halifax Water's ability
to provide water, wastewater,and stormwater service to these
(26:05):
growth nodes that we have, thesegrowth areas uh in the suburban
areas.
So um this is becoming serious.
This is this has the potentialto impact our economic
competitiveness.
Um, I, you know, before we gotstarted today, I was talking to
you about how the federalgovernment is going to be making
massive investments in nationaldefense to meet NATO
commitments, and Halifax, ashome to the largest armed forces
(26:28):
base in the country and home toall three branches of the
service, um, is going to benefitdisproportionately from this
massively increased defenseinvestment.
That's gonna bring all kinds ofmore people working in the
field, more families.
It's gonna drive housing growthat a at a rate that's
disproportionate to to otherareas in Canada.
And we need to be on the ball inmaking sure that we can service
(26:50):
all these areas.
SPEAKER_01 (26:51):
Yeah.
I I that's I mean, yeah.
I mean, we that if you're ifwe're truly only doing ha less
than half, then I mean we'rewe're just not keeping up at
all.
So I mean, yeah, uh, I knew I doand I do know it seems like
different levels of governmentkind of seem to be pointing the
finger saying, like, well, weneed these approvals, we need
these approvals, but we we alsoneed the workers.
SPEAKER_00 (27:09):
And we need the workers, and we need a
governance system that works.
Yeah, and uh, and we need uhfederal and provincial
assistance to pay for the uh topay for the infrastructure
because um we can't put it allon the municipal taxpayer, and
um it is a it is a collectiveresponsibility that uh we have
fun a functioning capital city.
SPEAKER_01 (27:27):
Great segue to the next.
The the 10.5% question.
Oh okay.
You go for it, Matt.
Get it in there.
Oh in here.
SPEAKER_02 (27:37):
I'll I'll cool I'll cool it down after Matt here.
I'll come to something warm inthe back.
Oh, no, no, listen, listen.
SPEAKER_01 (27:41):
He got he got it beaten down to zero last time.
Do you think he can do it again?
SPEAKER_00 (27:46):
Yes, please.
God, so I it's a it's gonna be atough slog this year, but I'll
here's here's what I'll tellyou.
Um, so that the very day thatcouncil approved the 0% rate
increase last year, I hadanother motion ready to go.
And that motion was okay,council join me in directing the
staff, like vote with me, andthey did.
And we directed staff to uh forthis year's budget, no increases
(28:10):
other than collective uhbargaining agreements, uh
contracts that are alreadysigned, and inflation.
So just allow for increases ofthose three things.
And and staff came back uh amonth ago um and said, we just
did those things you said, andthat's a 10.5 increase on the
average tax bill.
Right.
So that's how much things arecosting right now.
So now to get that back, to beatthat back, because people can't
(28:32):
afford 10.5.
SPEAKER_03 (28:34):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (28:34):
Um, in light of how you know water rate increases
and power rate increases and allthose things, inflation and
interest rates, um, we're gonnahave to beat that back.
And that is gonna mean sometough choices about then what
are we gonna cut?
What are we gonna cut?
And so bike lanes.
We've got a we've got a strongopinion there.
SPEAKER_01 (28:52):
I I don't actually, you know what?
I actually do not have a strongopinion on bike lanes, but that
seems to be what everyone'stalking about online.
SPEAKER_02 (29:01):
It it is probably the number one comment when
you're looking at a lot of Imean, what's going on with the
roads, and then there'scomplaints about bike lanes.
SPEAKER_00 (29:07):
Well, let's let's look and see what uh what
comments this conversationgenerates from your from your
listenership.
I'd love to see that.
Yeah.
Um, so we're gonna have to cutsomething.
And so that that same motion umthat I that I had passed last
summer also directed the staffto start to define for the
council in this budget processwhat are our core services and
what are those extras that we'vejust gotten used to adding on.
(29:28):
Yeah, because they all cost alot too.
So I it's my belief that we needto pair back the things that are
outside of our core mandate,refocus on core services, um,
refocus on diversifying ourrevenue streams to relieve
pressure from the tax rate anduh deliver residents a budget
they can afford.
SPEAKER_02 (29:46):
Could this be more opportunities for private
organizations that want to helpdeliver those services?
SPEAKER_00 (29:51):
Absolutely it is.
I was just in Boston uh talkingto the uh transit authority down
there about the way they'veinvited the private sector into
ferries.
So they're using ferries at atpeak hours in the morning and
night to move uh commuters allaround Boston Harbor.
In between peak hours, thosesame boats, private operators
are taking people out to harborislands.
SPEAKER_02 (30:10):
Call my buddy Dave get the speedboat, right?
SPEAKER_00 (30:12):
Well watching tours, you know, going out.
You can imagine going out toSanbro Light.
Uh yeah.
So there's a huge opportunity.
SPEAKER_01 (30:18):
That was brought up in the comment today when I was
as someone said uhprivatization.
Privatization of transit.
I don't know if it works justbecause transit's a money loser,
right?
Not in the grand scheme ofthings, but in a direct like
thing where we know we need toget people to work.
I think those people thinkwhatever pay.
SPEAKER_02 (30:35):
Yeah, I think if you did it private on a small scale,
it could be successful.
So if you actually had probablymore people doing it on a
smaller scale, it probably morelike say if you had to be able
to do it.
Keeping the boats busy all thetime, right?
Yeah.
Yeah.
You had somebody going fromSambro into the city every day,
right?
Doing that loop run, buteverybody was on board in the
community and it worked for themajority of the people that
needed to be.
SPEAKER_00 (30:56):
So that's one way to bring the private sector into to
relieve the burden on thetaxpayer through transit ideas.
But another one is you know,let's say we're building a new
transit terminal.
Uh, why wouldn't we go to, Idon't know, Tim Hortons or a dry
cleaner chain and say, we'rebuilding this building.
Why don't you come in andpartner with us?
Um, you uh you help to share thecost of the building, you're
(31:17):
gonna provide a service to ourtransit users.
It's gonna make transit moreattractive to use.
Um, and uh and then we relieveburden on the taxpayer because
you're helping to pay for itall.
So that kind of private sectorcollaboration, like a cafe in a
in a public library, anotherexample helps to uh keep the tax
rate low.
SPEAKER_02 (31:33):
If you put pints at all of the metro transit
stations across the city, I'llI'll just stop driving.
I think that would be a hugeincentive for me.
SPEAKER_00 (31:41):
It's funny you mention it because one of the
things that the private operatedboats in Boston Harbor do is you
can uh you can get a pint ofbeer on your commute home.
Uh and it's uh it's perfectlylegal.
SPEAKER_01 (31:51):
Listen, there was a mayor who once made some beer,
you know, in this city.
Oh, yeah.
I've heard a few times downthere.
Yeah, he's on the wall a coupletimes down there, and I think
he'd be all for it.
Yes, that's right.
Uh mayor key.
I I I bet you it wasn't dry backthen.
Oh no, it wasn't dry back then.
No.
(32:12):
So, okay.
Um with all the uh evolvingstuff and everything, um
actually one thing before we gointo that, because I hope there
like with the development thatwe're going to see and the
development that we're hoping tosee and the natural assessments
of things going up.
I mean uh sh those are must notbe keeping up with if you're
(32:32):
saying that oh we did just thesethings, the buildings that are
gonna get built that people aregonna be paying now higher
property tax on.
All that must be taken intoeffect and into consideration uh
with this whole kind of thefunds and all that stuff, right?
So so even with those newdevelopments, those new those
higher taxes, this vacant lot isnow assessed at$3 million, not
(32:55):
you know$150.
Yeah, that's most of it and allconsidered and taken into
effect.
SPEAKER_00 (33:00):
It's a complicated equation, but it is.
And will it surprise you tolearn that the the the revenue
growth from increasedassessments from last year to
this year's budget in HRM wasonly six million dollars?
Um so the assessments, theraise, the rise in assessments
has really slowed down.
Um and we could rely on a muchhigher number for years and
years than than that number.
(33:22):
And so that's hurting our ourrevenues.
One of the challenges is that weoperate under the um the
assessment cap, which issuppressing our incomes and
suppressing the tax rate anddistorting the market.
And one of our counselors,counselor steele, has passed a
motion just earlier in Decemberthat we that uh directing our
(33:42):
staff to study the assessmentcap and to um explain how it's
distorting the market and how itin what ways it is
disproportionately impactingfirst-time home buyers and
newcomers and rewarding peopleof long tenure who've been in
their home for 20 or 30 yearsthat really don't need the help.
Um so that's that's a veryinteresting and rich uh topic.
(34:03):
But um things like that distortthe our ability to raise
revenues, and um that's why I'mvery focused on on um
diversifying our revenue sourcesin some of the ways we've talked
about.
SPEAKER_02 (34:13):
Very cool.
Yeah, great answer.
Yeah.
Um yeah, well, I guess what wecan do before we move on.
Well, I before the 10 questions,I said warm and fuzzy stuff.
So I mean, you know, let's justtalk about the the the people,
uh the citizens of Halifax hereum for a moment.
And I'm sorry, Matt, this isn'treally on there, but like, you
know, we've we've grown to be amuch more diverse place over the
last five or so many years.
(34:35):
Um, you know, what can we do tomake sure we're staying Halifax
in the sense of promoting thekindness?
I thought having the nice agenthere uh last year was one of the
best things we've got.
Wasn't that great?
Yeah, right?
Like, you know, I I really wantto see and make sure that this
maritime city keeps that onething of friendliness towards
one another despite differences,despite whatever.
(34:58):
Um, any insights and how we canuh improve that going into 2026?
SPEAKER_00 (35:02):
I think just keep doing what we've always done.
And um I said I always hear frompeople who are visiting about
the kindness of Maritimers, thekindness of Haligonians.
And as far as I can tell, whenpeople are moving here, whether
they're coming from other partsof Canada, whether they're
coming from around the world,they they notice that too and
and they're adopting that.
So we all just need to keep ondoing the things that we do.
(35:24):
Um that's kind of a that's kindof uh a way of being in the
world answer.
Um, but if I could if I make itphysical, I'm a city planner,
like what else can we do?
So there are things that makethis place what it is, you know,
like the like Barrington Streetand the waterfront and the scale
of some of our neighborhoods.
So we also want to be protectingand cherishing those things.
We have to allow growth andchange and all that, but uh we
(35:46):
can be we can be discerningabout where and how that goes.
And we have something called theregional plan that does a really
good job at of showing where andhow growth should happen and how
we interconnect communities andso forth.
Um, so we can grow and stay trueto who we are and what's
attractive, what makes usattractive on the world stage.
SPEAKER_01 (36:05):
We to kind of add to that, what do you think Halifax
can do as a like the regional uhmunicipality that what we can do
for our part to help attract thepeople we want to bring here?
Yeah, like for example,tradespeople, health
professionals, and things likethat.
SPEAKER_00 (36:23):
Yeah, so uh I would say talk to your elected
provincial and federalrepresentatives about that.
Um, I, you know, we we thefederal government made a
decision to to sort of slow thefaucet on on immigration growth
in Canada while th services likehealthcare and housing caught
up.
I think it's temporary.
The the faucet's going to beeased back on shortly.
(36:43):
Um I'm very pleased to see thatthere is already a focus on
skilled labor, whether that's inhealth or whether that's in
building trades.
Um so there is a focus, likewe're being more discerning
about bringing in the skillsthat we really need to, for
example, build all theinfrastructure we need to build,
to build the housing that weneed to do and to deliver health
care to people that are agingand can't.
SPEAKER_01 (37:03):
Is there anything that you that you think that you
guys, like you know, our councilcan do to like so you can't
immigrate anybody, but you canwave the flag of like here's
where you want to be, kind ofthing?
SPEAKER_00 (37:15):
Yeah, and I I have to give credit to the former
mayor Mike Savage.
He uh he really f uh his primaryfocus was on creating a uh a a
welcoming city that uhacknowledged diversity and
acknowledged that our diversityis our strength, to borrow a
phrase.
Um and so that's reallyimportant.
I've continued his um every yearhe had a a welcome event for uh
(37:37):
international students, forforeign students.
Yeah.
So I I'm carrying that on.
I had it back in September downat the West End.
We had um I think 500international students came and
uh uh it was a wonderful, awonderful evening.
So um the more we celebrate uhthe multicultural uh role of
Halifax in a as a leading cityand a multicultural country,
(37:58):
then I think we are gonnacontinue to attract people,
which we need to do for oureconomy.
SPEAKER_01 (38:02):
100%.
SPEAKER_02 (38:02):
Just jump right before the bottom of the 10
questions here, Matt, because wedon't want to run out of time,
unfortunately.
So um Yeah, we're going 10questions?
Well, just before there was justone other thing here.
I I love this question.
You know, um, as mayor ofHalifax, what's quality of life?
And what does that actually meanto you and what every citizen
should have in our city?
SPEAKER_00 (38:23):
Sure.
Look, it's um it's affordabilityfor one thing, um, making sure
that people can afford theservices they need, whether
that's the rec the rec programafter school or the but getting
on the bus or the ferry thatthey need, uh, the tax rate, the
rent, uh, all those things areuh those are all elements of
affordability and quality oflife.
Um there's also the cleanlinessand safety of the city.
(38:46):
So that feeling you get when youwalk down a street, like this
place is clean.
Someone cares about this place,you know, like this place is
looking good.
Um, that's quality of life.
Things to do in the city, likean amazing central library, a
killer uh waterfront, um a placewhere arts and culture can
thrive, like our our indie musicscene is like second to none in
(39:06):
the country, you know.
That's quality of life.
Um, how we how we meet the needsof a growing population, a
growing community, gettingenough houses built, connecting
communities with transit that'senjoyable to ride, that's
quality of life.
Um, and I I'll go back, I'llfinish it maybe by by uh what
you said a minute ago about umabout what it is to be what is
(39:27):
it, what's the magic about thisplace?
How we are nice to each otherand how how people want to be
here because we're welcoming.
SPEAKER_02 (39:33):
100%.
It's my favorite place to be.
SPEAKER_00 (39:35):
Me too.
SPEAKER_02 (39:35):
Yeah.
So thank you for all that.
I mean, we asked you a lot oftough questions there in a short
time.
We jumped through a lot ofdifferent themes and topics.
That's kind of what we do.
So now we're gonna go into the10 questions.
SPEAKER_00 (39:44):
All right, the dreaded 10 questions.
It's not so dreaded, these arepretty.
SPEAKER_02 (39:48):
This is the lightest part about it.
Yeah, okay, all right, good.
All right, Matt.
Can we start?
Sure, I'll start.
SPEAKER_01 (39:53):
Yeah, okay.
So the this is the great donordebate.
Halifax, obviously, officialdonaires, right?
Uh, it's our our official food.
But when nobody's looking, whereis Andy ordering donaires from?
SPEAKER_00 (40:07):
Listen, man, you're gonna get me in trouble.
There's no there is a very thereis no safe answer here.
Um I'll tell you uh uh I I haveallegiance to two and I spread
myself pretty equally betweenthe two and they are Tony's
which is my OG from when I was akid yeah um and and then King of
Donair also yeah also I I I I Ishould have won a donair eating
(40:31):
contest when I was MP at King ofDonaire on on Quimpo Road but uh
um some some dodgy judging uhcost me the win so I still bear
a little bit of uh those NahasesI tell you all right so this is
just real talk term limits yesor no should Halifax Council
(40:52):
members have term limits andwould you apply them to yourself
also that's a good questionthere are no term limits at any
order of government anywhere inCanada so that's a very American
construct um and I think rightnow people are kind of looking
down there and going thank Godfor term limits uh you know um
but I sometimes you you thinkabout that in in Canada I I I
(41:16):
don't know I I think at the ifI'm lucky enough to serve for
eight years here I'll be uh ofan age where I'm I'll be ready
to to to pass the the torch onto somebody uh who's ready to to
put a lot a lot of energy intoit so I I'd be okay with that
but um but that really is one ofthose questions you have to take
to the public to to to figureout how they how they feel about
(41:37):
it.
Yeah cool oh that's fair okay uhquestion number three so mayor's
hours are you solving citiesprobably solving the city's
problems at 6 a.m or doomscrolling them at midnight both
yeah there is uh this is Iturned to one of my uh to one of
(41:58):
my colleagues a few days ago andI was I had gotten this cold
that you can still hear in mythroat a little bit and I turned
to her and I said remember thethe part in our career where we
actually had something called asick day oh yeah so my God so
the hours are a little bit crazyum you know my my team works
with me on weekends and eveningsuh we we uh they get to rotate
but it's always me um butthey're they're incredible but
(42:22):
the hours are long but that'sthe price of admission and you
have to turn up yeah yeah peoplepeople uh send you into this job
with their vote and they have uha reasonable expectation that
you're gonna be there for themand and uh it's not just the
work at the desk with the hiredpolicy work that's really
important it's also heading downto the Legion and saying hello
to folks and shaking their handsso all those things are
(42:42):
important.
Oh that's good yeah one day inHalifax someone's in town for 24
hours what's the one thing theyabsolutely have to experience or
they didn't really visit Halifaxin your opinion I've mentioned
the waterfront a number of timesso I'm gonna say you gotta
you've got to walk thatwaterfront from one end to the
other and get a sandwich or stopinto our restaurant and have a
(43:03):
pint.
SPEAKER_01 (43:03):
Easy night yeah absolutely the waterfront is
awesome my four year old alwaysloves he loves going down and
just walking the waterfrontevery weekend yeah the Evergreen
Fest there the other week wasfantastic something the fire
fire pit something yeah yeah uhall right question number five
so where's the best view in thecity?
SPEAKER_00 (43:22):
Oh I was very lucky uh a couple of years ago I got
invited uh to climb up insidethe tower one of the towers of
the McDonald Bridge oh there's alittle ladder in there you open
a door out at the roadway leveland you get a harness on and
it's it felt like it took 15minutes to get up there but once
you get up on the top there'sactually a walkway at the top of
(43:43):
the tower.
So next time you're drivingacross look up there and you can
kind of see the railing.
Yeah it might be covered rightnow because of the construction
but it's up there and you canlook one way across Dartmouth to
the horizon you can look acrossHalifax right across the
peninsula to over Cowie Hill andall the way to the horizon that
way you can see right out to themouth of the harbor harbor and
the the curve of the earth onthe horizon there.
(44:06):
It's uh oh is that is that thoseuh that's not on my other show
yeah okay any that sound thatsounds like the Halifax's
version of the Skywalker yeahthere you go um yeah so you're
up oh sorry I lost my thing youjust go ahead because I got to
get back okay sure so questionnumber six so what does uh what
(44:26):
does turning your brain offactually look like for you oh
I'm a uh I'm a carpenter I'veI've uh I've I'm furniture
designer and builder I've builta few kitchens I've uh built
some additions and do a lot ofuh my own renovations so that's
my meditation is uh is woodworkuh getting out my pencil and
drawing a plan and then gettingdown to my workshop and and
(44:48):
actually building it so that'sman I'm building a deck at the
spring if you uh need some timeto relax come on over I just
finished my front deck in timefor the snow to fly and I I
didn't even have a chance to siton it and the snow came yeah
right on made a new friend todaythat's great yeah question
number seven oh my gosh yes soso no politics here man this is
just the physical okay physicalokay who wins a fight Andy film
(45:12):
or Tim Houston and why just aphone nah right I I've been
thinking a lot about thesequestions I'm a I'm a stocky guy
I've got this very strong corehigh muscle mass Tim's lanky
he's got reach he's got reachhe's got this like if he if he
didn't keep his chin down rightcome down to a game of cunning I
(45:32):
feel like it'd be like a pitbull if you could get in under
those uh get in under thosearmpits you could probably just
wreck the body bring them downI'd get in low and get in low
and yeah yeah and work them downbut you know what I what I'd
rather think about is what whowhat victories could he and I
have together who could whocould he and I bring down
together what could we work I Ibelieve I believe you guys get
(45:53):
along actually quite well sothat's why I thought this
question was funny.
SPEAKER_01 (45:56):
We didn't ask it because we we think that you
guys actually want to fight eachother we do just to be clear.
We have a lot of the sameobjectives and we make a pretty
good team I think so great wayto make good friends after a
good fight in yeah in factactually we we wanted to
actually have you guys ontogether but it's hard to line
up two very busy people'sschedules yes 100% yeah so
question number eight so we didtalk about the super mayoral you
(46:17):
know with the Cape powers andeverything like that.
That's boring.
SPEAKER_00 (46:20):
Let's talk about if you were a superhero what powers
would you like to have oh I Ihave my whole life I've wanted
to fly uh so uh that that wouldbe the one to be able to to rise
up above and and look down andand I and uh and like and see
where you are see the city seehow the how the blocks all work
together um I used to try when Iwas young I used to try to train
(46:43):
myself to dream in in in thisway I'd read a I'd read
something about it you can likeif you work on it you can kind
of like oh yeah push your dreamsin certain directions and I
would always try to fly yeahI've I've done it too and I've
done it don't do a differentanother plane yeah you know the
Weezer guy did it a lot the leadsinger Weezer went to a deep
deep depression flew to Nepalblack blankets over the windows
trying to live in a dream worldall the time what's it called
(47:06):
what it's called oh mine's avery happy dream it's it's
you're soaring it's it's veryuplifting yeah there's a great
movie about it as well luciddreaming question number nine
lucid dreaming okay so uhquestion number nine uh what's
one decision in politics whetherit be mayor or uh in federal
that kind of still weigh weighson you a little bit that you
(47:29):
kind of maybe we're kind of likeI still think about that and I
wish I did that differently geezthat's a good one um uh you know
I a a vote that I I I maybe castthe wrong way there probably
have been one or two that uhthat information there actually
was one um uh we had tolegislate when I was a member of
(47:51):
parliament we had to legislateone Christmas and and you you
might remember this maybe twentyeighteen or so we had to
legislate Canada Post back towork at Christmas time yeah and
because Christmas was going tobe canceled there were trucks
backed up full of and um so Ivoted I voted that way and later
in talking to some of the thepost the postal union members
(48:12):
that I represented here inHalifax um it turns out that
that MPs were given incompleteuh information and had I uh
slowed down to get completeinformation I might have voted
differently on that particularone that's that's one and then
um I do have an abiding worrythat uh you know um becoming an
MP it's hard on your family andmy daughter was very young when
(48:33):
I made that decision.
And I don't think people realizethat how hard it is.
Yeah yeah it's rough and so thatand that caused my relationship
with her some harm and we'vebeen lucky we've been able to
rebuild it but uh uh she's uh 19now and it's great now uh but it
wasn't for a long time yeah andso I you know I I would advise
people to be careful about thatdecision if they have families
(48:53):
and and I sometimes wonder if ifI would have done it
differently.
SPEAKER_01 (48:56):
That's a really good answer and actually really kind
of good of you to be honestabout that actually yeah yeah
great answer.
SPEAKER_02 (49:02):
Yeah absolutely so question number 10 before we get
to our very very last but thisis the question number 10 over
to you Tobin okay yeah um howHalifax's theme song so you know
every city needs a soundtrack ora vibe what do you think it
can't be Barrett's privateersthat's silver plate we we we've
we got that song it's a greatsong but we got to move away
from that this year.
What's the new Halifax themesong for 2026?
SPEAKER_00 (49:23):
We built this city on rock and roll baby here we go
starship love it when I wasdoing when I was leading the
downtown plan some friendsactually gave me a t-shirt with
disco sparkly letters that saidwe built this city on I still
have this t-shirt very cool I'llstart to wear it again I think I
think you definitely should 2026I hope we see that t-shirt I
agree so last call so last calluh this is something that we've
(49:48):
been asking everybody in 2025 Ithink we're gonna keep rolling
with it in 2026 just because wereally really enjoy it and that
is what is one piece of advicethat you were given in your
lifetime that you'd like toshare with us oh golly um yeah
uh and I've grown to live by itit's that when you are trying to
(50:10):
make a complicated decision uhget to an answer whether it's on
a council floor or in parliamentor it's a community consultation
or it's around your familydinner table uh nobody no one
person has the right answer allby themselves.
And the way to look at it isthat everybody who's in that
group like your family, the thecouncil chamber everybody has a
(50:32):
piece of the answer.
And to get to the truth you needto listen and slow down and take
the time to put those piecestogether and that shows you the
truth.
That shows you the right answer.
SPEAKER_01 (50:45):
Yeah I like it.
SPEAKER_02 (50:47):
Words to live by I like it too well that is it
cheers to you thank you verymuch uh mayor Fillmore and to a
successful 2026 we hope the bestfor you and we hope the best for
Halifax so absolutely and forour show Matt Cheers to season
season four thank you forkicking it off with us I think
you're doing a great job it's areally hard job to do and I
don't think people give thatenough thanks guys I really
appreciate it I wish you a greatseason four thanks for for doing
(51:10):
this and we'll look forward todoing another time cheers okay
Cheers, cheers.
Cheers, everybody.
Nice to be with you.
SPEAKER_02 (00:21):
Welcome to the afternoon fight.
I'm Mike Tobin.
SPEAKER_01 (00:23):
I am Matt Conrad.
SPEAKER_00 (00:24):
And I am uh Mayor Andy Fillmore.
SPEAKER_01 (00:27):
Mayor Andy Fillmore.
SPEAKER_02 (00:28):
Wow.
SPEAKER_01 (00:28):
The last time you were on our show, you were mayor
candidate, Andy Fillmore.
SPEAKER_00 (00:33):
I was mayor wannabe, yeah.
And uh I did want to be.
And that was uh what was thatlast summer sometime, or maybe
sep maybe September.
SPEAKER_01 (00:41):
It would have been uh yeah, it would have been
yeah, it was September that wehad you on.
That's right.
SPEAKER_00 (00:47):
About a year ago out in Sackville.
That was a very goodconversation.
And uh yeah, nice to be backwith you.
SPEAKER_02 (00:51):
Yeah, 100%.
Last our last episode with SteveMurray was just over there at
the old triangle, right?
That's right.
Yeah, my gosh.
And this is uh a pretty nicelooking spot.
This is our first time here, uhmy first time in the mayor's
office.
SPEAKER_00 (01:02):
Welcome to the mayor's office.
Yeah, it's a pretty nice placeto come to work every day.
Very lucky.
We I can keep an eye on what'sgoing on in the grand parade, as
you can see.
Yeah, and right now theChristmas tree is all lit up.
It's looking wonderful outthere.
There's a menorah that's got acouple of candles lit, and uh
the place is looking prettyfestival.
SPEAKER_02 (01:18):
And your staff all likes you.
They all think you're a goodguy.
Yeah, they all seem very happyand relaxed out there.
So that's a that's a good vibe,right?
I'm glad you noticed that.
Feel like we're in a safe spacehere.
SPEAKER_01 (01:28):
I will I will say that you know, anyone who thinks
that politicians don't keeptheir word, when he was on the
show, he did say that you madeyou just it it felt like a
throwaway, but you said we'll doa podcast at City Hall if I win.
And here we are.
SPEAKER_02 (01:42):
Here we are.
SPEAKER_01 (01:43):
Politician keeping his word.
We're drinking non-alcoholicbeer, though.
We are drinking non-alcoholicbeer, yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (01:48):
Because it's a dry zone, and I mean that that's
fair.
SPEAKER_00 (01:50):
City hall's dry, so thanks for rolling with that.
But you picked uh you picked avery nice uh option here.
So thank you for for that.
SPEAKER_01 (01:57):
Yeah, the crafty rattlers are pretty good one to
have at the end of a day.
Pump house crafty rattlers.
Shout out to Monkey Nova Scotia.
There you go.
Yeah, so yeah, let's uh let'sroll into this stuff, though.
We got we got uh a lot of thingsto talk about, and we know
you're a very busy guy, so wethank you very much for having
us on here and doing this.
So um yeah, so let's start withuh rewind a little bit.
(02:17):
You went from uh uh uhParliament Hill to City Hall.
SPEAKER_00 (02:23):
So and boy, my arms tired.
SPEAKER_01 (02:27):
So much has happened in that time, though.
Like so, I mean, we're gonna getyou unpack it a little bit, but
I mean just uh uh anyonelistening who because sometimes
we get people from othercountries, um we've had you know
you you uh decided to notre-offer as MP, decided to run
for mayor, uh we had JustinTrudeau resign as leader and
(02:48):
prime minister.
Right.
Carney Wynn now is in possess inin in the position where he's uh
uh one seat away from amajority, which is also pretty
crazy.
And here you are, and you'veyou've been in the seat now for
a little over a year.
SPEAKER_00 (03:01):
Yeah, about 14 months, that's right.
SPEAKER_01 (03:03):
Yeah, so uh unpack everything, like you know, about
the whole moving from federal tomunicipal.
SPEAKER_00 (03:09):
Well, I'll say it's been uh a lot of fun to watch
all the goings on in Ottawa fromHalifax.
I'm so glad to be here and andnot in the midst of all of the
uh of all the excitement.
But um it was quite uh a drama,wasn't it?
Watching uh Justin Trudeauwithdraw, watching Mark
Kearney's ascension, watchingthe near-majority election on uh
(03:31):
on election night, and uh peoplegetting back into politics that
had resigned, and uh a leaderexpecting to be prime minister
who didn't quite make it, andand now right up to the this
past week with another yetanother floor crossing, putting
the prime minister within oneseat of uh of a majority
government.
So it's been fun to watch it.
I'm glad I'm watching it fromhere in Halifax.
SPEAKER_01 (03:52):
Right.
That that's what I was gonna askis like uh, you know, like any
is there anything in the back ofyour head thinking like, oh,
maybe I should have stuck it outthere?
SPEAKER_00 (04:01):
Not in the least.
You know, there's a little bitof nostalgia, you know.
I I made a lot of friends upthere on on all sides of the
aisle, and I see them uh goingthrough the this uh the fun and
games, and there is somenostalgia for sure.
But no, I was I did nine yearsof that, and I resigned my seat
to run for mayor, and it was agreat decision.
SPEAKER_01 (04:21):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (04:22):
Awesome.
SPEAKER_01 (04:22):
Yeah, I think I think the the Shannon who took
over in your spot is seems to bedoing a pretty good job so far.
SPEAKER_00 (04:28):
She is.
Uh Shannon worked at HRM formany, many years.
She led the sustainabilitydepartment, and she's bringing
that ethos to Ottawa, and she'sdoing a great job.
SPEAKER_01 (04:36):
Yeah, you guys just like tagged each other in or
something.
SPEAKER_00 (04:38):
That's right.
Isn't that funny?
And it's it's a the story goesback even further because you'll
remember that Mike Savage hadbeen an MP and became mayor.
And so who knows what's next forShannon?
Maybe she's uh she'll be our ourmayor down the road.
SPEAKER_02 (04:49):
She'll be the next one running the place.
There we go.
When Andy's ready to what do youthink's like the biggest mental
ship going from uh um you knowfederal politics to municipal
politics?
SPEAKER_00 (05:00):
Yeah, well, everything's very much more
local, right?
Uh in the other in the other jobin Ottawa, I was um I had my
focus on Halifax, but on thosenational issues like employment,
like immigration, like nationaldefense.
Um so even though they'rethey're local, they are they are
a piece of a national puzzle.
In council, it's local with acapital L.
(05:22):
It's you know the rec center inmy district, it's the sidewalk
outside uh my my house, it's thepothole, the bus, you know, it's
it's extremely local.
So that's very different.
However, you know, I think youguys know that my career for
over 20 years before politicswas city planning.
SPEAKER_03 (05:39):
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (05:40):
So I'm kind of right back in my in my sweet spot,
back in my comfort zone here,um, being the mayor of a of a
city of a half million that'sthe fastest growing city in the
country and that is going tocontinue to be, and that is just
so full of opportunity.
I'm I'm thrilled.
SPEAKER_02 (05:53):
Were you a city planner here in Halifax?
Or were you where did you docity city planning?
I was.
SPEAKER_00 (05:56):
I did city planning.
I studied at Dalhousie, but I Icut my teeth down in Boston on a
project called The Big Dig, andthen worked in Maine in a very
small rural community for a fewyears and moved home uh to
Halifax in 2005 and worked atthe city for seven years, led
the creation of the downtownplan, the HRM by design downtown
plan it was called.
That's what that necktie is overon the wall over there.
SPEAKER_02 (06:19):
Oh, okay.
Yeah, cool.
I don't know if the camera willbe able to get it.
No, probably not.
SPEAKER_00 (06:23):
Uh when I when I uh left the city in 2012 after
delivering the downtown plan, myteam had the the downtown
concept plan printed on anecktie and mounted in that
shadow box.
So that's my full circle momentthere of being back here at HRM.
SPEAKER_01 (06:38):
Very cool.
Yeah.
Well, uh, in terms of thetransition, like what do you
feel?
And maybe it maybe there wasnothing, but what do you feel
was like the biggest surprise uhentering into municipal politics
versus federal politics?
SPEAKER_00 (06:52):
Yeah, I'll I'll I have an answer for that.
You know, uh one thing that youyou learn to do in federal
politics during debate is tobring your A game.
Like you bring the passion,you're you bring your research,
you you're on your feet, you'respeaking with passion and and
conviction.
Um and um that's how I turned upin the council chamber.
(07:13):
Uh and uh boy, uh it turns outthat's not exactly a common uh
common way to do it.
So I learned that uh folks areexpecting a much more sort of
calm and measured, uh uh maybemore um uh le I don't want to
say less enthusiastic, but lessuh um expressive way of
expressing your your opinionduring debate.
(07:34):
So I've learned to tone it downa little bit so I don't ruffle
feathers and and catch peopleoff guard.
SPEAKER_01 (07:39):
I think it can be a good mix between the two because
council can be pretty dry andpretty slow.
I would say I'd say councilwould be more civil, wouldn't
they be?
Oh, they're definitely morecivil, uh, because I don't know
if you've ever watched uh theHouse of Consumer.
I mean, I mean I mean it's it'squite a performance, is what I
should say.
It's a quite performance, butit's formative art.
It's not even like the when whenyou're standing up there and
you're talking to Mr.
(07:59):
Speaker, and yeah, that's onething.
That's a bit of a performance.
The stuff I don't like, and youknow, you get the you get your
little jabs in there sometimes,which is funny.
Uh can be funny, but what Idon't like about it, because we
have these people who we'veelected to kind of serve as our
government and all that, is thestuff that's in the background,
right?
The cat calling and the insectsand the heckling.
Yeah, I think that should justbe wiped out.
(08:22):
There's none of that in council?
SPEAKER_00 (08:23):
No, no, no, no, no, there's actually not.
Uh I mean sometimes people umhave side conversations that can
be distracting, but uh whenyou're in the chair, you try to
you try to give a little handsignal to to because when
someone has the else has thefloor, they do find that
distracting.
They could lose their train ofthought, and you can see the
people who have a littleconsternation on their brow.
You so I try to address that andkeep it uh keep it all fair.
(08:45):
But I don't miss the heckling.
That was really um speaking ofdistractions.
Oh my gosh, you're trying,you're on your feet trying to
give a speech or make a point,and you're getting all kinds of
things hurled at you, but itdoes toughen you up, I'll tell
you.
SPEAKER_02 (08:57):
I bet.
Yeah, I bet it does.
So we got a re rear view realquick.
So this is episodes coming outin 2026, dry January.
So Pump House, please send meanother case of these.
Uh uh uh but uh but you know,what was one of your biggest
accomplish accomplishments for2025 that you think you did?
SPEAKER_00 (09:15):
Uh here in HRM in the in the new job.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (09:19):
Well, I will say one of our listeners wrote on our
Facebook, because I said on myFacebook said we're talking to
you today, and he said, I'mgoing back to listening to the
episode that he was on becauseyou made a commitment about what
the things you'd like to do inyour first hundred days.
He says, Let's see if heaccomplished the things that he
wanted to do in his firsthundred days.
SPEAKER_00 (09:37):
I I should have re-listened to I should have
listened to that too.
SPEAKER_02 (09:40):
I you're you're you're you're a good company,
man.
I don't remember what you said.
SPEAKER_00 (09:43):
Yeah, all right.
Well, I mean it was it was tohave you fellas back in about a
year or so.
We have checked out boxes.
Check that out box checked.
Um well the I would say, youknow, when you when you run to
be elected, you run on aplatform.
And the platform um I believe islike a contract with the people
that you're asking to vote foryou.
And in my contract that I made,I said that I would do
(10:05):
everything that I could to holdthe tax rate flat in my first
year.
And I did.
So we were delivered a a budgetthat did not have a flat tax
rate.
In fact, it had a uh fairly goodincrease.
And over the months of debate ofuh with my colleagues, I was
able to beat it down to a zeropercent increase on the tax
rate.
So promise made, promisedelivered.
(10:26):
I feel good about that one.
SPEAKER_01 (10:27):
Yep.
Yeah, well, and we'll we'll getto the the the upcoming one that
we'll talk about that one alittle bit because yeah.
But um, yeah, I think that's athat's a good thing.
I think that's much needed.
People are struggling, right?
Increasing taxes.
And I mean, yeah, we like Isaid, we can get to that other
stuff, the other solutionsfurther down, but I'll go I'll
jump over to the next bit.
SPEAKER_02 (10:46):
So this is just a hit and a hit and a miss, or uh,
what's one thing in 2025 lookingback that you kind of regret or
wish we could reverse or workharder on in 2026 that we just
don't really have got right yet.
SPEAKER_00 (11:00):
Listen, I'll take some responsibility here.
Um I I mentioned a few minutesago that uh you know about the
way I turned up in the councilchamber with a lot of energy and
uh some pretty big ideas, andum, I think that kind of rocked
some of my colleagues a littlebit.
They they um you know let let'ssay this HRM has a new mayor for
(11:21):
the first time in 12 years.
Half the council is new.
I started a new job, a newposition for the first time in a
decade.
There is a lot of changehappening right now, and so I I
reflect on how I showed up inthat change.
And uh I I'll wear it that I Iwish I had, if I could go back,
I would have shown up a littlebit more in a more conciliatory
(11:42):
uh way with my colleagues to tryto get them to believe and
support some of the things thatI believe and support and the
things that I ran on.
Um, because I think my my earlyenthusiasm might have been a bit
off off-putting for people.
SPEAKER_02 (11:55):
Yeah, but I in fairness, there's probably a lot
more you all have in common thanwhat you don't have in common.
Isn't that not true?
SPEAKER_00 (12:01):
That's absolutely true.
Right.
That's absolutely true.
We're often, even though we'resaying it differently, often
we're saying the same things.
And so it's worth taking time toto listen carefully to each
other and to and discern what itis that we actually agree on and
and act on those things.
SPEAKER_01 (12:14):
That and that's I guess some of the thing is like
the um uh I know we had a couplecomments on when we when they
said we were talking to you,like a couple people did make
comments and saying how they uhthe the way you kind of came in
was almost kind of like uh likeis that really how uh mayor
should kind of come in andcharge you and all that stuff?
And I know there was the wholelike uh strong mayor or super
(12:36):
mayor, super mayor, yeah,whatever it was.
I don't know if you got a capeif you get that or not, but like
the um I got lots of kryptonitebecause of it, I'll tell you
that.
That's good.
I mean that being said though,uh maybe maybe there was a
healthy balance or somethingthat in there.
That being said, I I personallydidn't dislike the energy that
(12:59):
you brought to it.
SPEAKER_02 (13:00):
Um because you have the exact same energy though.
SPEAKER_01 (13:02):
You're I had the same energy because I ran in
2020, right?
For council, yeah.
And uh I probably would havebrought the same energy that you
would have because I do thinkthat we need a little bit of
shakeup and a little differentthinking and things like that
here.
Um like I said, that in-between,not quite you know, cat like not
(13:24):
quite quite uh Parliament Hill,but a little bit more than what
we got going on, kind of thing.
SPEAKER_00 (13:28):
So yeah, yeah.
Well, you you mentioned uhstrong mayor powers.
That's what they're called inOntario.
I I always refer to them asaccountable mayor powers here,
um, or even accountablegovernance.
Um, and so the the challengethat I saw and that I tried to
articulate was um people inevery district in HRM voted for
uh by a pretty good margin.
(13:49):
I didn't quite double my nearestcompetitor, but pretty handy to
doubling my nearest competitorin terms of the vote count.
Um, voted for a mayor with areally clear platform on
affordability, mobility, andhousing.
And um when it gets down to it,uh there's there there's no way
for the mayor to expresslydirect any kind of change.
You have to work through thecouncil process, bring people
(14:11):
along.
So you are very much one vote of16, one vote of 17, chair of the
board.
And I think that I think it's areasonable question to ask that
in the 20, the complicated 21stcentury, with challenges
breathing down our neck, withopportunities coming at us
lightning fast, is uh agovernance structure that was
designed for a smaller,slow-moving city serving us?
(14:34):
And that and that was thequestion that I was asking.
SPEAKER_01 (14:36):
Yeah, I mean, uh like I think I think reform of
some sort could be viewed as.
Um how do you feel about likehow Quebec does it?
Because they bring in parties.
There's parties in municipalpolitics in Quebec.
How do you what do you feelabout that?
SPEAKER_00 (14:49):
Yeah, there are other cities in Vancouver.
I was just chatting with theex-mayor of uh Vancouver on the
weekend, Gregor Robertson, who'snow Canada's Minister of
Housing.
Uh, we were talking about that.
Um, I I don't I I was happy toleave partisan politics behind.
Now, could there be organizingideas that sort of uh that that
bring people together uh incandidacy so that you know if if
(15:09):
we can all agree that my gosh,there is a housing crisis and we
do need to get bus rapid transitgoing, well then wouldn't that
be good to express that to thecommunity so they can say, you
know, there's a group of peoplethat will actually act on the
things that we are that'simportant to us.
So I wouldn't I wouldn't put italong partisan pol party lines,
but I might say that there isroom for organization around
(15:30):
ideas.
SPEAKER_01 (15:31):
Yeah.
Well, that's uh I think that'sthe thing.
I mean, really you have to be ayou know a good negotiator to be
sitting on council.
SPEAKER_00 (15:38):
You do it's it's a game of relationships.
Um and and and I learned a lotabout that this past year.
It really it really does turn onon those on those personal
relationships.
And so the trick is how do youlive up to your your own ideals?
I'll I'll just talk aboutmyself.
My how do I live up to myideals?
How do I live up to what Ipromised the voters I would do
(16:02):
in that contract called a callto campaign?
Yep.
Um but in a way that I have toum navigate that with 16 other
opinions and and perspectives.
It's not always easy, and that'swhy you don't win every vote.
SPEAKER_01 (16:14):
No, exactly.
And I think I think a lot ofpeople don't really fully
realize that because they thinkmayors, they think mayors do
have these authorities orwhatever it may be, right?
Your one vote.
SPEAKER_00 (16:24):
You're a tiebreaker, basically.
I think it's true that themajority of HRM residents
believe that the mayor is theboss, and uh, and that's not the
case.
SPEAKER_01 (16:31):
No, yeah.
Yeah, so I mean that's a thing.
Uh it's uh so yeah, maybethere's some sort of some sort
of reform in there, but I thinkthat's a good conversation.
I think it's a good conversationto have.
SPEAKER_02 (16:40):
Absolutely.
Yeah.
So I'm gonna move like and askabout some pressure points that
are going on in Halifax rightnow.
You know, I know people aregoing to be listening to this
episode and they're probablygonna be, you know, are they
gonna ask some of thesequestions?
So we're just gonna dive inthrough through some of the
things.
Uh, but first I want to say,like in your own opinion, how
would you describe the state ofHalifax in a sentence or just a
(17:01):
blank statement?
Like, how are we doing right nowand how do you think we're going
to get through 2026?
SPEAKER_00 (17:08):
I think we're doing a good job of managing the
challenges of growth.
Uh, and I believe we are facedwith remarkable opportunity in
the in the years ahead.
So I think Halifax is in a greatplace.
I I would stack it up againstany other Canadian city, ain't
even going beyond Canada.
Um, we uh we are a place thatthe world has discovered.
(17:31):
Um we are we have a physicalnatural beauty here that people
envy and and want to be part of.
The um this the tech and startupcommunity has found us.
There's the ocean clustercommunity that's found us,
there's biotech, there's theresearch, uh, AI now now and now
defense.
This brings us to defense.
You know, the NATO has set uptheir one of two defense
(17:52):
innovation accelerators uh ofthe North Atlantic in Halifax,
one of two globally.
Potential bill.
And that exactly, and that'stapping into the existing
aerospace and defense clusterthat we have here, building the
ships of tomorrow's Navy, and weare in an incredibly enviable
position to win the in-servicesupport contract for Canada's
future submarine fleet.
(18:13):
And that is going to be likeshipbuilding all over again.
SPEAKER_01 (18:16):
That's billions and billions and billions of dollars
into our con and there's alsosome other stuff, like other
tech stuff that's going on inthis city.
I mean, we last year we had uhWilliam Burt on.
Right.
And he was talking about how hewas taking uh carbon out of the
air and actually inserting itinto the water.
Yeah.
And like that's being done herein Halifax.
SPEAKER_00 (18:32):
It is.
Uh over at Cove, uh, they'rethey're doing I'm just blanking
on the name of the company.
Do you think it's gone?
It's a good name, but yeah,they're they're they're good.
Sequestering carbon.
SPEAKER_02 (18:42):
Carbon Cure is another company that does
something similar.
I mean, there's so many of thesegreat companies.
SPEAKER_00 (18:45):
Into concrete, that's exactly right.
But uh, but yeah, Cove and theOceans Cluster are just
unbelievable right now.
SPEAKER_01 (18:51):
Yeah, exactly.
So there's a bunch of tech stuffthat's going on.
I mean, we obviously we knowthat there's uh just next door
is uh is Volta.
SPEAKER_02 (18:58):
Yeah, right.
Absolutely.
And we did a couple things thereas well, lots of great
incubation and development goingon there.
We're 100% for development inHalifax, so we applaud seeing
that kind of stuff happen.
Now, one of the big hairy thingsis uh traffic, right?
I uh even today uh I don't wantto tell you.
I mean, but uh uh there was anaccident in one spot, I had to
(19:20):
go another route, and then ohdear, like you know, wherever
you go in this city, you know,right now expects to to take a
significantly longer amount oftime to get there.
How are we going to even startto entangle this this this web
of getting down to thepeninsula?
SPEAKER_00 (19:36):
Yeah, and what a what an important question.
Um, and the we're not gonnasolve any problems uh unless we
can speak candidly andtransparently about those
problems.
So so that's what I've beendoing, and I'll continue to do
that, whether it's traffic andtransportation or any of the
other things.
Um we need to get bus rapidtransit going in Halifax.
That is the next level ofsophistication that our
(19:59):
transportation system uhrequires.
The the way that um congestionis and the way the the bus
service is now, people are, youknow, the buses are stuck in
congestion.
So people are are making thechoice.
I may as well be in my car.
And of course, that's justreinforcing the congestion, it's
slowing the bus.
So we're in a we're in what somepeople might call a doom loop
here, but it's we can get out ofit.
(20:19):
Um when we build that bus rapidtransit system, you know, it's
those are express buses withfewer stops, they're comfortable
buses.
You might you can imagine maybea fold-down table to put your
laptop on and a and a coffee uhcup holder for your coffee.
You're doing work on yourcommute or you're you're
communicating with your withyour people in your life on your
commute.
Um that's gonna be a gamechanger for us.
(20:40):
Um, but there's something evenmore immediate and interesting,
and that was you might havenoticed that this past week,
what day are we now uh Tuesday,it was last week, um, the
provincial minister oftransportation, Fred Tilley,
announced that he has releasedan RFP seeking uh uh an
engineering or some such companyto do a review of congestion on
(21:01):
the peninsula of Halifax.
I did see, yeah, I saw that.
And and so that's an example ofthe provincial government taking
an interest in the well-beingand economic functioning of the
capital city, which I think isentirely appropriate.
Yeah, and will yeah, willing tobe a partner with us to make
some to make some moves toimprove congestion and move
people around a little bitbetter.
We we we don't know what thatstudy is gonna uh show.
(21:22):
Um I think it'll have to do withnew new commuter routes.
Um it possibly could be the waythe premier would get his uh his
uh often talked about light railsystem started.
Um it could be new bus routes,it could be um improving the
function of intersections withsmart signalization.
Um and then the minister has hasidentified a couple other things
that he might try to.
SPEAKER_02 (21:42):
So we're not sure, but we're working on it as well.
Well, they're working on it.
You're looking at everything.
SPEAKER_01 (21:47):
So this is a perfect moment because I made this
comment on one of the radiostations that announced this
study.
Sure.
So I'm gonna give you a hardtime a little bit, but not you
directly because this happenedbefore you were in municipal
politics.
But it is a frustration of mine.
Uh and you said talk candidly,so I'm gonna talk candidly.
Driving up Quimpool in goinginbound between 7 a.m.
(22:12):
and 9 p.m.
or 9 a.m.
You cannot turn right, not left,right to go down to the until it
cannot to go into the south end.
The frustration with that isthat it bottlenecks.
So for me, looking at it,there's only two conclusions why
(22:32):
I come to that.
The wealthy in that neighborhoodhas petitioned their counselor
to prevent rush hour traffic todrive through their
neighborhood, or someone hasintentionally bottlenecked the
like to bottleneck it.
Because when you look at gridsystems, the idea is that you
(22:54):
should be able to take offroutes to spread the traffic out
so they're not all comingthrough.
This directly does the oppositeof that.
You're either not letting mywife who takes that route every
day.
Are you trying to get a job inthe transportation?
Absolutely not.
No, what I'm trying to do is getthose signs taken because I
think it's not right.
SPEAKER_00 (23:15):
Yeah, you so I was having this conversation just
this weekend about theimportance of a functioning grid
in a city, you know, a grid thatuh presents you with choices
left, right, straight at everyintersection that you get to.
Right.
Um, and that's how you keeppeople, buses, bikes, uh
anything, trucks, deliveryservice vehicles, everything
fire trucks, uh, ambulancesmoving is uh through the choice
(23:35):
that a grid offers.
And as soon as we start tomonkey with the grid, you know,
no right turn on red or uh, youknow, restrict timing, make
introduce complications into thegrid.
The functioning of the gridbreaks down and things start to
move less slowly, you have aless efficient, less efficient
city.
Uh you gave two options why itmight have happened.
I think it's I think it's thelatter of your two options.
(23:56):
Um the previous council gavereally clear direction to city
staff to put uh pedestriansafety ahead of all other
considerations.
And so those no right turns onreds are in the name of
pedestrian safety.
Now interesting.
SPEAKER_01 (24:10):
So this is not right on red.
SPEAKER_00 (24:11):
This is right at all.
Can't turn right at okay.
All right.
This is right at all.
So okay, so that's a that's asimilar issue, related issue.
Um uh now I lost my train ofthought, buddy.
Sorry.
That's okay.
I know what I'm like, I do thattoo.
That's all right.
Oh, I was gonna say the but thedata is showing since the
introduction of these thesecontrols, and particularly the
(24:32):
no right on red, yeah, therethere's really not a positive
indication of change.
Like the data doesn't show thatthings are better.
So um uh data probably showsthat congestion's worse.
In fact, it does show that.
So, you know that the um I thinkwe have some consideration to do
of whether we're doing thisright, whether we're uh we're
actually serving all of thepeople that use the roadways,
(24:53):
whether they're pedestrians orcyclists or or all the other
user groups that I justmentioned, yeah, in a way that
everybody can have their needsmet without sacrificing the
needs of some of those groupshaving their needs met.
SPEAKER_01 (25:04):
So I'm gonna go ahead and take those signs down
because Mayor Andy said thatthey this is not right.
We'd take them down.
Okay, yeah.
How about you doing uh someshort videos there with this
episode?
Yeah, it's just gonna be that.
It's like just take them down.
You're on your own, cowboy.
We won't do that to you.
Okay.
But one thing is that we doobviously another part element
of traffic is that there's a lotof people moving here.
(25:25):
Um, that's another big thing.
There's two things there.
So, how do we handleinfrastructure and population
growth and housing?
SPEAKER_00 (25:33):
Yeah, well, that's a big question.
Pretty open-ended.
So, we right now we have to bebuilding around 8,000 units of
housing per year across.
SPEAKER_01 (25:42):
What are we doing now?
SPEAKER_00 (25:43):
We're barely, we're not even cracking 4,000.
We're just like just below 4,000for the last three or four
years.
So we've got a lot of work to doto move faster.
And some of that has to do withuh approvals time, some of that
has to do with rezoning of land.
Um, but more and more it has todo with Halifax Water's ability
to provide water, wastewater,and stormwater service to these
(26:05):
growth nodes that we have, thesegrowth areas uh in the suburban
areas.
So um this is becoming serious.
This is this has the potentialto impact our economic
competitiveness.
Um, I, you know, before we gotstarted today, I was talking to
you about how the federalgovernment is going to be making
massive investments in nationaldefense to meet NATO
commitments, and Halifax, ashome to the largest armed forces
(26:28):
base in the country and home toall three branches of the
service, um, is going to benefitdisproportionately from this
massively increased defenseinvestment.
That's gonna bring all kinds ofmore people working in the
field, more families.
It's gonna drive housing growthat a at a rate that's
disproportionate to to otherareas in Canada.
And we need to be on the ball inmaking sure that we can service
(26:50):
all these areas.
SPEAKER_01 (26:51):
Yeah.
I I that's I mean, yeah.
I mean, we that if you're ifwe're truly only doing ha less
than half, then I mean we'rewe're just not keeping up at
all.
So I mean, yeah, uh, I knew I doand I do know it seems like
different levels of governmentkind of seem to be pointing the
finger saying, like, well, weneed these approvals, we need
these approvals, but we we alsoneed the workers.
SPEAKER_00 (27:09):
And we need the workers, and we need a
governance system that works.
Yeah, and uh, and we need uhfederal and provincial
assistance to pay for the uh topay for the infrastructure
because um we can't put it allon the municipal taxpayer, and
um it is a it is a collectiveresponsibility that uh we have
fun a functioning capital city.
SPEAKER_01 (27:27):
Great segue to the next.
The the 10.5% question.
Oh okay.
You go for it, Matt.
Get it in there.
Oh in here.
SPEAKER_02 (27:37):
I'll I'll cool I'll cool it down after Matt here.
I'll come to something warm inthe back.
Oh, no, no, listen, listen.
SPEAKER_01 (27:41):
He got he got it beaten down to zero last time.
Do you think he can do it again?
SPEAKER_00 (27:46):
Yes, please.
God, so I it's a it's gonna be atough slog this year, but I'll
here's here's what I'll tellyou.
Um, so that the very day thatcouncil approved the 0% rate
increase last year, I hadanother motion ready to go.
And that motion was okay,council join me in directing the
staff, like vote with me, andthey did.
And we directed staff to uh forthis year's budget, no increases
(28:10):
other than collective uhbargaining agreements, uh
contracts that are alreadysigned, and inflation.
So just allow for increases ofthose three things.
And and staff came back uh amonth ago um and said, we just
did those things you said, andthat's a 10.5 increase on the
average tax bill.
Right.
So that's how much things arecosting right now.
So now to get that back, to beatthat back, because people can't
(28:32):
afford 10.5.
SPEAKER_03 (28:34):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (28:34):
Um, in light of how you know water rate increases
and power rate increases and allthose things, inflation and
interest rates, um, we're gonnahave to beat that back.
And that is gonna mean sometough choices about then what
are we gonna cut?
What are we gonna cut?
And so bike lanes.
We've got a we've got a strongopinion there.
SPEAKER_01 (28:52):
I I don't actually, you know what?
I actually do not have a strongopinion on bike lanes, but that
seems to be what everyone'stalking about online.
SPEAKER_02 (29:01):
It it is probably the number one comment when
you're looking at a lot of Imean, what's going on with the
roads, and then there'scomplaints about bike lanes.
SPEAKER_00 (29:07):
Well, let's let's look and see what uh what
comments this conversationgenerates from your from your
listenership.
I'd love to see that.
Yeah.
Um, so we're gonna have to cutsomething.
And so that that same motion umthat I that I had passed last
summer also directed the staffto start to define for the
council in this budget processwhat are our core services and
what are those extras that we'vejust gotten used to adding on.
(29:28):
Yeah, because they all cost alot too.
So I it's my belief that we needto pair back the things that are
outside of our core mandate,refocus on core services, um,
refocus on diversifying ourrevenue streams to relieve
pressure from the tax rate anduh deliver residents a budget
they can afford.
SPEAKER_02 (29:46):
Could this be more opportunities for private
organizations that want to helpdeliver those services?
SPEAKER_00 (29:51):
Absolutely it is.
I was just in Boston uh talkingto the uh transit authority down
there about the way they'veinvited the private sector into
ferries.
So they're using ferries at atpeak hours in the morning and
night to move uh commuters allaround Boston Harbor.
In between peak hours, thosesame boats, private operators
are taking people out to harborislands.
SPEAKER_02 (30:10):
Call my buddy Dave get the speedboat, right?
SPEAKER_00 (30:12):
Well watching tours, you know, going out.
You can imagine going out toSanbro Light.
Uh yeah.
So there's a huge opportunity.
SPEAKER_01 (30:18):
That was brought up in the comment today when I was
as someone said uhprivatization.
Privatization of transit.
I don't know if it works justbecause transit's a money loser,
right?
Not in the grand scheme ofthings, but in a direct like
thing where we know we need toget people to work.
I think those people thinkwhatever pay.
SPEAKER_02 (30:35):
Yeah, I think if you did it private on a small scale,
it could be successful.
So if you actually had probablymore people doing it on a
smaller scale, it probably morelike say if you had to be able
to do it.
Keeping the boats busy all thetime, right?
Yeah.
Yeah.
You had somebody going fromSambro into the city every day,
right?
Doing that loop run, buteverybody was on board in the
community and it worked for themajority of the people that
needed to be.
SPEAKER_00 (30:56):
So that's one way to bring the private sector into to
relieve the burden on thetaxpayer through transit ideas.
But another one is you know,let's say we're building a new
transit terminal.
Uh, why wouldn't we go to, Idon't know, Tim Hortons or a dry
cleaner chain and say, we'rebuilding this building.
Why don't you come in andpartner with us?
Um, you uh you help to share thecost of the building, you're
(31:17):
gonna provide a service to ourtransit users.
It's gonna make transit moreattractive to use.
Um, and uh and then we relieveburden on the taxpayer because
you're helping to pay for itall.
So that kind of private sectorcollaboration, like a cafe in a
in a public library, anotherexample helps to uh keep the tax
rate low.
SPEAKER_02 (31:33):
If you put pints at all of the metro transit
stations across the city, I'llI'll just stop driving.
I think that would be a hugeincentive for me.
SPEAKER_00 (31:41):
It's funny you mention it because one of the
things that the private operatedboats in Boston Harbor do is you
can uh you can get a pint ofbeer on your commute home.
Uh and it's uh it's perfectlylegal.
SPEAKER_01 (31:51):
Listen, there was a mayor who once made some beer,
you know, in this city.
Oh, yeah.
I've heard a few times downthere.
Yeah, he's on the wall a coupletimes down there, and I think
he'd be all for it.
Yes, that's right.
Uh mayor key.
I I I bet you it wasn't dry backthen.
Oh no, it wasn't dry back then.
No.
(32:12):
So, okay.
Um with all the uh evolvingstuff and everything, um
actually one thing before we gointo that, because I hope there
like with the development thatwe're going to see and the
development that we're hoping tosee and the natural assessments
of things going up.
I mean uh sh those are must notbe keeping up with if you're
(32:32):
saying that oh we did just thesethings, the buildings that are
gonna get built that people aregonna be paying now higher
property tax on.
All that must be taken intoeffect and into consideration uh
with this whole kind of thefunds and all that stuff, right?
So so even with those newdevelopments, those new those
higher taxes, this vacant lot isnow assessed at$3 million, not
(32:55):
you know$150.
Yeah, that's most of it and allconsidered and taken into
effect.
SPEAKER_00 (33:00):
It's a complicated equation, but it is.
And will it surprise you tolearn that the the the revenue
growth from increasedassessments from last year to
this year's budget in HRM wasonly six million dollars?
Um so the assessments, theraise, the rise in assessments
has really slowed down.
Um and we could rely on a muchhigher number for years and
years than than that number.
(33:22):
And so that's hurting our ourrevenues.
One of the challenges is that weoperate under the um the
assessment cap, which issuppressing our incomes and
suppressing the tax rate anddistorting the market.
And one of our counselors,counselor steele, has passed a
motion just earlier in Decemberthat we that uh directing our
(33:42):
staff to study the assessmentcap and to um explain how it's
distorting the market and how itin what ways it is
disproportionately impactingfirst-time home buyers and
newcomers and rewarding peopleof long tenure who've been in
their home for 20 or 30 yearsthat really don't need the help.
Um so that's that's a veryinteresting and rich uh topic.
(34:03):
But um things like that distortthe our ability to raise
revenues, and um that's why I'mvery focused on on um
diversifying our revenue sourcesin some of the ways we've talked
about.
SPEAKER_02 (34:13):
Very cool.
Yeah, great answer.
Yeah.
Um yeah, well, I guess what wecan do before we move on.
Well, I before the 10 questions,I said warm and fuzzy stuff.
So I mean, you know, let's justtalk about the the the people,
uh the citizens of Halifax hereum for a moment.
And I'm sorry, Matt, this isn'treally on there, but like, you
know, we've we've grown to be amuch more diverse place over the
last five or so many years.
(34:35):
Um, you know, what can we do tomake sure we're staying Halifax
in the sense of promoting thekindness?
I thought having the nice agenthere uh last year was one of the
best things we've got.
Wasn't that great?
Yeah, right?
Like, you know, I I really wantto see and make sure that this
maritime city keeps that onething of friendliness towards
one another despite differences,despite whatever.
(34:58):
Um, any insights and how we canuh improve that going into 2026?
SPEAKER_00 (35:02):
I think just keep doing what we've always done.
And um I said I always hear frompeople who are visiting about
the kindness of Maritimers, thekindness of Haligonians.
And as far as I can tell, whenpeople are moving here, whether
they're coming from other partsof Canada, whether they're
coming from around the world,they they notice that too and
and they're adopting that.
So we all just need to keep ondoing the things that we do.
(35:24):
Um that's kind of a that's kindof uh a way of being in the
world answer.
Um, but if I could if I make itphysical, I'm a city planner,
like what else can we do?
So there are things that makethis place what it is, you know,
like the like Barrington Streetand the waterfront and the scale
of some of our neighborhoods.
So we also want to be protectingand cherishing those things.
We have to allow growth andchange and all that, but uh we
(35:46):
can be we can be discerningabout where and how that goes.
And we have something called theregional plan that does a really
good job at of showing where andhow growth should happen and how
we interconnect communities andso forth.
Um, so we can grow and stay trueto who we are and what's
attractive, what makes usattractive on the world stage.
SPEAKER_01 (36:05):
We to kind of add to that, what do you think Halifax
can do as a like the regional uhmunicipality that what we can do
for our part to help attract thepeople we want to bring here?
Yeah, like for example,tradespeople, health
professionals, and things likethat.
SPEAKER_00 (36:23):
Yeah, so uh I would say talk to your elected
provincial and federalrepresentatives about that.
Um, I, you know, we we thefederal government made a
decision to to sort of slow thefaucet on on immigration growth
in Canada while th services likehealthcare and housing caught
up.
I think it's temporary.
The the faucet's going to beeased back on shortly.
(36:43):
Um I'm very pleased to see thatthere is already a focus on
skilled labor, whether that's inhealth or whether that's in
building trades.
Um so there is a focus, likewe're being more discerning
about bringing in the skillsthat we really need to, for
example, build all theinfrastructure we need to build,
to build the housing that weneed to do and to deliver health
care to people that are agingand can't.
SPEAKER_01 (37:03):
Is there anything that you that you think that you
guys, like you know, our councilcan do to like so you can't
immigrate anybody, but you canwave the flag of like here's
where you want to be, kind ofthing?
SPEAKER_00 (37:15):
Yeah, and I I have to give credit to the former
mayor Mike Savage.
He uh he really f uh his primaryfocus was on creating a uh a a
welcoming city that uhacknowledged diversity and
acknowledged that our diversityis our strength, to borrow a
phrase.
Um and so that's reallyimportant.
I've continued his um every yearhe had a a welcome event for uh
(37:37):
international students, forforeign students.
Yeah.
So I I'm carrying that on.
I had it back in September downat the West End.
We had um I think 500international students came and
uh uh it was a wonderful, awonderful evening.
So um the more we celebrate uhthe multicultural uh role of
Halifax in a as a leading cityand a multicultural country,
(37:58):
then I think we are gonnacontinue to attract people,
which we need to do for oureconomy.
SPEAKER_01 (38:02):
100%.
SPEAKER_02 (38:02):
Just jump right before the bottom of the 10
questions here, Matt, because wedon't want to run out of time,
unfortunately.
So um Yeah, we're going 10questions?
Well, just before there was justone other thing here.
I I love this question.
You know, um, as mayor ofHalifax, what's quality of life?
And what does that actually meanto you and what every citizen
should have in our city?
SPEAKER_00 (38:23):
Sure.
Look, it's um it's affordabilityfor one thing, um, making sure
that people can afford theservices they need, whether
that's the rec the rec programafter school or the but getting
on the bus or the ferry thatthey need, uh, the tax rate, the
rent, uh, all those things areuh those are all elements of
affordability and quality oflife.
Um there's also the cleanlinessand safety of the city.
(38:46):
So that feeling you get when youwalk down a street, like this
place is clean.
Someone cares about this place,you know, like this place is
looking good.
Um, that's quality of life.
Things to do in the city, likean amazing central library, a
killer uh waterfront, um a placewhere arts and culture can
thrive, like our our indie musicscene is like second to none in
(39:06):
the country, you know.
That's quality of life.
Um, how we how we meet the needsof a growing population, a
growing community, gettingenough houses built, connecting
communities with transit that'senjoyable to ride, that's
quality of life.
Um, and I I'll go back, I'llfinish it maybe by by uh what
you said a minute ago about umabout what it is to be what is
(39:27):
it, what's the magic about thisplace?
How we are nice to each otherand how how people want to be
here because we're welcoming.
SPEAKER_02 (39:33):
100%.
It's my favorite place to be.
SPEAKER_00 (39:35):
Me too.
SPEAKER_02 (39:35):
Yeah.
So thank you for all that.
I mean, we asked you a lot oftough questions there in a short
time.
We jumped through a lot ofdifferent themes and topics.
That's kind of what we do.
So now we're gonna go into the10 questions.
SPEAKER_00 (39:44):
All right, the dreaded 10 questions.
It's not so dreaded, these arepretty.
SPEAKER_02 (39:48):
This is the lightest part about it.
Yeah, okay, all right, good.
All right, Matt.
Can we start?
Sure, I'll start.
SPEAKER_01 (39:53):
Yeah, okay.
So the this is the great donordebate.
Halifax, obviously, officialdonaires, right?
Uh, it's our our official food.
But when nobody's looking, whereis Andy ordering donaires from?
SPEAKER_00 (40:07):
Listen, man, you're gonna get me in trouble.
There's no there is a very thereis no safe answer here.
Um I'll tell you uh uh I I haveallegiance to two and I spread
myself pretty equally betweenthe two and they are Tony's
which is my OG from when I was akid yeah um and and then King of
Donair also yeah also I I I I Ishould have won a donair eating
(40:31):
contest when I was MP at King ofDonaire on on Quimpo Road but uh
um some some dodgy judging uhcost me the win so I still bear
a little bit of uh those NahasesI tell you all right so this is
just real talk term limits yesor no should Halifax Council
(40:52):
members have term limits andwould you apply them to yourself
also that's a good questionthere are no term limits at any
order of government anywhere inCanada so that's a very American
construct um and I think rightnow people are kind of looking
down there and going thank Godfor term limits uh you know um
but I sometimes you you thinkabout that in in Canada I I I
(41:16):
don't know I I think at the ifI'm lucky enough to serve for
eight years here I'll be uh ofan age where I'm I'll be ready
to to to pass the the torch onto somebody uh who's ready to to
put a lot a lot of energy intoit so I I'd be okay with that
but um but that really is one ofthose questions you have to take
to the public to to to figureout how they how they feel about
(41:37):
it.
Yeah cool oh that's fair okay uhquestion number three so mayor's
hours are you solving citiesprobably solving the city's
problems at 6 a.m or doomscrolling them at midnight both
yeah there is uh this is Iturned to one of my uh to one of
(41:58):
my colleagues a few days ago andI was I had gotten this cold
that you can still hear in mythroat a little bit and I turned
to her and I said remember thethe part in our career where we
actually had something called asick day oh yeah so my God so
the hours are a little bit crazyum you know my my team works
with me on weekends and eveningsuh we we uh they get to rotate
but it's always me um butthey're they're incredible but
(42:22):
the hours are long but that'sthe price of admission and you
have to turn up yeah yeah peoplepeople uh send you into this job
with their vote and they have uha reasonable expectation that
you're gonna be there for themand and uh it's not just the
work at the desk with the hiredpolicy work that's really
important it's also heading downto the Legion and saying hello
to folks and shaking their handsso all those things are
(42:42):
important.
Oh that's good yeah one day inHalifax someone's in town for 24
hours what's the one thing theyabsolutely have to experience or
they didn't really visit Halifaxin your opinion I've mentioned
the waterfront a number of timesso I'm gonna say you gotta
you've got to walk thatwaterfront from one end to the
other and get a sandwich or stopinto our restaurant and have a
(43:03):
pint.
SPEAKER_01 (43:03):
Easy night yeah absolutely the waterfront is
awesome my four year old alwaysloves he loves going down and
just walking the waterfrontevery weekend yeah the Evergreen
Fest there the other week wasfantastic something the fire
fire pit something yeah yeah uhall right question number five
so where's the best view in thecity?
SPEAKER_00 (43:22):
Oh I was very lucky uh a couple of years ago I got
invited uh to climb up insidethe tower one of the towers of
the McDonald Bridge oh there's alittle ladder in there you open
a door out at the roadway leveland you get a harness on and
it's it felt like it took 15minutes to get up there but once
you get up on the top there'sactually a walkway at the top of
(43:43):
the tower.
So next time you're drivingacross look up there and you can
kind of see the railing.
Yeah it might be covered rightnow because of the construction
but it's up there and you canlook one way across Dartmouth to
the horizon you can look acrossHalifax right across the
peninsula to over Cowie Hill andall the way to the horizon that
way you can see right out to themouth of the harbor harbor and
the the curve of the earth onthe horizon there.
(44:06):
It's uh oh is that is that thoseuh that's not on my other show
yeah okay any that sound thatsounds like the Halifax's
version of the Skywalker yeahthere you go um yeah so you're
up oh sorry I lost my thing youjust go ahead because I got to
get back okay sure so questionnumber six so what does uh what
(44:26):
does turning your brain offactually look like for you oh
I'm a uh I'm a carpenter I'veI've uh I've I'm furniture
designer and builder I've builta few kitchens I've uh built
some additions and do a lot ofuh my own renovations so that's
my meditation is uh is woodworkuh getting out my pencil and
drawing a plan and then gettingdown to my workshop and and
(44:48):
actually building it so that'sman I'm building a deck at the
spring if you uh need some timeto relax come on over I just
finished my front deck in timefor the snow to fly and I I
didn't even have a chance to siton it and the snow came yeah
right on made a new friend todaythat's great yeah question
number seven oh my gosh yes soso no politics here man this is
just the physical okay physicalokay who wins a fight Andy film
(45:12):
or Tim Houston and why just aphone nah right I I've been
thinking a lot about thesequestions I'm a I'm a stocky guy
I've got this very strong corehigh muscle mass Tim's lanky
he's got reach he's got reachhe's got this like if he if he
didn't keep his chin down rightcome down to a game of cunning I
(45:32):
feel like it'd be like a pitbull if you could get in under
those uh get in under thosearmpits you could probably just
wreck the body bring them downI'd get in low and get in low
and yeah yeah and work them downbut you know what I what I'd
rather think about is what whowhat victories could he and I
have together who could whocould he and I bring down
together what could we work I Ibelieve I believe you guys get
(45:53):
along actually quite well sothat's why I thought this
question was funny.
SPEAKER_01 (45:56):
We didn't ask it because we we think that you
guys actually want to fight eachother we do just to be clear.
We have a lot of the sameobjectives and we make a pretty
good team I think so great wayto make good friends after a
good fight in yeah in factactually we we wanted to
actually have you guys ontogether but it's hard to line
up two very busy people'sschedules yes 100% yeah so
question number eight so we didtalk about the super mayoral you
(46:17):
know with the Cape powers andeverything like that.
That's boring.
SPEAKER_00 (46:20):
Let's talk about if you were a superhero what powers
would you like to have oh I Ihave my whole life I've wanted
to fly uh so uh that that wouldbe the one to be able to to rise
up above and and look down andand I and uh and like and see
where you are see the city seehow the how the blocks all work
together um I used to try when Iwas young I used to try to train
(46:43):
myself to dream in in in thisway I'd read a I'd read
something about it you can likeif you work on it you can kind
of like oh yeah push your dreamsin certain directions and I
would always try to fly yeahI've I've done it too and I've
done it don't do a differentanother plane yeah you know the
Weezer guy did it a lot the leadsinger Weezer went to a deep
deep depression flew to Nepalblack blankets over the windows
trying to live in a dream worldall the time what's it called
(47:06):
what it's called oh mine's avery happy dream it's it's
you're soaring it's it's veryuplifting yeah there's a great
movie about it as well luciddreaming question number nine
lucid dreaming okay so uhquestion number nine uh what's
one decision in politics whetherit be mayor or uh in federal
that kind of still weigh weighson you a little bit that you
(47:29):
kind of maybe we're kind of likeI still think about that and I
wish I did that differently geezthat's a good one um uh you know
I a a vote that I I I maybe castthe wrong way there probably
have been one or two that uhthat information there actually
was one um uh we had tolegislate when I was a member of
(47:51):
parliament we had to legislateone Christmas and and you you
might remember this maybe twentyeighteen or so we had to
legislate Canada Post back towork at Christmas time yeah and
because Christmas was going tobe canceled there were trucks
backed up full of and um so Ivoted I voted that way and later
in talking to some of the thepost the postal union members
(48:12):
that I represented here inHalifax um it turns out that
that MPs were given incompleteuh information and had I uh
slowed down to get completeinformation I might have voted
differently on that particularone that's that's one and then
um I do have an abiding worrythat uh you know um becoming an
MP it's hard on your family andmy daughter was very young when
(48:33):
I made that decision.
And I don't think people realizethat how hard it is.
Yeah yeah it's rough and so thatand that caused my relationship
with her some harm and we'vebeen lucky we've been able to
rebuild it but uh uh she's uh 19now and it's great now uh but it
wasn't for a long time yeah andso I you know I I would advise
people to be careful about thatdecision if they have families
(48:53):
and and I sometimes wonder if ifI would have done it
differently.
SPEAKER_01 (48:56):
That's a really good answer and actually really kind
of good of you to be honestabout that actually yeah yeah
great answer.
SPEAKER_02 (49:02):
Yeah absolutely so question number 10 before we get
to our very very last but thisis the question number 10 over
to you Tobin okay yeah um howHalifax's theme song so you know
every city needs a soundtrack ora vibe what do you think it
can't be Barrett's privateersthat's silver plate we we we've
we got that song it's a greatsong but we got to move away
from that this year.
What's the new Halifax themesong for 2026?
SPEAKER_00 (49:23):
We built this city on rock and roll baby here we go
starship love it when I wasdoing when I was leading the
downtown plan some friendsactually gave me a t-shirt with
disco sparkly letters that saidwe built this city on I still
have this t-shirt very cool I'llstart to wear it again I think I
think you definitely should 2026I hope we see that t-shirt I
agree so last call so last calluh this is something that we've
(49:48):
been asking everybody in 2025 Ithink we're gonna keep rolling
with it in 2026 just because wereally really enjoy it and that
is what is one piece of advicethat you were given in your
lifetime that you'd like toshare with us oh golly um yeah
uh and I've grown to live by itit's that when you are trying to
(50:10):
make a complicated decision uhget to an answer whether it's on
a council floor or in parliamentor it's a community consultation
or it's around your familydinner table uh nobody no one
person has the right answer allby themselves.
And the way to look at it isthat everybody who's in that
group like your family, the thecouncil chamber everybody has a
(50:32):
piece of the answer.
And to get to the truth you needto listen and slow down and take
the time to put those piecestogether and that shows you the
truth.
That shows you the right answer.
SPEAKER_01 (50:45):
Yeah I like it.
SPEAKER_02 (50:47):
Words to live by I like it too well that is it
cheers to you thank you verymuch uh mayor Fillmore and to a
successful 2026 we hope the bestfor you and we hope the best for
Halifax so absolutely and forour show Matt Cheers to season
season four thank you forkicking it off with us I think
you're doing a great job it's areally hard job to do and I
don't think people give thatenough thanks guys I really
appreciate it I wish you a greatseason four thanks for for doing
(51:10):
this and we'll look forward todoing another time cheers okay
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