Council to Armco: ‘Jump? How high, sir, how high…?’ ‘Good dog…’

This column was first published in the Halifax Examiner May 28, 2018. Last week, Halifax City Council again/still/always decided to re-re-re-write its planning bylaws on the fly for the greater good and increased profit of a private developer whose books it didn’t bother examining, let alone asking to glimpse once, maybe upside down on […]

City council, the developer, and the deal that isn’t quite

This column originally appeared in the Halifax Examiner March 26, 2018. Halifax City Council can be — even at its best of times — confusing, contradictory, confounding. Last week, council was not, even by its own modest standards, at its best. Councillors were considering again/still/always a proposal from APL, an Armoyan development company, to erect a commercial-residential […]

Can we trust the Armoyans to act in the public interest? No, that’s what council is for…

This column originally appeared in the Halifax Examiner January 22, 2018. Last week’s lopsided Halifax city council decision to decide not to decide — for now — how to respond to APL Property’s proposal to erect a taller-than-OK 25-storey tower at the corner of Quinpool Road and Robie Streets was interesting for all sorts of […]