News

Incumbents Win Along the Shore: Turnout Drops

David Hendsbee and his wife Susan welcome news of his re-election. Richard Bell (This article was revised at 10:00 am October 16 with the complete unofficial results for City Council and School Board. Returns for the other two races remain incomplete at this time.). In an election in which turnout dropped to a miserable 31.7% of the vote, there were no surprises on election night on the Eastern Shore, with wins for District 2 incumbent David Hendsbee and School Board District 1 incumbent Bridget Boutlier. (Turnout in 2012 was 38.7%). In District 2, David Hendsbee (3262) won his first re-election race in the expanded district with almost 50% of the vote. Gail McQuarrie (1980) finished in 2nd place again, followed by Shelley Fashan (1090) and Sydnee McKay (242).

October 16, 2016

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Sept 25 Chamber of Commerce District 2 Candidate Forum videos

This document contains links to videos of the District 2 Council Candidates forum on September 25 in Musquodoboit Harbour. The Musquodoboit Harbour & Area Chamber of Commerce & Civic Affairs sponsored this forum. Three of the four candidates were present. Sydnee McKay was unable to attend, but sent a statement that a Chamber member read in the Opening Statements section. The moderator changed the order for answering each question, and the answers below follow that order. We know that people are busy, and may not have time to sit down and listen to a single video of an entire 90-minute debate. There is a separate video for each question, so you can mix and match to your heart's content. You can listen to all the answers from a single candidate, or only listen to the question or questions you're most interested in. We hope this format makes it easier for you to focus on what you want to know about the candidates for the District 2 Council seat.

October 11, 2016

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Murphy Announces Porters Lake Park Funding

October 06, 2016

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Answers for the Conseil Scolaire Acadien Provincal Representative

We asked candidates for the Conseil Scolaire Acadien Provincal Representative to tell us about their background and to answer a question about the École Beaux Marais. They had the option of answering in English and French. According to the Nova Scotia School Board Association, candidates for the Conseil Scolaire Acadien Provincial (CSAP) must: “ be an entitled person as defined in the Education Act. This includes an individual: whose first language learned and still understood is French; who received Canadian primary school instruction in a French first-language program; who is the parent of a child who is receiving/received Canadian primary or secondary school instruction in a French first language program.”

September 30, 2016

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Nova Scotia Fights Swedish Lobster Ban Bid

In a move that would severely impact Nova Scotia’s lobster industry, Sweden has asked the European Union to ban the import of all U.S. and Canadian lobsters (homarus americanus). Sweden claims that the imported lobsters are an invasive species that threatens the smaller European lobster (homarus gammarus).

September 03, 2016

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Opposition to Frontage Bylaw Growing Rapidly

HRM’s planners have stirred up a hornet’s nest of opposition with their surprise decision this spring to begin denying building permits for certain rural lots, citing a regulation that had been on the books since 1996 but never enforced. The regulation requires that a building lot, regardless of size, have at least 100 feet of frontage on a public road. For many years, the department routinely issued permits for lots without such frontage. And the department now claims that each and every one of those nine decisions was a mistake.

September 03, 2016

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David Hendsbee Running for Re-Election

HRM District 2 Election 2016: David Hendsbee Running for Re-Election By Richard Bell

August 01, 2016

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HRM Election 2016: Shelley Fashan Announces

By Richard Bell The contest for the District 2 seat now held by Councillor David Hendsbee has drawn a second challenger, Shelley Fashan, born in Cherry Brook and a resident of Lake Echo for the last 30 years. Her African-Canadian family roots go back to the 1700s. Fashan has never run for elected office before, but she has had a long portfolio mixing her love for music and film with the successful founding of several non-profit arts initiatives, coupled with appointments to a number of government boards and advisory panels dealing with the arts and arts funding. Running through all her work is her commitment to finding ways to bring young people to careers in the arts. Fashan is not shy about her willingness to tackle problems. “I’m not one to sit back and just throw out opinions on Facebook,” she said in a recent interview. “I want to be involved. That’s been my mantra.”

July 07, 2016

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