Corrupt....ed by ineptitude

The New Year always comes with the worst hangovers, doesn’t it? When HRM council resumes on Tuesday, Jan. 9, Halifax’s councillors will be confronted once again with a thorny problem: How to dig the region out of a $68.7 million deficit that no-one on council seems to know how to wriggle out from under. (That is, without taking a popularity hit by raising taxes or cutting key services.) In this week’s episode of The Grand Parade, Coast city hall reporter Matt Stickland presents two paths for council to consider—both of which would add millions back to the city’s coffers, he argues, if only councillors could stomach the blowback they’d face. Coast reporter Martin Bauman wonders if the same issues plaguing Canada’s inability to build high-speed rail are what hinders the HRM from making meaningful—and swift—strides toward its goals. And what’s a New Year without a sprinkling of hope? The two talk about why the HRM has real reason for optimism—and what platform priorities they’ll be paying attention to in the next municipal election.