The Grand Parade

Last week was a big one down at city hall with two bombshell Auditor General audits as well as a cricket debate, and parking fare increase. All of that is in the first half of the show. In the back half of the show host Matt Stickland breaks down the story Fillmore is trying to tell about how being invesitaged by the RCMP is all a big misunderstanding. In an administrative note, there will be no paper next week and we are blaming Canada Day for this.

In this week's episode of the show host Matt Stickland breaks down what went down at last Tuesday's council meeting. Then, after an ad break, Matt explains Fillmore's upcoming office expense scandal.

Sorry for the yelling and swearing. Turn down your volume. The next book club meeting is July 12 at 2 p.m. at MacDonald House on Lawrencetown Road.

This is a research deep dive episode where host Matt Stickland goes into the weeds to explain how low property taxes make housing less affordable. Did Matt get anything wrong? Here are his sources: Oates (1969): the effects of property taxes and local public spending on property values Mieszkowski (1972): The property tax: an excise tax or a profits tax? Oats & Schwab (2009): The case for a land value tax Dye & England (2010) Assessing the theory and practice of land value taxation Bourassa (1990): The land value tax and housing development: A case study of Pittsburgh Tideman (1994): The Economics of Efficient taxes on land Palmon & Smith (1998): New evidence on property tax capitalization Lyu (2024): Revisiting property tax capitalization Hilber (2017): The economic implications of the house price capitalization: a synthesis Hull & Grodecka-Messi (2022): Measuring the impact of taxes and public services on property values: A double machine learning approach Charlot, Paty & Visalli (2013): Assessing the impact of local taxation on property prices: A spactia matching contribution Plassmann & Tideman (2000): A markov chain monte carlo analysis of the effect of two rate property taxes on construction Bruekner (1986): The structure of urban equilibria: A unified treatment of the Muth-Mills Model England & Zhao (2005): Assessing the distributive effects of a revenue-neutral shift from property tax to a land value tax Hartzok (1997): Pennsylvania’s Success with local property tax reform: The Split-Rate Tax Banzhaf & Lavery (2010): Can the land value tax be used to rejuvenate our cities? Development charge studies Singell & Lillydahl (1990): An Empirical Examination of the Effect of Impact Fees on the Price of New Real Estate. Ihlanfeldt & Shaughnessy (2004): An Empirical Investigation of the Effects of Impact Fees on Housing and Land Prices. Dachis (2018/2024): Gimme Shelter: How High Municipal Housing Charges and Taxes Decrease Housing Supply. Skidmore & Peddle (1998): Do Development Impact Fees Reduce the Rate of Residential Development? Burge & Ihlanfeldt (2006): Impact Fees and Single-Family Home Construction. CMHC (2025): Development Charges: Who Bears the Cost? Dresch & Sheffrin (1997): Who Pays, and When? An Assessment of Generational Equity in the Case of Development Fees. Evans-Cowley & Lawhon (2003): The Effects of Impact Fees on Land Values and Development. Been (2005): Impact Fees and Housing Affordability And the Not Just Bikes video https://youtu.be/r7-e_yhEzIw?si=QG7OBmInRzzqZFpB

Very sorry about the lack of show notes here. Personal life being what it was this past week proper show notes will be added (maybe). No one expects show notes from analog radio. This double standard is unfair! Or I'm just tired. Enjoy the show tho.

In this episode, host Matt Stickland goes deep on property tax policies and is forced to confront the fact that two of his long-held beliefs are, in fact, wrong. And a bit about last week's community planning and economic development standing committee meeting from last week.

You can take Halifax's road safety survey right here, if you want: https://www.halifax.ca/home/surveys I can't rememeber what else I said I'd link in the show notes. I'm honestly not even sure I said I'd link this road safety survey.

A slow week at city hall, but a big week for the podcast, as the Grand Parade is now (or will be on June 20) an award-winning podcast! But you can check out the BOPC presentation referenced here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gq1QnNoiTCg And you can provide feedback to them (after listening to that presenation) here: [email protected] And the book club book is this one: www.stopbigcar.com

Did you know that show notes are like dinner? At first, they're super fun. You get to tell people about the show, but then it's like, eventually, you realize you have to do it, like every day, three times a day, and then it's just like 9pm on a Sunday night and you just want to go to bed? No? Me neither. Anyways, in this week's show we cover budget season starting early thanks to mayor Andy Fillmore. We take a trip to Philidelphia to talk about some implications. And the show closes out with a bit of an analysis of what a systems level approach to road safety looks like in Halifax. Enjoy episode 100.

If you are a subscriber, you may have noticed that this episode didn't drop early for ya on the website. This is because something that Substack does as part of it's platform is private podcast RSS feeds for subscribers. This is something Ghost does for an additional fee and that fee is set based on the amount of listeners would need a feed and there are enough of you that I would immediately get bumped up to the second tier, which is just shy of $500 USD a year. So, instead, if you are a paid subscriber and want to continue getting access to my listening edit, please send me an email with the email attached to your paid account and you'll get 0-4 emails a week with an .mp3 of my listening edit attached

If this placeholder text is still here, that means something went wrong with the website swap over the weekend, and I've run out of time to fix everything.

Things referenced: This Strong Towns PDX post Councillor Mitch Green’s Motion The agenda page with links to all of the transportation utility fee reports: https://www.portland.gov/council/documents/ordinance/establish-new-transportation-utility-fee-1-2 And where to watch the meeting/keep up with this committee, if you, like me, are now invested in this sideplot: https://www.portland.gov/council/agenda/committee-whole

Behold the episode in which host Matt Stickland recaps the glorious week that was March 30 until April 3, 2026, and be entertained. Want to know what else is entertaining? Book club. Which is meeting May 3 at the Old Triangle in Halifax at 2:30p. We will be talking about The Score: How to Stop Playing Someone Else’s Game, by C. Thi Nguyen 

In this episode host Matt Stickland comes in hot with some big opinions on Halifax's new Integrated Mobility Plan. The audio quality in parts of the first half of the show are not the best, and this podcast's original microphone has finally bit the dust. In the second half of the show Matt goes over last Thursday's TSC meeting and even though concerns remain about the IMP there is some good news in the back half of the show

I did take the week off as threatened. But I did throw this together for reasons I explain in the show. Book club May 3 at the Old Triangle in Halifax. The book: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/735252/the-score-by-c-thi-nguyen/

This week is a return to normalcy which is to say clipped shows. This week starts off host Matt Stickland's opinion of this year's budget. And then after the ad break there's a recap of the the final budget debate and last week's (mostly deferred) council meeting debates. Also the book club book is The Score: How to Stop Playing Someone Else's Game by C. Thi Nguyen. Please note: there will be no show next week (might re-run a classic for algorithmic gaming purposes).

It's been a full week of budget committee and a full weekend of SEDMHA hockey and a birthday party or two. Our team is taking a nap instead of writing show notes. We do hope you enjoy this week's show. Enjoy? Enjoy might not be the right word, but listen to the show sounds vaguely like a threat. Listen to the show... or else.

In this episode host Matt Stickland recaps last week's council meetings, the good, the bad and the austerity. Even by our lax standards these show notes are sub standard because there's just too much on the go in real life this weekend for a more fullsome show notes. Soz.

Can't make book club today? Don't worry about it! Here's an interview with the author of Killed by a Traffic Engineer, Wes Marshall, who wrote this month's book

Man what a week that was! Mayor Andy Fillmore is on a tear during budget season and is clearly working as hard as he can to tank the city so we get a good draft pick next season. Or something. These show notes are written on Sunday, and on this particular Sunday a Canadian Hockey team lost a game so that's the end of these show notes. Bye, or whatever.

This week is a bit of an odd one, as it had five full days of council meetings and host Matt Stickland had five full days of plague in his house. The big moves by Cleary at the end of last week's budget debate, as well as the police budgets, are not in this episode. They are in the paper this week, and will be in a later episode of the show (probably), respectively. That's all for this week as Matt fills up on fluids and heads back to bed to try and beat this fever.

Budget season rolled on last week as councillors started debating the operational budgets of the city's various business units. Before getting into that host Matt Stickland gives a dire warning about the city's fiscal future. After the ad break, Matt recaps the Board of Police Commissioners passion for violence, and also two days of budget committee meetings. If you are a subscriber and notice this episode is about 6 minutes longer, you can hear the new stuff at the 30 minute mark. As always, a reminder about the book club meeting on March 1 at 2:30 at Celtic Corner in Dartmouth. Please email matt(at)GrandParade(dot)news if you are planning to attend. I won't hold you to it, just trying to get an idea of numbers. See you next week when we talk about the bus.

Hello sportsfans, it was a busy week at city hall with a full meeting of council, and two budget committee meetings. Halifax is in dire financial straights and a win for bike lanes on Tuesday was caught an L on Friday as the just saved bike lanes are now back on the chopping block. Also in this show, city staff 💩🛏️ on the taxi bylaw update, there's a really greasy vote and Matt breaks down why council is probably lying (to themselves) when they say they have the political will to make change in this city.

Budget season is back in earnest this week so RIP to all of Matt's free time and that's one of the reasons the recap part of the show is so short. But because budget season is back, we thought we'd give you a primer so y'all can get a quick reminder about how exactly past councils managed to have shot themselves in both feet, all 10 toes, the shins, knees and femurs over the past 30 years causing all of today's fiscal pain. It seems like a book club is a popular idea, so we will be reading Killed by a Traffic Engineer, by Wes Marshall and meeting to talk about it on Sunday, March 1, at 2:30 pm at Celtic Corner in Darmouth. Please email [email protected] to let us know if you are planning on coming by Valentine's day. We won't hold you to the RSVP, the pub just wants a better idea of the numbers to know where to put us.

In this show, before the ad break we go over what happened on Tuesday's council meeting, with a brief sidebar into road safety and why councillor Cathy Deagle Gammon makes her husband drop what he's doing to go pick up Matt's garbage. #sharedresponsibility In the second half of the show, we cover the Board of Police Commissioners meeting and go over Halifax's new stupid parking policy. And give Fillmore his due flowers from the debate. If you're a subscriber please note that Matt from the future did pop in at the 43 minute mark of this show and please go read Monday's paper for more details, but TL:DR, it council's fault, again (and also city staff and/or city processes as described in this episode, but I'm still digging into the story because I now think I'm missing a bit of context and have a media request in to get it. Stay tuned for updates.)

No real show notes this week as it's late and family game night. Here's the link for the suburban plan though: https://engagehalifax.ca/suburban-plan

Merry Christmas ya filthy animals. The newspaper will be back on Jan 12. This podcast will be back then too, maybe the week before. We'll see how she goes.

Every week I fall a little bit more behind and it becomes harder and harder to do all the little things like write comprehensive show notes. So if you have questions about this episode, please, reach out and I'll get you answers. If you have questions for the mailbag show, please use the very long link below to submit them. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScMPuDQyt7L2027BBCjQ2MA4_0yz-Xt2j5TwV8kFClqC_Xx_Q/viewform?usp=sharing&ouid=112504436461387338909 Otherwise, have a good one and I'm gonna take a nap

These show notes will be updated on Monday (probably). The Val-d'Or Foreurs bus blew a tire on Sunday, which means minor hockey day down at the Metro Centre really jammed up my ability to sit down and link the stuff in the show. So that's a tomorrow job. Which is today you (if it's Monday)

Another week of city politics another week of this podcast. If you're here for the rabbit hole on drugs, right here is season 2 episode 2 of On Drugs about the history of weed in Canada https://www.cbc.ca/listen/cbc-podcasts/157-on-drugs/episode/15521363-s2-e2-cannabis-from-prohibition-to-legalization But in the rest of this episode host Matt Stickland goes over the meetings last week. What did Halifax's auditor general say about rec programming? Will deputy mayor Patty Cuttell be on the next season of Nathan Fielder's show? What was up with John Young last Thursday? Find answers to these questions and more in this week's episode!

It's everyone's favourite time of year, which means I've run out of time to do everything I need to do before Monday's deadlines, like write show notes. Are you looking for more information about something I said in the show, email me [email protected] and apologies that it's not in the show notes like it normally would be. Ta ta for now, I have to edit a newspaper!

Were you expecting the start of season four and a budget preview? Well PSYCHE! Two things happened. First, Remembrance Day was not great, but it provides some context for Halifax's road safety strategy. Then in the second half of the show, some genuinely good news: police reform is taking tangible strides in the HRM, and the Board of Police Commissioners did good!

Short episode this week as Matt gets ready for Budget Season. In this episode, some hope, a budget season preview, preview, and another week where I go tell you to watch that video by Kevin over at HFX by Bike. This one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8kCed6o4Bc&t=17s

In this episode host Matt Stickland recaps a relatively uneventful week in city politics. A lot of information about strategic plans, from HalifACT to Snow Clearing but not a lot of ACTion on any thing yet. Also in this episode, last week's board of police commissioners meeting happened and Matt talks about Eastern Passage's new police expense. Built to Fail YouTube Video: https://youtu.be/l8kCed6o4Bc?si=9BjkcecFQJAQbtCH The city's housing strategy survey: https://engagehalifax.ca/housing-strategy

In this special episode of the Grand Parade podcast, we feature the spooky YouTube video made by Kevin over at HFX By Bike. In that video (linked below) he explains in great detail how and why the city is fiscally unsustainable. Also linked below, as mentioned in the intro, is the city's housing strategy public engagement survey. Have a safe and dry Halloween Built to Fail YouTube Video: https://youtu.be/l8kCed6o4Bc?si=9BjkcecFQJAQbtCH The city's housing strategy survey: https://engagehalifax.ca/housing-strategy

This week is all about Road Safety and how Halifax has killed a record number of people this year on our roads. This violence is both publically funded at great expense and completely avoidable. In this episode, host Matt Stickland struggles to keep it together as he tries to mimic all of the mental gymnastics on display last week. As promised, here is the piece by Josh over on CPL.ca: https://www.canpl.ca/news/healey-madness-and-late-playoff-magic-at-the-wanderers-grounds Here's one of the articles about the Parisian cyclist that was murdered: https://www.lemonde.fr/en/france/article/2024/10/18/cyclist-killed-in-paris-this-case-is-stirring-up-a-great-deal-of-emotion-among-people-who-travel-by-bike_6729762_7.html Here's a safestreetblog (an American road safety news outlet) article about that famously incorrect crosswalk study: https://usa.streetsblog.org/2016/02/12/traffic-engineers-still-rely-on-a-flawed-1970s-study-to-refuse-crosswalks Here is Ottawa's road safety Strategy: https://pub-ottawa.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?documentid=27362 Here is Hoboken's: https://www.vzhoboken.com/_files/ugd/365b92_c415cf40a108488d981e0609bd9a19f9.pdf And here is Hoboken's vision zero driver pledge: https://www.vzhoboken.com/ And here is Helsinki's plan: https://www.hel.fi/static/liitteet/kaupunkiymparisto/julkaisut/julkaisut/julkaisu-25-23.pdf And here is Halifax's: https://cdn.halifax.ca/sites/default/files/documents/transportation/streets-sidewalks/attachment-1-road-safety-strategy.pdf So now that you have seen the other student's homework, would you give Halifax a passing grade? No seriously, would you? Let us know, [email protected]

Hey, our road safety strategy is working as designed, which means it's working against it's intended outcome. As a result children and their parents are dying and only you can prevent it from getting worse. Here are the links promised in the show: https://thehappyurbanist.substack.com/p/more-cars-in-body-shops-less-kids The video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNSgmm9FX2s https://cdn.halifax.ca/sites/default/files/documents/city-hall/boards-committees-commissions/231116atac921pres.pdf https://cdn.halifax.ca/sites/default/files/documents/city-hall/boards-committees-commissions/231116atac921waleshandout.pdf https://cdn.halifax.ca/sites/default/files/documents/city-hall/boards-committees-commissions/231116atac921.pdf https://nation.cymru/opinion/20mph-one-year-on-welsh-road-casualties-falling-considerably-faster-than-rest-of-gb/ https://www.mylondon.news/news/south-london-news/london-hits-historic-clean-air-32584488

I gotta be honest here. It's 7pm on Sunday night and I have a beer league hockey game to go to and I can't skip it because I'm the goalie. If there is information you wanted in these show notes but is not here please send all your complaints to [email protected]. Enjoy this week's show!

Another week at city hall and another week of the Grand Parade podcast. This week is a far less... let's say excited episode that runs back over the relatively mild municipal news since last Monday Here are the links promised in the show notes from the ep itself: The rise of Canadian Women's Rugby: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Foq1rCWiYuA&t=1041s Get involved with your city planning here: https://engagehalifax.ca/2025-planning-changes

Fair warning, the failure of the Bus Rapid Transit pilot in 2022 (but formally at the last Transportation Standing Committee meeting) combined with the failures of council to do tax reform in the 28 years since amalgamation, and the failure to learn any lessons from the Bus Rapid Transit Pilot for the “improved” 2024 Road Safety Strategy sent me spiralling down a rabbit hole. Would you too like to come through the looking glass? No? Well, maybe you should avoid this episode. For everyone else, he’s an angry explanation for just how badly the council has failed us for the past 28 years.

We are back fully recharged to talk about a wet and wild council meeting. It actually wasn't all that wet or wild, as the Dartmouth Cove motion was dealt with early and largely without incident. Most of the interesting debates, and therefor most of this show is about the city's budget. The upcoming budget season, and our massive amount of debt, and our really high future tax rate. And when you get to the end, let me know what you think about a Grand Parade meetup and/or faux council award ceremony.

Apologies. Due to personal circumstances, physical illness and mental health, there will be no issue with the paper this week. More details on this and local roads in this week's abridged show.

Thanks to the sponsor of this week's show, there's not much in these show notes this week. In this episode Matt covers the three water issues council debated last Tuesday before shining a light on the city's sunshine list. In the paper this week we've asked our reader for some feed back, check it out in store.

Do you ever have one of those things where it's like a thing you do every week, but some weeks it's just like "OH MY GOD I HAVE TO DO THIS THING AGAIN!?" Not sure why I thought that was relevant, but this week's episode is a format that was a bit easier to manage. Join host Matt Stickland as he walks his dog and plans for the American invasion of Canada, all while singing Acadian pop songs.

The show notes will be as short as this week's routine meetings. What does Mortal Kombat have to do with underground parking? Listen to city hall reporter Matt Stickland break it all down. Contest? What contest? I haven't the foggiest.

This week we get back to the more neo-traditional clipped show format, recapping the last week of council meetings. Sportswashing, fiscal sustainability, road safety, park lighting, this week really had it all. Also this week host Matt Stickland explains what the plans for the future of this paper are, should we continue to be successful in this endeavour. Don't forget to rate and review this show and share it with your friends, and to the three of you who are reading this, hey, thanks for paying attention to the details.

Hey folks, I know I promised real show notes, but it turns out that was a lie. I find these hard to do and so far the feedback I've gotten on show notes is that no one reads these things anyway. You read this thing? Shoot me a message (matt(at)grandparade(dot)news, first one to do so gets one month's free subscription to the paper. That said, if you're looking for the text of the amendment I've suggested for emails-to-councillors purposes, here it is from the script: And I think it’s as simple as amending clause 21 from quote (1) Staff shall prepare a traffic calming plan for each project on the annual proposed implementation list and shall consider the physical characteristics of each street. End quote to read quote (1) Staff shall prepare an evidence based traffic calming plan in line with Intergrated Mobility Plan and/or Vision Zero’s and/or HalifaACT’s desired outcomes for each project on the annual proposed implementation list and shall align council priorities and the physical characteristics of each street when trying to determine how to reduce the danger of car traffic.

Big week in Halifax politics as Morris Street bikeway was killed and then immediately reanimated by Halifax's council. More people are homeless now than they were last year and Matt details the 20 some odd years of Halifax failing to accomplish real tax reform. By way of apology for the rougher than normal edit, here's the world anvil page for the D&D world my friend and I created. It's a North American pre-European contact-inspired world. https://www.worldanvil.com/w/nd26dp-landofsticks

As threatened, we've taken the week off but to fill the void left by our absence, we're re-airing a fan favourite. Here are the show noted from the episode In this week’s episode of The Grand Parade podcast, Coast reporters Matt Stickland and Martin Bauman chat with economist Deny Sullivan about Halifax’s HAF blunders and why a labour shortage isn’t to blame for the city’s housing crisis. Plus, they delve into Halifax’s deferred plans to abandon its Strategic Road Safety Framework in favour of a new plan that is worse than the old one.

Last council meeting in July council started some pretty beefy discussions about tax reform. During that debate in early July, mayor Andy Fillmore suggested Halifax could learn lessons from how Hamilton and Winnipeg do their budgets. Since council isn’t meeting this week, it gave city hall reporter Matt Stickland time to go read other cities’ budget documents and bring you a budgetary book report about what Halifax can learn about sustainable budgeting from Winnipeg and Hamilton.