Another success from HalifACT is pluvial (rainfall) flooding, fluvial (river, lake, or stream overflow) flooding, and coastal flood mapping, with predictions for 1 in 20 year, and 1 in 100 year flooding events. This municipality-wide floodplain mapping was completed using climate projection and LiDAR data. 

On May 27, 2025, I presented a motion:

THAT Halifax Regional Council direct the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) to develop a staff report exploring options to support vegetative yard waste and debris disposal pursuant to HRM sanctioned community FireSmart events, and include a recommended option, with costing, for consideration. 

That staff report returned to council on October 28, with a recommendation of allocating an additional $20,000 towards FireSmart Cleanups.

Regional Council received the HalifACT (Halifax Acting on Climate Together) progress report this October — a document that both celebrates successes and underscores the work still ahead. The report, and the discussion that followed, reinforced a primary purpose of the HalifACT framework: to make the municipality carbon neutral while lowering long-term operating costs and aligning with other levels of government to get there.

At Regional Council on October 28, we received a presentation from the Halifax Regional Centre for Education (HRCE) on Halifax Regional Arts — a program funded through the general tax rate to deliver fine arts education in our schools.

Following my previous post on Strong Mayor Powers, Premier Houston confirmed on the Todd Vienotte Show in September that strong mayor powers are not being tabled in this legislature. The reasons he gave (based on my listening of the show) very much align the reasons I listed earlier.