Chair Of New Halifax Panel Says Increasing Supply Of Affordable Housing Is The Priority
HALIFAX – The inaugural chair of the newly created panel on housing in Halifax says it remains to be seen how the five-person task force will achieve its lofty mandate. Geoff MacLellan, the former Liberal cabinet minister, called the panel an “open script” that will start being written when the group has its first meeting in December.
“It is a clean slate. This doesn’t exist (before)…there’s an overarching general mandate, but by-and-large the details on how we fulfill that mandate and get to that finish line is an open script and a clean slate that we get to shape,” said chairperson MacLellan.
The big mandate given to this group by Premier Tim Houston is to increase the housing supply in Halifax by quickening the process for getting large residential developments approved in the city.
It’s no secret that developers in the city have complained about how long it can take for applications to be approved. MacLellan said it will be important to look at how to cut the red tape at all levels of government.
“Red tape is a very important topic. We have a [committee] that has been tasked to identify those regulatory bottlenecks and… the red tape that exists provincially,” he said.
“All levels of government have a certain amount of red tape and things that slow processes as we try to get things done.”
“Zoning, how you look at density, what the environmental and safety permits look like…all of those things are important pieces.”
However, the creation of this new panel has been controversial. People in Halifax, including city councilors, are worried the panel has too much power and can override the municipal application and approval process, while not having to seek public input.
Councilor Waye Mason wrote a blog post in early November saying the province shouldn’t be able to sidestep the public consultation process for the sake of making quicker decisions. Mason also said HRM, in recent years, has made improvements in speeding up the approval process.
“I am proud of the public consultation HRM undertakes,” wrote Mason. “Sometimes it is slow, messy, and a lot of work, pleasing everyone can’t always happen, but public dialog and discussion is a cornerstone of democratically building an inclusive community.
This provincially mandated, legally required public process is seen by some as an obstacle to swift development.
Bill 63, which creates the Executive Panel on Housing, strips away all of these commitments to democratic engagement, public consultation, and transparent decision-making. This panel will advise the Minister who would then pass binding orders approving development without the public having input or seeing why the decision was made.
When asked if the panel could use its powers to overturn an HRM decision on a development, MacLellan stated that it’s yet to be determined how the task force will specifically operate.
“All of those conversations about those things, about the appeal process, the application process…what they are and how they look, and what power exists where… is really what we’re going to talk about in the early days of the task force,” he said.
“The absolute goal, at the end of the day, of the task force is getting more affordable housing to Nova Scotians who are in a desperate position in terms of their housing stability.”
MacLellan did state, however, that he wants to work with the HRM and have a collaborative approach.
“This isn’t about having the heaviest hand to go in and just interrupt things,” he said. “That’s not helpful and it’s not going to get us any closer to solving a very dire problem.”
“At the end of the day, this is about people being able to pay their bills and have stable housing.”
When the group of five meet for the first time in December, MacLellan wants to focus on getting an understanding of the scope of the problem. For that, he says, data will be needed.
“Understanding what the problem is we’re dealing with, using data. We all know the anecdotes; there are some terrible nightmare situations and living conditions for people.”
The four people joining MacLellan on the housing panel include:
- Kelly Denty, Executive Director of Planning and Development, HRM
- Peter Duncan, Director of Infrastructure Planning, HRM
- Stephen MacIsaac, CEO, Nova Scotia Lands
- Paul LaFleche, Deputy Minister, Department of Municipal Affairs and Housing
Derek Montague is a Huddle reporter in Halifax. Send him your feedback and story ideas: [email protected].