The Dalhousie Gazette reached out to mayoral candidate and current District 7 Councillor Waye Mason for an interview about his policies and platform for the upcoming HRM municipal election. Mason emailed replies to the Gazette’s questions about his policies, opinions and what we think students need to know. All of Mason’s quotes were taken verbatim from his emailed statement.
Describe your biography and knowledge of municipal affairs that positions you as the most qualified mayoral candidate.
I’ve been on Council for 12 years, before that I worked in the music and cultural industries and taught for five years at NSCC. I’ve got experience at navigating City Hall and I will hit the ground in a full sprint – keeping projects moving that will directly impact housing and affordability over the next several years.
Thousands of students attend post-secondary institutions in HRM. What municipal issues and concerns affecting students can you identify that are within the mayor’s ability to address?
The thing I am hearing over and over from residents from one end of HRM to the other are housing, affordability, and transit. I am proud to be the first and so far only candidate to release a comprehensive and detailed platform, that has solid, pragmatic and realistic proposals to make real improvements on all of those issues. We need to build more housing, do whatever we can to make municipal services affordable for those facing income challenges and invest in fixing transit, making some routes operate 24/7, investing in short term fixes, and ultimately building bus rapid transit.
What accomplishments are you most proud of during your two terms as councillor for Halifax South End/Downtown?
Major projects or investments I’m proud of include the streets capings of Argyle and Spring Garden, the new Common Pool, the South Park bike lane, buying five new ferries, purchasing the Shaw wilderness parklands, and getting the land donated by HRM to support the construction of a new Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Centre.
Bringing in plans that move us away from car dependent transportation through the Integrated Mobility Plan, adopting and funding HalifACT, our climate action plan, and protecting our green and wild spaces through Halifax Green Network plan are huge steps forward were all huge accomplishments. Successfully navigating our commitment to Truth and Reconciliation, renaming Peace and Friendship Park, and working to build a real and lasting partnership with the Mi’kmaw filled me with joy.
What are your top three priorities if elected HRM mayor?
Set up Housing Halifax, an arms-length agency to make affordable housing get built faster, get a traffic operations centre built to reduce congestion, and set up civilian-led response teams to de-task the police and provide alternative health focused response for homeless, mental health and other social work calls for help.
What should voters know about your political background?
I am not a member of any political party. I got into municipal politics as an activist who had worked to help make my community a better place, specifically fighting to keep my kids school from being closed by the school board! I think it is important to have leaders in the municipal space who are not identified as active party members, as you have to work with whoever else gets elected at Council, and whoever else gets elected provincially and federally, whatever their stripes.
How do you propose to address the tent encampments?
No one should live in a tent. No parks should have tents. Right now though, there is no housing for a lot of the people in tents, so we need to support folks in managed encampments with portapotties, water, etc while housing and shelter is built.
We need to make sure the encampments are safe for both people living there and the neighbours around them, and we need to make sure the province works to house ALL the residents, including the folks with the highest needs. While most folks living in tents are low needs, and just need a roof and a door they can lock, some need more help. HRM will work with the province to make sure they provide needed wraparound services for mental health and drug addictions for those that need it.
We are probably 12-18 months away from being able to get our parks fully empty of tents, though I expect over the next period of time that we will reduce the approved spots, and slowly roll it back to just a few places.
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