Halifax councillors slam 'disrespectful' provincial move to cancel bylaws

Halifax councillors say the province's move to interfere in certain bylaws is "disrespectful" and overreaching.

Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister John Lohr tabled amendments to the Halifax Regional Municipality's charter on Friday that would give the minister authority to throw out an HRM bylaw — or part of a bylaw — that impedes "housing development and construction," according to a release.

"I'm really disappointed in it," Coun. Sam Austin said Saturday. "I mean, I wish the provincial government was as interested in doing their job as they apparently are in doing mine."

Austin said the municipality was only informed about the proposed amendments Thursday evening, hours before Lohr announced the changes.

The charter requires the province to consult with the municipality about any changes being made, but the Progressive Conservative government seems to have "exempted themselves" from that detail, he said.

Austin said the move fits the province's recent track record of making decisions without input from the city.

"This is a government that doesn't seem to respect the municipality or the public," he said.

Lohr said the amendments are needed to stop a city noise bylaw change that comes into effect in November. It would see all weekday construction end an hour and a half earlier — 8 p.m. rather than 9:30 p.m.

The province's proposed amendments would see the construction hours stay the same, which Lohr said is needed to make sure projects are completed as quickly as possible.

"To curtail the number of hours the construction industry can work — we can't accept that right now," Lohr told reporters Friday.

But Austin said he's worried about the precedent the move sets for provincial interference, since the amendments would allow for "much greater power" than just one noise bylaw. 

Fellow councillor Tony Mancini also said there are plenty of more effective ways the province can address the housing crisis.

"Make sure we have inclusionary zoning, build affordable housing — lots that we can do together. But stay out of the stuff that you really shouldn't be involved in. We know better.

"It's actually disrespectful. The province needs to stay in their lane."

Mancini added that while it seems like the province is being "influenced" by developers and the construction industry to bring in these amendments, the government should have realized how few projects would even use that extra 90 minutes of weekday building time.

"The reality is the city is approving building permits and moving things along, but there are not enough workers to get things done," Mancini said.

A provincial release said the amendments would not apply to long-standing bylaws, since any cancellations would have to occur within six months of a bylaw's second reading.

Although Lohr said there are no other bylaws he's looking to cancel right now, Lorelei Nicoll, the Liberal MLA for Cole Harbour-Dartmouth and former city councillor, said she's skeptical that the new amendments won't lead to more interference into municipal business.

Nicoll also said the bill undercuts the spirit of municipal government, which is ultimately about "the voice of the people and their concerns." 

"It's going to remove basically any concerns that the councillors could respond to as a municipality," Nicoll told reporters Friday.

The province also said areas like British Columbia, Quebec and New Brunswick have legislation giving the minister or attorney general the power to override a municipal bylaw "often with conditions and often related exclusively to planning matters."

At this stage it's uncertain what the province's announcement means for the Halifax municipality, a release from HRM said Friday.

The municipality said it intends to bring up its concerns with the bill during the law amendments process.