Watch Friday’s vote on the ARV carefully –which councillors are acting as rubber stamps for HRP and which are voting on the side of evidence, community well-being, and the clear will of the people?

Link to watch: www.youtube.com/live/12atRJM...

Council’s strong emphasis on keeping taxes low this year has left many of the community programs unsure if they’ll get their requested funding. The potential choice to cut funding to life affirming community programs in favour of the $603,000 tank will display council’s priorities very clearly 11/11

The Community Mediation Pilot, Youth Advocate, and JustFOOD programs fill critical gaps in safety, food security, and youth support - urging council to reimagine ‘safety’ by addressing root causes of “crime”, not funding violent punishment. 10/11

This leaves several important BAL items up for discussion on Friday—including 4 community-safety programs and the Tank.
026 Community Mediation Pilot Program – $100,000
002 JustFOOD Program – $328,000
006 Youth Advocate Program – $254,500
004 Additional Firefighters and Updated PPE – $215,000

9/11

On the flip side, 14 additional RCMP positions ($1,018,700) were given the green light.👎 (see image for voting results)

That leaves just one policing budget request left on the BAL—the whopping $603,000 Armoured “Rescue” Vehicle. This will be voted on tomorrow, Friday March 21st. 7/11

Additionally, following repeated requests from Halifax Regional Fire & Emergency for a cancer screening program and criticism from the public upon the initial objection of this request, council has backtracked its decision and unanimously passed a motion to develop this program by Jan. 2026 6/11

If you haven’t yet, please take a moment to sign the ECPJS petition for an immediate moratorium on Police response to Mental health calls. 5/11

Programs like these have been proven to divert calls away from police. When crisis navigators receive calls—whether from potential clients or other intake providers (e.g. 911)—they assess the situation and, if it meets established criteria, the crisis team is dispatched. justmentalhealth.ca 4/11

-- calling for an end to police-led wellness checks after the tragic loss of two community members during HRP “wellness check” interventions where tasers were deployed.

Here are the results of the vote for the Community Crisis Diversion Pilot.

3/11

We’re pleased to see that the Community Crisis Diversion Pilot Service was approved. This comes a few weeks after a March 7, 2025 press release from ECPJS, PATH Legal, and the Elizabeth Fry Society of Mainland NS--
2/10

The estimated cost has ballooned to $150 million, eclipsing the Cogswell project. For that, we're not getting dedicated bus lanes or separated cycle/pedestrian facilities despite council asking for years – the project remains an anachronistic, sprawling highway scheme in pursuit of car capacity