It is evident that current system of governance in Halifax is not serving the needs of residents. The inclusion of the old County of Halifax in the amalgamation process has created many unforeseen problems. The needs of rural residents and urban residents differ significantly. The current size of council (23 councilors plus the mayor) is simply too large for effective decision making and has created a divisive culture for council, pitting one community against the other. The Halifax Regional Municipality is the largest, from a geographical perspective, in Canada. On a population per capita basis, our analysis suggests that the size of council should be reduced from 23 to between 12-14 councilors for similar sized communities. This would add efficiency to the system and facilitate more effective decision-making with fewer, more empowered councilors.
At the same time, it is time to redraw the boundaries of the current municipality into two separate units which would better represent the interests of those living in the urban area and those living in the rural areas. The city municipality could, for example, include the former Town of Bedford, the former City of Halifax and the former City of Dartmouth as the starting point. The former County of Halifax would provide the boundary for that municipality. A plebiscite could be employed to determine the final boundaries. The two resulting municipal units would effectively reduce the size of both councils down to a more manageable number.
The two municipalities would share common services (such as policing, fire protection, public transit and garbage collection) on some form of equitable cost sharing basis.