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Andrew Younger
- 'The division of the municipality into two units with smaller councils to better serve the rural and urban communities more effectively and efficiently.' Select 'Yes' if you support dividing the municipality in this manner, or 'No' if you oppose the division.
No. While this may have been an appropriate method of division when amalgamation first took place it is impractical and extraordinarily expensive to do this now. To engage in such a process would consume many millions of dollars and probably years of council time. Consider that 10 years in from amalgamation we are only just beginning to bring the city past working through amalgamation. Spending time to de-amalgamate would further set the municipality back resulting in even more time spent catching up. Prior to being acclaimed I knocked on many doors and where de-amalgamation was preferred, it was complete de-amalgamation and not into two units in any case. It would be more appropriate to revise the governance structure and reduce council size both of which would go further to improve the efficiency of municipal government.
- 'Tax reform that more closely aligns taxes with the actual cost of services delivered.'Select 'Yes' if you support reforming taxes in this manner, or select 'No' if you oppose.
Yes. As a member of the tax reform committee I have advocated this position for some years. Taxes must be tied to actual cost of delivering services as much as possible and where practical. They must be based on services a resident or business has access to or benefits from. This will promote more cost effective development and allow citizens to exactly understand what services they receive and the costs to provide such services.
- 'More aggressive development of the Arts and Culture sector by committing a minimum of 1% of the annual municipal budget to this sector.' Select 'Yes' if you support committing a minimum of 1% of the annual municipal budget to the Arts and Culture sector, or 'No' if you oppose.
Yes. As past chair of the Cultural Advisory Committee I have advocated for this type of policy and it has already been put into policy for HRM as a goal, and work is being done to examine raising some of such funds through planning provisions much like parkland provisions.
- 'The creation of the position of Chief Sustainability Officer with the necessary authority and budget to ensure Halifax becomes the most sustainable city in Canada by 2020.' Select 'Yes' if you support creating the position of Chief Sustainability Officer as described in this statement, or 'No' if you oppose.
Yes. Again, this is an issue I broached a number of years ago and work towards a this or a similar idea has been discussed at Energy and Underground Services Committee (which I currently chair) and at council. Specifically, I have worked with Main Street area businesses in Dartmouth to create a business commission and one of their goals is to become a leader in sustainability as a business district. Likewise Burnside is trying to acheive similar goals. I am currently working with staff in my role as chair of EUGS to improve and modernize the role of the sustainability office HRM already has.
- 'The development of an integrated intercultural strategy to attract and retain immigrants and to better support disadvantaged groups within our community.' Select 'Yes' if you support developing an integrated intercultural strategy to attract and retain immigrants, and to better support disadvantaged groups within our community, or select 'No' if you oppose.
Yes. Again, this is something which is already underway and which I supported as part of the Immigration Strategy. I have worked with, and will continue to work with, a number of cultural communities in HRM discussing issues of immigrant retention, and trying to identify the challenges faced in some of these communities. In my past role as chair of the Cultural Advisory Committee I worked to integrate intercultural issues into many of the cultural initiatives going forward and will continue to do so.
- 'The creation of a transportation authority to develop and implement a long-term comprehensive transportation strategy that integrates all modes of transportation.' Select 'Yes' if you support creating a transportation authority as described in this statement, or 'No' if you oppose.
Yes. I have supported such an authority for some years. However, it is worth noting that work was being done in earnest some years ago on this (approximately 3) but it was abandoned at a provincial government level. There is little value in such a transportation authority unless it has the ability to integrate transit, provincial and municipal roads, bridges, and so forth. Given the reluctance to provide legislative permissions to create this in the past, I believe the next best step is to create an integrated committee with concrete authority over transportation issues and reporting to council and cabinet. This is a second best option, but one that would at least move the issue forward.
- 'The adoption of a more transparent and streamlined development process as proposed by the HRM by Design initiative.' Do you support or oppose adopting a more transparent and streamlined development process in this manner?
Yes. I have already proven my support for a more streamlined process as we have approved such a development process for the Main Street business district. One should note however, that the greatest current impediments to development are capital market funding and the length of appeals. There are quite a few major developments in the Capital District and elsewhere which have been long approved by council but have still not been started, sometimes due to appeals, but often due to lack of market funding.
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