Flags only to be installed temporarily at basic crosswalks

HALIFAX - Regional Council has reversed course on the installation of crosswalk flags, voting Tuesday to move ahead with placing them at basic unlit crosswalks as a temporary measure.

Council voted in May to suspend the installation of the flags while other safety methods were studied, including the use of rapid flashing beacons and fluorescent signs on crosswalks.

An updated report from city staff presented at Tuesday’s council meeting recommended the continued suspension of new flags while more data is collected, but many councillors felt they should at least be used in the interim as an extra layer of safety.

Hammonds Plains Councillor Matt Whitman put forward police data provided by the Crosswalk Safety Society of Nova Scotia that showed the number of collisions at basic crosswalks in HRM with flags was three in the past year, compared to 21 at those without.

“Anecdotal or not, if it makes it safer I’m for it,” Whitman said during Tuesday’s two-hour discussion.

Whitman pointed out the program is inexpensive to the city with flags largely funded by volunteers and businesses. He said if there's a chance they could save one life and reduce collisions for "cents on the dollar...then it's worth it.”

Clayton Park Councillor Richard Zurawski was the most vocal opponent of the flags, arguing council was moving away from “evidence-based decision-making.”

Zurawski said of the two-dozen peer reviewed studies he’d looked at, none supported the idea flags make crosswalks safer, something city staff had also argued.

“We continue to waste our resources, time, staff, money on studies like this that distract us from the real problems,” he said, which are speed and road design.

Other councillors, like District 6's Tony Mancini, hoped a final decision could be made Tuesday but city staff haven’t collected enough data to make a judgment call on the safest method of traffic control for crosswalks.

Staff will now continue to collect data but new flags will be able to be installed at basic crosswalks temporarily until the full staff report is completed.

Lucasville boundary officially re-drawn after years of dispute

Council voted unanimously to re-draw the boundary for the historically African-Nova Scotian community of Lucasville on Tuesday, lines that have been disputed since amalgamation in 1996.

Many residents and members of the Lucasville Community Association have long argued the boundary doesn't reflect the community’s historic layout, particularly by not going south enough down Lucasville Road.

The move from council Tuesday extends the community’s southern boundary roughly two kilometres to south of Cranley Road. It also pushes the western boundary about the same distance to incorporate Newbury Road, Natura Drive, Waterstone Run, Stonewick Crescent and Westpoint Drive, which were formerly of Hammonds Plains.

The new boundaries rely on historical records and maps that date back to the early part of the 19th century when black refugees from the U.S. first settled the area after the War of 1812.

It was noted during the meeting that nothing would change for residents in the area and no municipal services would be impacted.

Councillor for the area Lisa Blackburn told council the previous 24 hours had been eye-opening to her ‘as a councillor, resident and a human being.’

“I am disappointed in the tone of many of the emails I’ve received about boundary change for Lucasville,” Blackburn said, noting some felt their property values were going to go down and others who felt racial segregation was warranted.

Blackburn told reporters outside of council others had contacted her calling this move “reverse racism” and others still said it was just being done to appease the black community.

Council voted unanimously in favour of Blackburn's motion and she said she was happy her colleagues voted to be on the “right side of history.”

While Lucasville was the largest change, the re-drawing also clarifies the boundaries of Hammonds Plains, Upper Hammonds Plains and Stillwater Lake.

Council votes to install ‘legacy room’ at City Hall

Council voted unanimously Tuesday to install a ‘legacy room’ at City Hall and make a $25,000 contribution to reconciliation projects under the Gord Downie and Chanie Wenjack Fund.

The fund is the creation of Tragically Hip lead singer Gord Downie, who spent the last year of his life promoting awareness of Indigenous issues and the legacy of residential schools in Canada before he passed away from brain cancer in October.

Downie’s solo-project ‘Secret Path’ told the story of Chanie Wenjack, a 12-year-old boy who died of hunger and exposure trying to escape a residential school in Ontario.

Mayor Mike Savage put forward a motion during Tuesday's meeting to establish a 'Downie Wenjack Legacy Room' in the main floor boardroom of City Hall that would be opened in partnership with the Mi’kmaq Community.

Savage said the room could be a major step forward in implementing recommendations made by the federal Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

“This is an opportunity for us to say that we care about this and we want to learn from it and we want to be part of the solution,” Savage said.

He added it would also provide a chance for all residents to learn the story of Wenjack and some of the historic wrongs committed not only in our country, but our own province.

Councillor David Hendsbee originally put forward a motion to defer a decision on the matter until concerns laid out in an email to council were addressed.

The details of the concerns weren't laid out publicly but HRM’s Indigenous Advisor Wyatt White told council he felt they weren't worth addressing.

Hendsbee’s motion to defer was defeated and Savage’s motion carried unanimously.