HALIFAX—There’s been much ado about what’s been excluded from the proposed capital budget, but at least one advocate was happy to see what was included.

Halifax councillors voted this week to defer their vote on the 2019-2020 capital budget for a second time to have staff compile a report on how they can fund $21.8 million in projects that were listed as “alternative” priorities.

About half the value of those projects is related to the active transportation-focused Integrated Mobility Plan, and more is related to the transit-focused Moving Forward Together Plan.

Councillor Sam Austin said his “heart really sank” when he first saw the capital budget, and Councillor Waye Mason said he was “disappointed and worried.”

But Chris Miller, executive director of the Nova Scotia chapter of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, found some “welcome news” buried in this year’s budget documents.

The proposed budget lists $7 million for parkland acquisition in 2019-2020.

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“This is an opportunity account to purchase and develop parkland, as directed by council, as it becomes available, to create or expand Regional Parks, Regional Active Transportation Trails, District and Neighbourhood Parks and Trails,” reads a supplemental budget sheet attached to the budget.

One of those parks is the long-promised, long-delayed Blue Mountain Birch Cove Wilderness Park.

“That’s a place that’s very important to a lot of people, and there’s commitments to protect this special place going back decades,” Miller said in an interview.

“The problem is the city has never really put a proper level of investment to acquire these properties. So seeing a $7-million line item in the budget was certainly welcome news.”

In 2009, the provincial government protected 1,300 hectares of wilderness area behind Bayers Lake.

Three years before, in 2006, Halifax made a commitment to create a buffer zone, in the form of a regional park, between the future protected land and developed land. Combined, the park and wilderness would form a protected area the size of the Halifax peninsula.

For years, there was no progress, until public pressure mounted to stop any potential development in what should be that buffer zone. Council voted in 2016 to direct staff start buying up land and create the park.

Last year, the municipality announced its first land purchase; about 32 hectares around Hobson Lake.

The municipality is only spending $500,000 on parkland acquisition in 2018-2019, according to the budget documents. That means $7 million could go a long way, even though budget documents also list other parks, like the Shaw Wilderness Park in Purcells Cove, under the parkland acquisition line item.

“It’s not clear exactly what proportion of that would be for the project that we’ve been working on, but certainly the city needs to start allocating resources toward these land purchases and this is definitely a step in the right direction,” Miller said.

Miller said there is some concern in his organization that the parkland acquisition budget could be slashed in favour of other projects, but he hopes councillors stay the course.

“Finally there’s a good amount of funding in a capital budget for a single year and that’s something that’s certainly welcome news. We’d be very concerned if there was any sort of pressure that came on to push that out in favour of something else,” he said.

The timing is opportune as well. Miller pointed out that the federal government created a $1.3-billion fund last year to help municipal, provincial and Indigenous governments establish protected areas.

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“And those funds are available now, but they’re only going to be available for the next year or so,” he said.

“By the city providing matching funding now, there’s an opportunity for the federal government to match those funds. That $7 million could become $14 million, for instance, which is a strategic investment for the city.”

The next report on the capital budget is due in a few weeks. Debates will continue on both the capital and operating budgets — and any corresponding tax hike — till April.

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