At recent public participation sessions at City Hall, the community has been speaking out against this $200 million mistake. We’ve also had some of these concerned citizens sit down for interviews to share their insights.

Here are some of the highlights, ranging from overviews of the entire proposed project to detailed concerns and alternative proposals from experts in transit, housing, health, and more.

First, an overview with friend of the Halifax Common, Peggy Cameron.

Pam Cooley holds many applicable areas of expertise. She is a consultant to cities trying to reduce traffic pressures, the Executive Director of the international Car Sharing Association, and the founder of Car Share Halifax, which is now operating under the name Communauto. 

Ben Hammer is a sustainable transportation advocate and expert who has worked to support active transportation, improve public transit service reliability, and to ensure that communities like ours don’t make expensive mistakes (like this proposed Robie St widening). He’s studying the successes and failures of transit systems around the world and has some advice for Halifax. 

Ben Hammer spoke to City Council recently and clearly laid out numerous reasons why this project is a huge mistake, from driver and bus maintenance worker shortages to the lack of available busses to purchase. He clearly demonstrated that not only was this project not necessary, it also could not possibly live up to its promises of improving transit.

Cathy Cervin (MD, CCFP, FCFP, MAEd) is a retired family physician, the Chair of the Nova Scotia Committee of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE), Professor Emeritus at NOSM University, and a proud grandmother. She wants the politicians to base their decisions on evidence. And the evidence shows that widening streets is bad for health and bad for Haligonians.

…and more to come!

If you feel the evidence speaks for itself and that Halifax shouldn’t move forward with the Robie St widening, tell City Council using our mailing tool or write to them directly by copying the text below and pasting it into your email’s “to” field.

<clerks@halifax.ca>; <cathy.deaglegammon@halifax.ca>; <david.hendsbee@halifax.ca>; <becky.kent@halifax.ca>; <trish.purdy@halifax.ca>; <sam.austin@halifax.ca>; <tony.mancini@halifax.ca>; <laura.white@halifax.ca>; <virginia.hinch@halifax.ca>; <shawn.cleary@halifax.ca>; <kathryn.morse@halifax.ca>; <cuttelp@halifax.ca>; <Janet.steele@halifax.ca>; <nancy.hartling@halifax.ca>;  <john.young@halifax.ca>; <billy.gillis@halifax.ca>; <jean.st-amand@halifax.ca>; <mayor@halifax.ca>

Dr. Clement Ligoure might be the most under-appreciated hero in Halifax’s history. And now, Halifax City Council is jeopardizing the living legacy of Dr. Ligoure: his home and clinic on North and Robie.

Once again, the politicians and developers of the region are attempting to erase Black and working class history as they demolish a neighbourhood for their proposed Robie St widening project. Dr. Ligoure’s home clinic was built in connection with its neighbouring house, which has been marked by Council for its residents to be evicted and the building town down. Unfortunately, separating these homes may be impossible without damaging or destroying them. So far, Council has refused to protect Dr. Ligoure’s home clinic.

The story of Dr. Ligoure’s bravery and dedication during the Halifax Explosion is briefly described in this short animation.

The Friends of the Halifax Common is proud to have been part of the efforts to have Dr. Ligoure’s home designated by the city as an official heritage property. Unfortunately, this doesn’t prevent the current City Council from tearing it down forever. 

Another fierce advocate for this heritage designation has been the great George Elliot Clarke. Here, the advocate, scholar, poet, and Order of Canada recipient shares his letter of support for the designation, which lays out the case for the unarguable importance of this piece of our shared history.

Please join in the calls for Halifax City Council to stop the proposed Robie St. widening project, protect Dr. Ligoure’s home clinic, and allow community members to return to the homes where Council has been evicting them (largely made up of deeply affordable units, including an entire apartment building for Mi’kmaq Haligonians, all evicted in 2025).

You can write to the City Council and local decision-makers at this link.

from: SPACING ATLANTIC

HALIFAX – Last Wednesday January 20th, HRM staff presented the plan “Improvements to the North Common” [PDF] to a full house, where there were more people in attendance than there were chairs. The presentation of the plan lasted an hour, and although only 30 minutes was set aside for input from the public, the question period ended up continuing for over an hour and a half, until only a handful of people were left in the room.

In this new century, we are facing a different kind of threat to public space— not one of disuse, but of patterns of design and management that exclude some people and reduce social and cultural diversity… to read more download pdf