Type Municipal Council Founded 1996 | Term limits None New session started 2016 | |
 | ||
Preceded by Council of City of Halifax
Council of City of Dartmouth
Council of Town of Bedford
Halifax County Council Mayor of Halifax Mike Savage
Since October 15, 2016 | ||
Halifax Regional Council is the governing body of Halifax, formally known as the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM). Halifax is governed by a mayor-council system, where councillors are elected from sixteen geographic districts though a first past the post system and the Mayor is elected via a municipality wide first past the post vote. Halifax Regional Council was formed in 1996 and consisted of twenty-three councillors and one mayor. It was reduced in size to sixteen councillors and the mayor in 2012. The council meets at Halifax City Hall.
Contents
- Structure
- Standing Committees
- Advisory committees
- Advisory Committees of Regional Council
- Advisory Committees of Community Council
- Boards and Commissions
- Boards of Regional Municipality
- External Board Appointments
- Community Councils
- List of Community Councils
- Office of the Mayor
- Councillors
- Elections
- Election Results
- References
Structure
The powers and authority of Halifax are laid out in the Halifax Regional Municipality Charter (2008). Halifax Regional Council has established Standing Committees, Community Councils and Advisory Committees to aid in policy development and decision making.
Standing Committees are composed of Councillors, and have responsibility over key functional areas of the municipality, such as transportation or the environment, and can propose, review, debate prior to forwarding reports to Council with recommendations. Community Councils are composed of Councillors and have preview over development, land use, park and community issues in their geographic area, as well as appointments to Standing Committees. Advisory committees include Councillors and citizens, and provide specific advice.
Generally each Councillor sits on two Standing Committees, one or more external boards, and one or more advisory committees. The Mayor is a member of all committees and is entitled to one vote. Residents can only make presentations to committees and community councils, not Regional Council, either through formal presentations prior to or public participation at the end of each meeting.
Standing Committees
There are six standing committees of Regional Council. Each committee has six members. The Executive Committee is composed of the Mayor, Deputy Mayor, and Chair or designated representative appointed by each of the other five standing committees. The remaining five standing committees are appointed through a process that sees each Community Council appoint a representative to ensure geographic balance, and the remaining three members appointed by Council based on expressions of interest.
Advisory committees
There are eighteen advisory committees of Council, 12 appointed by Regional Counci and reporting to it through the Standing Committees, and 6 appointed by and reporting to Community Councils.
Advisory Committees of Regional Council
Advisory Committees of Community Council
Boards and Commissions
There are two broad types of boards and commission to which HRM appoints Councillors and citizens. First, there are four boards of the regional municipality described by provincial statute that function as arms length boards delivering municipal services, or managing municipal assets. The second are external boards that have been established by other levels of government (Airport, Seaport, etc), are organizaitions that HRM is a voluntary member of (UNSM, etc) or via contract with HRM but are not subject to direct control by the municipality (Halifax Partnership, etc).
Boards of Regional Municipality
External Board Appointments
Community Councils
A Community Council in Nova Scotia's Halifax Regional Municipality is a form of local government consisting of several councillors from the larger Halifax Regional Council. Community councils represent a geographic area covering anywhere from five to six municipal districts where councillors consider local matters, make recommendations to Halifax Regional Council, and provide opportunities for public input.
The community council model was adopted by the municipality following incorporation in 1996, largely to placate the concerns of residents in the wake of the contentious municipal amalgamation. The current community councils were adopted after the 2012 election.
List of Community Councils
Office of the Mayor
The Office of the Mayor is located on the third floor of Halifax City Hall. Staffing roles and hiring are directed by the Mayor with the support of the CAO. The current staff of the office consists of
Councillors
The Council Support Office is located on the fourth floor of Halifax City Hall, with one remote office in Musquodoboit Harbour that is staffed part time, and other unstaffed offices in municipal buildings in some districts. Staffing roles and hiring are the responsibility of the Manager Council Support under the office of the CAO. The current staff of the office consists of nine full time and two part time staff, including the manager.
Elections
Elections are held every four years on leap years. By-elections for council seats have been held in 1998, 1999, 2003, 2006 and 2007 after some regional councillors were elected to the provincial legislature.
An examination of boundaries took place throughout 2003/04 upon which there was a redistribution of districts. The 2004 municipal election saw the combination of two districts into one in Cole Harbour, as well as the creation of a new district in Clayton Park West.