Letter to the city: Lack of safety on Halifax crosswalks requires real consultation and action now
Martyn Williams writes the Halifax road safety steering committee after drivers killed 8 pedestrians on crosswalks since the beginning of 2018.
Environment
Letter to Halifax leadership on a golden opportunity to revisit the Cogswell development
Martyn Williams: There were numerous core concerns raised by stakeholders and by design experts regarding Cogswell’s lack of connectivity, lack of character, and lack of genuine buy-in and involvement from the community and stakeholders. Now we must take time to reconsider Cogswell, before mistakes are made. The new Cogswell just exists on paper right now. Nothing is irreversible.
Media release: Alton Gas ignores Supreme Court ruling, continues work without Indigenous consultation
Media release: The Council of Canadians has learned Alton Gas appears to be working on site this week, despite a Supreme Court ruling in Nova Scotia overturning their industrial permit while they consult with Sipekne’katik First Nation.
Press release: Healthy Bays Network forms to fight open-net finfish farms
Media release; Groups province wide opposed to open net pens have now joined forces. They have formed the Healthy Bays Network (HBN). Committed to a healthy environment, empowered communities, local employment and well-paying jobs with a future, Nova Scotians will hear lots more from the Healthy Bays Network in the weeks and months ahead.
Sidewalk closures must address the needs and abilities of all pedestrians
A 3-year construction-related closure of a Robie Street sidewalk will require either a long detour along Agricola, a very dangerous unmarked crosswalk crossing of Robie, or a one-kilometre detour along signalized crosswalks. That’s too hard for many people who are older or who live with disabilities, writes Martyn Williams.
PSA: An open letter to Nova Scotia premier Stephen McNeil on the Cooke Aquaculture lease renewal for Liverpool Bay
Open letter; While our province is in the depths of a deadly pandemic with orders to “Stay the BLAZES home”, our Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Hon. Keith Colwell’s department deems it business as usual for this company and grants them this unprecedented 20-year lease renewal.
Media release: Environmental groups taking legal action against federal government over flawed environmental impact assessment
“This regulation and rush to drill takes us completely in the opposite direction from the government’s stated commitments on climate change. Given the recent history of spills and accidents off Newfoundland, the risk of spills and even a blowout is simply too high to roll the dice for the over a hundred new wells on the books right now. Seismic blasting and noise from drilling threatens rich habitat for whales and other ocean life. The stakes were simply too high to let this regulation and the incomplete assessment upon which it relies to stand.
Water Protectors ask allies to tell the province to face reality and suspend Alton Gas industrial approval
Tireless water protectors Rachael Greenland-Smith and Dale Poulette are calling on the Nova Scotia Department of Environment to suspend the Alton Gas Industrial Approval, effectively halting the proposed dumping of large quantities of brine in the river. They hope allies will join them in that call.
Making space for pedestrians – An email exchange between Halifax’s Brad Anguish and Martyn Williams
On April 29 Martyn Williams sent an open letter to Jacques Dubé (Halifax CAO) and Brad Anguish (Director, Public Transportation and Works) expressing concern that genuine issues relating to social distancing rules and lack of space for pedestrians were not taken seriously by Halifax City Hall. Here is a further exchange between Brad Anguish and Martyn Williams.
Make space for pedestrians – an open letter to Jacques Dubé (Halifax CAO) and Brad Anguish (Director, Public Transportation and Works)
City bureaucrats don’t want additional street space for pedestrians eager to follow social distancing rules.
Martyn Wiliams responds to every non-justification offered up by Halifax CAO Jacques Dubé and HRM Transportation director Brad Anguish.