Matt Stickland
@landofsticks.bsky.social
Founding editor of GrandParade.news a Halifax newspaper, host of Grand Parade and co-host of Wanderer Grounds. Previously: Writer for The Coast, Founding editor of Committee Trawler, an NDP Candidate, Submariner, and Theater tech. DMs open, he/him.
Reposted by Matt Stickland
Young is having a series of brutal meetings.
December 2, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Young is having a series of brutal meetings.
Is there a grammarly alternative that is essentially just grammarly before they junked their product with "ai"
December 2, 2025 at 8:38 PM
Is there a grammarly alternative that is essentially just grammarly before they junked their product with "ai"
The only thing missing from this story is a briefcase full of cash.
In apparent violation of public meeting rules, Mayor Andy Fillmore hosted secret meeting with councillors and Construction Association of Nova Scotia to talk regional plan
Story by me
www.halifaxexaminer.ca/government/c...
Story by me
www.halifaxexaminer.ca/government/c...
In apparent violation of public meeting rules, Mayor Andy Fillmore hosted secret meeting with councillors and Construction Association of Nova Scotia to talk regional plan - Halifax Examiner
Coun. Sam Austin expressed concerns with that meeting, saying while he thought the intentions were "good," he asked if the invitation was the "epitome of a backroom meeting?"
www.halifaxexaminer.ca
December 2, 2025 at 5:48 PM
The only thing missing from this story is a briefcase full of cash.
Reposted by Matt Stickland
In apparent violation of public meeting rules, Mayor Andy Fillmore hosted secret meeting with councillors and Construction Association of Nova Scotia to talk regional plan
Story by me
www.halifaxexaminer.ca/government/c...
Story by me
www.halifaxexaminer.ca/government/c...
In apparent violation of public meeting rules, Mayor Andy Fillmore hosted secret meeting with councillors and Construction Association of Nova Scotia to talk regional plan - Halifax Examiner
Coun. Sam Austin expressed concerns with that meeting, saying while he thought the intentions were "good," he asked if the invitation was the "epitome of a backroom meeting?"
www.halifaxexaminer.ca
December 2, 2025 at 4:49 PM
In apparent violation of public meeting rules, Mayor Andy Fillmore hosted secret meeting with councillors and Construction Association of Nova Scotia to talk regional plan
Story by me
www.halifaxexaminer.ca/government/c...
Story by me
www.halifaxexaminer.ca/government/c...
Reposted by Matt Stickland
firefox AI and slop disablers from tumblr for the people from local hero mckitterick. Tried it on my end and the browser is significantly faster now
(copy paste-able in the alt text)
(copy paste-able in the alt text)
December 2, 2025 at 3:47 AM
firefox AI and slop disablers from tumblr for the people from local hero mckitterick. Tried it on my end and the browser is significantly faster now
(copy paste-able in the alt text)
(copy paste-able in the alt text)
Reposted by Matt Stickland
"What if we govern ourselves as though tomorrow won't happen, or at least won't be our responsibility???" - a Nova Scotia story
December 2, 2025 at 3:41 PM
"What if we govern ourselves as though tomorrow won't happen, or at least won't be our responsibility???" - a Nova Scotia story
Reposted by Matt Stickland
Halifax Water is unintentionally showing off one of the upsides of having operations and fee structures that are an arms length distance from elected officials.
Mayor: Go insane. Destroy your budget. It's what the people want!
Halifax Water: I literally can't do that. I'm not allowed.
Mayor: Go insane. Destroy your budget. It's what the people want!
Halifax Water: I literally can't do that. I'm not allowed.
Halifax Water CFO: As I just explained to you, we are legally required to be sustainable and equitable so we can't make bad political decisions that would be popular with voters.
Fillmore is now asking if Halifax Water has considered being less sustainable to save money today even if it costs more later. 🙃🙃😭😭
December 2, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Halifax Water is unintentionally showing off one of the upsides of having operations and fee structures that are an arms length distance from elected officials.
Mayor: Go insane. Destroy your budget. It's what the people want!
Halifax Water: I literally can't do that. I'm not allowed.
Mayor: Go insane. Destroy your budget. It's what the people want!
Halifax Water: I literally can't do that. I'm not allowed.
Fillmore: What if you could borrow for cheaper?
CFO: ... We have the same low interest lender in the province???
CFO: ... We have the same low interest lender in the province???
Halifax Water CFO: As I just explained to you, we are legally required to be sustainable and equitable so we can't make bad political decisions that would be popular with voters.
Fillmore is now asking if Halifax Water has considered being less sustainable to save money today even if it costs more later. 🙃🙃😭😭
December 2, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Fillmore: What if you could borrow for cheaper?
CFO: ... We have the same low interest lender in the province???
CFO: ... We have the same low interest lender in the province???
Halifax Water CFO: As I just explained to you, we are legally required to be sustainable and equitable so we can't make bad political decisions that would be popular with voters.
Fillmore is now asking if Halifax Water has considered being less sustainable to save money today even if it costs more later. 🙃🙃😭😭
December 2, 2025 at 3:42 PM
Halifax Water CFO: As I just explained to you, we are legally required to be sustainable and equitable so we can't make bad political decisions that would be popular with voters.
Fillmore is now asking if Halifax Water has considered being less sustainable to save money today even if it costs more later. 🙃🙃😭😭
December 2, 2025 at 3:40 PM
Fillmore is now asking if Halifax Water has considered being less sustainable to save money today even if it costs more later. 🙃🙃😭😭
Reposted by Matt Stickland
This is a recurring theme for Halifax over the last 10+(?) years.
"I was voted in by present day voters to keep taxes low, not voters 10 years in the future to "have running water". Those people can go suck a lemon!"
Many such cases!
"I was voted in by present day voters to keep taxes low, not voters 10 years in the future to "have running water". Those people can go suck a lemon!"
Many such cases!
December 2, 2025 at 3:38 PM
This is a recurring theme for Halifax over the last 10+(?) years.
"I was voted in by present day voters to keep taxes low, not voters 10 years in the future to "have running water". Those people can go suck a lemon!"
Many such cases!
"I was voted in by present day voters to keep taxes low, not voters 10 years in the future to "have running water". Those people can go suck a lemon!"
Many such cases!
Reposted by Matt Stickland
it is wild to me that the city and associated entities operate with such an institutional fear of pushback in the present that they will sign up for exponentially worse outcomes in the future - just to try not to get yelled at today.
yes, mom, i cleaned my room DON'T LOOK IN MY CLOSET.
yes, mom, i cleaned my room DON'T LOOK IN MY CLOSET.
December 2, 2025 at 3:34 PM
it is wild to me that the city and associated entities operate with such an institutional fear of pushback in the present that they will sign up for exponentially worse outcomes in the future - just to try not to get yelled at today.
yes, mom, i cleaned my room DON'T LOOK IN MY CLOSET.
yes, mom, i cleaned my room DON'T LOOK IN MY CLOSET.
Yeah Halifax Water CFO is saying essentially that they are legally mandated to be sustainable (which in turn means that the lack of affordability in Halifax Water's rates is a direct result of the extremely high cost to service houses built in line with council's low density land use bylaws).
LMAO Fillmore's asking how Halifax Water considers affordability, even though like 20 minutes ago Halifax Water folks explained in great detail how strict legislation mandates what they can charge, who they can charge it to, and what they can charge for.
December 2, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Yeah Halifax Water CFO is saying essentially that they are legally mandated to be sustainable (which in turn means that the lack of affordability in Halifax Water's rates is a direct result of the extremely high cost to service houses built in line with council's low density land use bylaws).
LMAO Fillmore's asking how Halifax Water considers affordability, even though like 20 minutes ago Halifax Water folks explained in great detail how strict legislation mandates what they can charge, who they can charge it to, and what they can charge for.
December 2, 2025 at 3:33 PM
LMAO Fillmore's asking how Halifax Water considers affordability, even though like 20 minutes ago Halifax Water folks explained in great detail how strict legislation mandates what they can charge, who they can charge it to, and what they can charge for.
Oh, this is fun. Halifax Water's rates are going up so much now because they burned surpluses to keep the rates artificially low instead of using those surpluses to invest in needed infrastructure, so now we're catching up to 2020 and 2022's lack of investment.
December 2, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Oh, this is fun. Halifax Water's rates are going up so much now because they burned surpluses to keep the rates artificially low instead of using those surpluses to invest in needed infrastructure, so now we're catching up to 2020 and 2022's lack of investment.
Reposted by Matt Stickland
honestly better than I would have expected
December 2, 2025 at 3:12 PM
honestly better than I would have expected
Reposted by Matt Stickland
For context, 26,000 homes is roughly the housing shortage in Halifax, NS alone. Population ~500k.
Not to scale
Not to scale
New PBO report out today, that finds that in the first 5 years of the Build Canada Homes program, it's will have $7.3 billion of spending on an accrual basis ($13 billion on a cash basis) and lead to fewer than 26,000 homes being built.
Read here: www.pbo-dpb.ca/en/pu...
Read here: www.pbo-dpb.ca/en/pu...
December 2, 2025 at 3:16 PM
For context, 26,000 homes is roughly the housing shortage in Halifax, NS alone. Population ~500k.
Not to scale
Not to scale
My new goal in life is to never have to be interviewed about my reporting by @youcaughtscott.com
Good morning. For this week’s episode of The North State, I sat down with @jessebrown.bsky.social and grilled him on his approach to his new series on antisemitism in Canada. What does Statistics Canada have to say about his attribution? Did he speak to law experts for his Heather Reisman interview?
Accounts and Accountability ft. Jesse Brown (Podcast)
Posing the hard questions to Canadaland's founder
readthecatch.ca
December 2, 2025 at 3:16 PM
My new goal in life is to never have to be interviewed about my reporting by @youcaughtscott.com
Reposted by Matt Stickland
Remember in the early weeks of COVID "lockdowns" when every single parent realized that we don't pay teachers nearly enough for what they do?
Five years later, the UCP government suspended their rights to collective bargaining to ensure that they don't get paid enough. What a time to be alive.
Five years later, the UCP government suspended their rights to collective bargaining to ensure that they don't get paid enough. What a time to be alive.
December 2, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Remember in the early weeks of COVID "lockdowns" when every single parent realized that we don't pay teachers nearly enough for what they do?
Five years later, the UCP government suspended their rights to collective bargaining to ensure that they don't get paid enough. What a time to be alive.
Five years later, the UCP government suspended their rights to collective bargaining to ensure that they don't get paid enough. What a time to be alive.
Reposted by Matt Stickland
“There’s a public health imperative to quickly expand the adoption of autonomous vehicles.”
Would the author say the same about building bike lanes? Installing automatic traffic cameras? Requiring Intelligent Speed Assist?
All of those are proven to save lives — and at a fraction of AVs' cost.
Would the author say the same about building bike lanes? Installing automatic traffic cameras? Requiring Intelligent Speed Assist?
All of those are proven to save lives — and at a fraction of AVs' cost.
Opinion | Don’t Fear Self-Driving Cars. They Save Lives.
www.nytimes.com
December 2, 2025 at 2:46 PM
“There’s a public health imperative to quickly expand the adoption of autonomous vehicles.”
Would the author say the same about building bike lanes? Installing automatic traffic cameras? Requiring Intelligent Speed Assist?
All of those are proven to save lives — and at a fraction of AVs' cost.
Would the author say the same about building bike lanes? Installing automatic traffic cameras? Requiring Intelligent Speed Assist?
All of those are proven to save lives — and at a fraction of AVs' cost.
Reposted by Matt Stickland
We suspended teachers’ Charter rights because we just don’t want to pay them fairly is a hell of a position for a government to take.
December 2, 2025 at 2:42 PM
We suspended teachers’ Charter rights because we just don’t want to pay them fairly is a hell of a position for a government to take.
Reposted by Matt Stickland
Should be noted that crash reduction and a systemic safety analysis weren’t even the motivations for the project.
It was the need to draw a bold bike line on a map between two parts of the District. When you build a bike network, safer travel is just one of the many benefits.
It was the need to draw a bold bike line on a map between two parts of the District. When you build a bike network, safer travel is just one of the many benefits.
DDOT continues to publish before/after analyses of safety projects. The numbers for the 9th street NW bike lanes suggest that we should be doing these projects everywhere we can. Crashes plummeted, pedestrian and bike traffic skyrocketed, and vehicle travel times dropped.
December 2, 2025 at 2:48 PM
Should be noted that crash reduction and a systemic safety analysis weren’t even the motivations for the project.
It was the need to draw a bold bike line on a map between two parts of the District. When you build a bike network, safer travel is just one of the many benefits.
It was the need to draw a bold bike line on a map between two parts of the District. When you build a bike network, safer travel is just one of the many benefits.
I sat down to write a skeleton for today's council meeting, started writing my magnum opus on property taxes instead.
December 2, 2025 at 1:59 PM
I sat down to write a skeleton for today's council meeting, started writing my magnum opus on property taxes instead.