M O N D AY , D E C .

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ChronicleHerald
The
INDEPENDENT SINCE 1824 By LAURA FRASER City Hall Reporter

H A L I FA X , N O VA S C O T I A

The debate behind closed doors

Publics right to know pitted against Halifax city councils penchant for private meetings
A guard stands sentinel at the foot of the stairs leading to Halifax regional council chambers, the path to the citys heart of democracy further restricted by a rope moved aside only for politicians or select municipal staffers. Reporters, photographers and citizens are herded into a INSIDE: DAN LEGER: How are main-floor meeting room or we governed? Not nearly well wait outside city hall, wayenough / A9 laying councillors walking into the closed-door meeting called to discuss the fallout of the Occupy Nova Scotia eviction. No information is released to the public. Fast-forward a week and the scene repeats itself; only the rope is missing. For four hours, council debates the sponsorship and See DEBATE / A3

(Photo Illustration by MATT DEMPSEY / Staff)

Pictou County councils mull merger

Municipalities cant agree to fund feasibility study
By MICHAEL GORMAN Truro Bureau On an overcast day last week in Westville, town workers busied themselves bolting metal wreaths trimmed with Christmas lights to poles along Main Street. The snow forecast for the weekend would arrive just in time for the Santa Claus parade. Despite the festive atmosphere in the Pictou County town, there is an undercurrent of concern. Westvilles main drag, like most of the downtowns in Pictou County, has seen better days and people are beginning to wonder what is being done to address the situation. As it turns out, perhaps not as much as could be done. The big blue sign that greets drivers as they enter Pictou County along Highway 104 proclaims: Forward Together. The words portray a community working in unison on its way to a better tomorrow. That may be the case, but a recent decision by municipal units in the county raises the question of whether they are doing enough to move forward and if its possible for that to even happen with everyone together. Last month, when the six municipalities in Pictou County failed to reach an agreement to conduct a governance study, it marked the most recent failed attempt to take a thorough and collective look at how the units operate, how they might be able to find cost savings and whether theres a need for some kind of restructuring. This time around it was $25,000 standing between the six units and knowledge easily worth many multiples of that. A committee of the six mayors and wardens decided that each unit Westville, Trenton, Stellarton, New Glasgow, the Town of Pictou and the Municipality of Pictou County would put $25,000 toward the cost of the study. The province agreed to pay for 50 per cent of the study, up to $150,000, See PICTOU / A2

Three Nova Scotians among protesters bounced in Durban

By FRANCES WILLICK Staff Reporter Three young people from Nova Scotia were among those booted out of the Durban climate negotiations in South Africa last week for protesting Canadas stance on climate change at the UN talks. As federal Environment MinINSIDE: Climate accord reached in Durban / B1 ister Peter Kent delivered his opening remarks to delegates from around the world last Wednesday, six young Canadians rose from their seats in the room and turned their backs to Kent, revealing Tshirts that read People Before Polluters on the front and Turn Your Back on Canada on the back. It was obvious that the government was here to defend corporations rather than the people, protester Sonia Grant said Sunday by phone from South Africa. We came here to hold our government accountable and to seek serious climate action. Grant, 21, along with fellow Haligonian James Hutt, 24, Antigonish native Matthew Chisholm, 23, and three other young Canadians, including Brigette DePape, the former Senate page who was fired after holding up a Stop Harper! sign in the Senate chamber this summer, had been planning the protest long before their arrival in Durban. But that didnt quiet their nerves just before they took action. I think its fair to say our hearts were all pounding pretty fast, Grant said. But once See DURBAN / A6

REACHING 299,900 NOVA SCOTIANS DAILY

INDEX
ARTS & LIFE..............................D1 BUSINESS ..................................C7 CANADA ..................A10, B1-B4 CLASSIFIED...............................D4 COMICS ...................................D8

NOVA SCOTIA .........................A3 OBITUARIES.......................B6, B7 OPINIONS ................................A9 PRIMETIME TV .........................D2 SPORTS .....................................C1 WEDDINGS ..............................D3 WORLD...................... B1, B4, B5

WEATHER
HALIFAX: Variably cloudy becoming mainly sunny in the afternoon. High 5. SYDNEY: Variably cloudy. High 5. Details / B8

Volume 63

Number 294

2011 The Halifax Herald Limited

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