Truth: the First Casualty

An article in the Economist takes a first-hand look at Gaza’s controversial food-distribution sites where Gazans keep dying and Israel says they are working as intended.

Hunger and First Casualty

International aid organisations, including the UN, deny their supplies were controlled by Hamas and have refused to co-operate with the GHF, which they say violates basic humanitarian principles. Israel has also allowed local clans, some of which are also criminal groups, to receive their own food supplies. It claims these groups “challenge Hamas control”. (A First-Hand Look at Gaza's Controversial Food-Distribution Sites, 2025)

CNN's Catherine Nicholls, Gul Tuysuz, Jeremy Diamond, Sarah Dean and Antoinette Radford report that the UN secretary-general  António Guterres, calls starvation in Gaza a "horror show."

As the humanitarian situation in Gaza continues to spiral, the United Nations’ human rights office had a clear message: “Palestinians in Gaza are starving to death,” a statement read today.

In the past 24 hours, 15 people including four children, died of starvation across the territory according to the enclave’s health ministry.

Separately, at least 1,054 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military while trying to access food aid in Gaza, the UN human rights office added in its statement. (Nicholls et al., n.d.)

We ponder the cliche  “Truth is the first casualty of war” as we advocate for a permanent truce that will enable the peaceful resolution of a conflict that has imposed serious atrocities on civilian populations.

References

A first-hand look at Gaza's controversial food-distribution sites. (2025, July 17). The Economist. Retrieved July 23, 2025, from https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2025/07/17/a-first-hand-look-at-gazas-controversial-food-distribution-sites 

Nicholls, C., Tuysuz, G., & Diamond, J. (n.d.). UN secretary-general calls starvation in Gaza a "horror show. CNN. Retrieved July 23, 2025, from https://www.cnn.com/world/ 

Staying in Our Lane

I grew up in Glace Bay and Sydney in the 50’s and 60's and even after living in Lower Sackville for more than 40 years, my wife, also from Sydney, and I make summer trips to Cape Breton to reconnect with family and friends. The drive to Cape Breton has been made much faster and safer over the years by the construction of divided highways that have traffic travelling “one way”  separated from the other “one way” flow by medians and concrete barriers.

"One Way" East and "One Way" West on HWY 101

By “staying in our lane” our concern about oncoming traffic causing an accident or delay is reduced to a miniscule level. We realize the need to be vigilant when we pass from divided highway to two way traffic on the portion of the trip between just past Antigonish to the outskirts of Sydney.

In South End Halifax we are witnessing an increasing population in newly constructed buildings and HRM Staff have wisely proposed establishing “one way” streets to increase efficiency and safety for vehicles moving in the busy hospital, tour bus, and shipping activities.

"One Way" East and "One Way" West

“OK Boomer”! Perhaps I have mistakenly concluded that traffic being able to move east and west on the same street is safer and more efficient than not having to be too concerned about oncoming vehicles. I do think that every motorized vehicle we can remove from our city streets will reduce the maintenance cost of our streets that we pay through our taxes. An incentive for some of the population to abandon motorized vehicles in the downtown is creating bike lanes that not only provide safety and efficiency to cyclists but reduce motorized vehicle wear and tear expenses for our streets.

I appreciate the Premier's concern for visitors to Halifax having to rethink familiar routes to get to their south end destinations but “Goggle” directions and a safer trip can help compensate for the change. If there is only one lane it is much easier to “Stay in Our Lane”.

When “Democratic” is cast as “Bad”

An article by Rebecca Lau of Global News, posted July 17, 2025, leads with a headline indicating that Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston threatens to overrule Halifax city council on downtown bike lane. She reports that Halifax Mayor Andy Fillmore said he wasn’t surprised the premier asked the municipality to reverse its decision on Morris Street.

HRM Council Jurisdiction 

“Bike lane concerns have been raised by the Halifax Port Authority, the container terminal operator PSA Halifax, Emera, Ambassatours, and local residents. Most recently, Emergency Health Services said that pre-hospital care delivery and public safety could be compromised if Morris Street proceeded as planned,” 

“These types of interventions should not be ignored. They’re data-driven warnings about operational impacts and public risk. As mayor, I will not ignore threats to our economic competitiveness, risks to public safety, or alarm bells about dramatic cost escalations.”(Lau, n.d.)

Coun. Kathryn Morse, who represents District 10, says the premier’s letter and stance is “disappointing” and appears to be part of a “political spat” rather than an actual effort to improve traffic.

“I think it’s not so much about the Morris Street bike lane as (it is) about strong mayor powers. I think it is more an excuse to go after council and to strengthen a position for strong mayor powers,”

So-called strong mayor powers are passed through provincial legislation, giving mayors certain powers to accelerate the implementation of some shared municipal-provincial actions, such as housing and infrastructure. Morse reminds us of a democratic process that could review the decision and reduce the threat of non municipal authorities not “staying in their lane”.

“If there’s new evidence that this bike lane would interfere with port traffic or EHS in any way, then council needs to reconsider and look at that evidence. Our staff, when they made the recommendation, consulted with EHS, consulted with the port, and there were no red flags,” 

“We have congestion issues in HRM; we’re all concerned about it. I think we could do more to work together. There’s a Link Nova Scotia plan, for example, that’s been sitting on the shelf for months. It would be great to see that so we could start to move forward together.”(Lau, n.d.)

Official Opposition Leader Claudia Chender said Houston should “stay in his lane” when it comes to interfering with municipal politics.

“For decades our province’s cities and towns have listened to residents and made decisions based on what was best for their communities,”

“If residents are concerned about traffic congestion, the lack of safe bike lanes or any number of other issues, they can make their voices heard through their city councillor. "(Lau, n.d.)

There is no need for Premier Tim Houston to interfere in municipal decisions. If the decision to review the traffic routing on Morris St. is necessary, the best path is for the citizens of the government closest to the residents and employers impacted to maintain our democratic tradition and avoid creating unhealthy precedent where authoritarian decisions are accepted from layers of government that are not “staying in their lane”.

References

Lau, R. (n.d.). Nova Scotia premier threatens to overrule Halifax city council on downtown bike lane. Global News. Retrieved July 19, 2025, from https://globalnews.ca/news/11292301/nova-scotia-premier-threatens-overrule-halifax-council-bike-lane-morris/

Strong Mayor and Weak Democracy

In a recent Facebook reel, Premier Tim Houston spoke above the tag line that he will always stand up for Nova Scotians and fight for what matters most. He cites the displeasure of those who travel to Halifax with the traffic situation in the Capital city. He speaks of a serious disconnect between serving the needs and aspirations of the citizens of HRM and the actions of HRM council with regard to traffic management on a particular street in central Halifax. 

2024 Nova Scotia General Election results

A review of the 2024 Nova Scotia General Election results shows the success of Houston’s PC’s in most of the Province. Urban Areas of HRM and CBRM voted for parties in opposition to the government. The claim of the Premier to speak with more concern for the people than their elected HRM councillors in these areas is less credible when the election results are considered. When the legitimacy of elected representatives is questioned, particularly in those in high population areas, the threat to democracy is salient.

The threat that a mechanism to overrule decisions by elected representatives through establishment of a “strong mayor” with power to overrule and hire or fire municipal employees may create a scenario where political support or connections of the “strong mayor” to other layers of provincial or federal administrations may be an anti-democratic path to realise political objectives impacting urban citizens in a manner not approved by their elected councillors.

An article by Lyndsay Armstrong of the The Canadian Press suggests that some Halifax councillors are worried about “strong-mayor” powers that may be coming. Tom Urbaniak, a political scientist at Cape Breton University, comments that the province would be wise to wait and see how stronger mayoral authority plays out in Ontario municipalities before following suit.

“In our world today, where democracy is very much at risk, I’m going to respectfully advise caution about major (government) restructuring that was not on the agenda when people last voted,” (Armstrong, n.d.)

“It’s sort of like a mini American presidency, but actually with less congressional oversight. So we need to be very, very careful,” (Armstrong, n.d.)

Armstrong reports that Premier Houston said Thursday he is both “looking at” the possibility of strong-mayor powers and considering using a bill that has passed — but not yet entered into force — to overrule Halifax council’s recent decision to move ahead with a bike lane on a south-end city street.  Armstrong notes that Councillor Sam Austin presented the motion and told council that a move toward strong-mayor powers would undermine councillors’ ability to adequately represent their constituents. Austin said putting so much power into one person’s hands is “deeply problematic,” and Councillor Janet Steele said strong-mayor powers could mute the other voices on council. Steele is reported as saying during the meeting on Thursday”

“It’s moving towards almost authoritarianism, it’s not the way we want to go. These are slippery slopes. I for one don’t want to be sliding down that slope,” Steele said during the meeting on Thursday. (Armstrong, n.d.)

We need only look to the republic to the south to see the negative consequences when political leaders refuse to “stay in their lane” and attempt to enforce their political agenda in areas that are the democratic responsibility of other components of our democracy.

References

Armstrong, L. (n.d.). Strong-mayor powers and why some Halifax councillors are worried it could be coming. Global News | Breaking, Latest News and Video for Canada. Retrieved July 15, 2025, from https://globalnews.ca/news/11287363/halifax-strong-mayor-powers/