Shows / The Grand Parade
The Grand Parade
A Halifax city hall podcast, hosted by reporter Matt Stickland. An irreverent look at city hall, the policies they put forward and the people who decide on them for us.
Episodes
- The Grand Parade
Rest And Maintence Period
Apologies. Due to personal circumstances, physical illness and mental health, there will be no issue with the paper this week. More details on this and local…
- The Grand Parade
The worst version of water world, a Sept 8-12 council recap
Thanks to the sponsor of this week's show, there's not much in these show notes this week. In this episode Matt covers the three water issues council debated…
- The Grand Parade
Daydreaming about good governance, a Sept 1-5 council update
Do you ever have one of those things where it's like a thing you do every week, but some weeks it's just like "OH MY GOD I HAVE TO DO THIS THING AGAIN!?" Not…
- The Grand Parade
Single family land acknowledgement, an Aug 25-29 council recap
The show notes will be as short as this week's routine meetings. What does Mortal Kombat have to do with underground parking? Listen to city hall reporter Matt…
- The Grand Parade
Sportswashing and vibes, an Aug 18-22 council recap
This week we get back to the more neo-traditional clipped show format, recapping the last week of council meetings. Sportswashing, fiscal sustainability, road…
- The Grand Parade
Can you help me make Halifax a better place? An Aug 11 - 15 council update
Hey folks, I know I promised real show notes, but it turns out that was a lie. I find these hard to do and so far the feedback I've gotten on show notes is…
- The Grand Parade
The party won't stop until we're bankrupt, an Aug 4 - 8 council update
Big week in Halifax politics as Morris Street bikeway was killed and then immediately reanimated by Halifax's council. More people are homeless now than they…
- The Grand Parade
Rerun: Hitting the gas on housing and violence
As threatened, we've taken the week off but to fill the void left by our absence, we're re-airing a fan favourite. Here are the show noted from the episode In…
- The Grand Parade
Halifax needs tax reform
Last council meeting in July council started some pretty beefy discussions about tax reform. During that debate in early July, mayor Andy Fillmore suggested…
- The Grand Parade
Strong mayor debate highlight reel, a July 14-18(ish) recap
Council is on vacation, but Matt is not, and the last council meeting on July 8 was a beefy one with a lot of really important debates. Among those debates was…
- The Grand Parade
Strong mayor powers, bike lanes and sexism, a July 7 - 11 council recap
We are back with another full show covering last Tuesday's (and Thursday's) council meeting.
- The Grand Parade
Halifax may become sustainable, a Jun 30 - July 4 recap
Hello it's summer vacation season and I've been taking full advantage. This is a live to tape episode with a recap of last week's one meeting and a preview of…
- The Grand Parade
A programming note, not a June 23 - 27 council recap
Just a quick programming note from Matt this week
- The Grand Parade
Grand Parade goes to Quebec
On Saturday May 31, 2025 Halifax Wanderers travelled to Quebec City, to play York United in a Canadian Premier League on tour, regular season game. The Halifax…
- The Grand Parade
All planning no results, A June 16-20 council recap
As promised during the episode, here is how, in my opinion, the Traffic Calming Administrative Order should be amended. It would be beneficial to get rid of…
- The Grand Parade
Andy Fillmore must be stopped
Enough is enough please share this episode with everyone you know in Halifax.
- The Grand Parade
Councillors consider killing taxi industry, May 19 - 23 council recap
In this podcast Grand Parade's city hall reporter Matt Stickland recaps what went down at city hall last week. There's a development on a heritage property…
- The Grand Parade
Scooters, taxes and sidewalks, oh my! May 12 - 16 council recap
In this episode a recap of everything that happened last week. Can you tell that I'm writing this blurb too late on a Sunday? Yes, probably. For more info…
- The Grand Parade
One advisory committee meeting
Short one this week as the Board of Police Commissioners meeting was cancelled.
- The Grand Parade
Downtown's burden and core municipal services, April 28 - May 2 Recap
Hey folks, bit of a lighter show notes this week because I've done a bonus show and had to put a newspaper to bed. See ya next week, don't forget to grab a…
- The Grand Parade
Homework: How to fix Halifax's BRT /w HFX By Bike
Since journalism is homework the job, after last episode where I explained in great details the issues with the HRM's planning, I felt obligated to explain how…
- The Grand Parade
Halifax's Bus Rapid Transit is designed to fail, council update April 21 - 25
I suspect most people don't usually read the show notes, but if you're here for the study, scroll down. If you're here for information in this episode Matt…
- The Grand Parade
Parking minimums and traffic planning: April 14 - 17 Council recap
Bit of a light week at city hall and since I forgot it was Good Friday, a bit of a lighter episode. Councillor Janet Steele is trying to get the city to…
- The Grand Parade
Fiscal reform and systemic racism: April 7 - 11 council recap
Last week was a relatively slow one as far as the schedule was concerned, with only a Tuesday council meeting and Thursday’s African descent advisory…
- The Grand Parade
Domestic Violence and the Green Network Plan: Mar 31 - April 4 counil recap
In a week dominated by breathless international news Halifax's city hall had a relatively slow week. This week there were only two meetings of consequence…
- The Grand Parade
Audits, horse hearing and a beach bus: Mar 24-28 council recap
Now that budget season is done, as threatened, this show will now become a weekly roundup of what happened at City Hall last week. The obvious high/lowlight of…
- The Grand Parade
Halifax’s budget: a political win and fiscal failure
Halifax's budget playoffs wrapped on Wednesday March 26 and Halifax has a budget! The budget itself was a political victory for our new mayor, Andy Fillmore…
- The Grand Parade
Halifax city council's making your life more expensive, a 3rd intermission update
Halifax council’s budget meeting on monday March 24th was a stinker, quite literally, and also because council almost voted to make Halifax’s poorest people…
- The Grand Parade
Library cuts and the police tank, 2nd intermission update
It's the second intermission of the budget playoffs and a lot happened in Friday's debate. Council approved an armoured personnel carrier, the central library…
- The Grand Parade
Budget playoffs and a new era
In this episode of the Grand Parade Matt flys solo to update folks on the future of the podcast and the future of Halifax's budget.
- The Grand Parade
Halifax's budget season is finally here
The wait is over, it's finally here budget season started on Wednesday. In this episode Matt and Martin dive into what's being going on at city hall from…
- The Grand Parade
HALIFAX STRATEGIC PLAN EMERGENCY PODCAST
This past week has been a huge one in municipal politics with Halifax's city council getting an update about how their strategic planning is going. Spoiler…
- The Grand Parade
Five little piggies went to a public meeting
It's been a busy start to the new year with with a few big ticket events for the hosts Matt Stickland and Martin Baumen to break down. The Board of Police…
- The Grand Parade
Councillor Cuttell and the spanner wrench
In this episode of the Grand Parade Matt and Martin look back at the past two weeks in municipal politics and answer some hard hitting questions like: Will…
- The Grand Parade
Committee rosters and budget preview
At long last Coast reporter Martin is back after his paternity leave and he joins Coast city hall reporter Matt Stickland to catch up on everything he'd missed…
- The Grand Parade
Municipal election primer
After an impromptu summer break the Grand Parade is back! Host Matt Stickland sits down with the owner of Atlantic New Chris Greene to talk about how to…
- The Grand Parade
HFX Votes 2024: Listener Questions
In what was supposed to be the last episode of the HFX Votes 2024 election podcast series The Coast's city hall reporter Matt Stickland sat down with The…
- The Grand Parade
Predicting the End of Canada's Oldest Colony.
There are two types of people in this world. There are people who think that headline is needlessly dramatic, and then there are people who understand risk…
- The Grand Parade
HFX Votes 2024: What is risk managment?
In this penultimate episode of the HFX Votes 2024 election explainer series, Matt interviews Risk Management expert Bruce Manion. This episode is a direct…
- The Grand Parade
HFX Votes 2024: Why do we need oversight?
The HFX Votes 2024 series is in the process of wrapping up, with three episodes recorded yesterday to be released over the next few days. Up first is an…
- The Grand Parade
HFX Votes 2024: How do we make our roads safer?
In this episode of the Grand Parade Matt Stickland sits down with Wes Marshall, the author of Killed by a Traffic Engineer. His book is a meta analysis of…
- The Grand Parade
HFX Votes 2024: How do we build a better Halifax?
In this edition of HFX Votes 2024 I sit down with two of the authors of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives report: Building Inclusive Communities: A…
- The Grand Parade
HFX Votes 2024: What does the mayor do?
In this episode of the Grand Parade's ongoing series of municipal issues explainer, I sit down with mayor Mike Savage to find out what the mayor does. This…
- The Grand Parade
HFX Votes 2024: Why do we have a property tax cap? feat. Darrel Dexter
In part 2 of the HFX Votes 2024 episode on property taxes I sat down with Darrell Dexter, the former premier of Nova Scotia to ask him about why we have a…
- The Grand Parade
HFX Votes 2024: How do property taxes work?
The Coast’s municipal election podcast explainers continue with a deep dive into property taxes and the property tax cap. In this episode, Matt sits down with…
- The Grand Parade
The Windsor Street Sobriety Test
In this week's episode, The Coast's Matt Stickland and Martin Bauman discuss HRM staff's eyebrow-raising plans for redesigning the Windsor Street Exchange…
- The Grand Parade
HFX Votes 2024: How to fix Halifax Transit
In part two of the Halifax Votes Transit episode Matt sits down with Reece Martin of RM Transit to help explain some of the choices Halifax Transit is making…
- The Grand Parade
HFX Votes 2024: What's up with Transit?
In this edition of HFX Votes 2024, The Coast's special municipal election coverage, Matt sits down with Douglas Wetmore of It's More than Busses. In part one…
- The Grand Parade
HFX Votes 2024: What makes a good downtown?
In this episode Matt Stickland sat down with the CEO of the Downtown Halifax Business Commission, Paul MacKinnon in what is the first in a series of explainers…
- The Grand Parade
An Emergency's Emergency
In this week’s episode, The Coast’s Matt Stickland and Martin Bauman discuss HRM council’s unanimous passing of federally-prompted zoning reforms and how that…
- The Grand Parade
Hitting the gas on housing and violence
In this week’s episode of The Grand Parade podcast, Coast reporters Matt Stickland and Martin Bauman chat with economist Deny Sullivan about Halifax’s HAF…
- The Grand Parade
Moving towards cautious optimism
In this edition of the Grand Parade Matt tells Martin all about his interview with Halifax's CAO Cathie O'Toole and director of the Department of Public Works…
- The Grand Parade
An autopsy of Halifax's IMP (2018-2024)
In this episode of the Grand Parade the boys take a break from the budget as Matt grapples with learning new information about the city's transportation…
- The Grand Parade
Good news, bad news and Porter's Lake
In this episode Coast reporters Matt Stickland and Martin Bauman give 110% as they reach into their bag of sports metaphors to talk about municipal politics in…
- The Grand Parade
An idiot's guide to police reform
In this episode Matt and Martin talk about public safety: the JustFOOD program and police reform. This show notes are abridged due to budget season.
- The Grand Parade
A climate emergency readiness test for the HRM
In this episode of the Grand Parade Matt and Martin talk about stories Matt is working on. The Macdonald bike connection is moving forward, but there are some…
- The Grand Parade
Corrupt....ed by ineptitude
The New Year always comes with the worst hangovers, doesn’t it? When HRM council resumes on Tuesday, Jan. 9, Halifax’s councillors will be confronted once…
- The Grand Parade
Budget pre-season recap
In this episode, Coast reporters Matt Stickland and Martin Bauman talk about Halifax's budget crunch, why Trish Purdy wants to cut back on the HRM's annual…
- The Grand Parade
The Halifax (budget) Explosion
In this episode, Matt and Martin meet In Halifax Central Library to discuss what the city's budget process will look like this year. Thanks to a motion from…