hrm's downtown business ceos join national lobbying effort. here's what they asked for
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paul mackinnon, ceo of the downtown halifax business commission, poses for a photo on barrington street on monday.
ryan taplin
downtown halifax business commission ceo paul mackinnon said there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic about the health of the city’s downtown sector.
“in halifax, we are actually doing well, better than some of our peers across the country,” said mackinnon. “we had a great year for tourism in downtown halifax. we now have consistently more people visiting downtown than before the pandemic. that’s not the case in a lot of other downtowns.”
but mackinnon knows that the downtown halifax team and the 1,600-plus business members can’t rest on their laurels.
despite the positives, the downtown core faces the same problems as other downtowns across canada, with rising crime, economic uncertainty and the ongoing mental health and addiction crisis.
international downtown association
in an effort to bring a co-ordinated message to the federal government, mackinnon and tim rissesco, ceo of the downtown dartmouth business commission, joined colleagues across the country last week in ottawa at a meeting of the international downtown association of canada.
the organization called on the government to strengthen its support for downtown business communities across the country.
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“we had a series of meetings with ministers, mps of all parties, senators, policy advisers and staff over a day and a half,” said mackinnon. “we all had the same message, with the key conversation pieces boiling down to public safety and infrastructure investments.”
public safety problems
downtown businesses continue to see a rising crime rate, particularly violent offences, repeat theft, vandalism and extortion. downtown areas are 3.5 times more likely to experience theft than rural communities.
mackinnon said the association (ida canada) welcomed the recent announcement by prime minister mark carney concerning bail reform and organized retail theft.
“these are real challenges facing the thousands of business owners and employees that we represent,” said mackinnon. “we look forward to seeing these changes in action and the positive outcomes they will bring.”
bail reform will help with what mackinnon calls a “catch-and-release program.”
“a person may go into shoppers drug mart on spring garden road and steal a bunch of things. they might get arrested and go through the system in some way, but they are out the next day and they are stealing again. that’s where we want to see some changes in what is happening with sentencing and consequences for that repeated criminal behaviour.”
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mackinnon said no amount of beautification or events can bring people downtown if they don’t feel safe.
“public safety is always so crucial because what we learned is that no matter what else we do, if people don’t feel safe downtown they won’t come, no matter how much effort we put in to attract tourists, visitors and shoppers.”
he said halifax, compared to other downtowns across the country, still feels very safe. mackinnon said having a proactive police presence is crucial to a safe downtown.
“we talk locally with our police chief about more police presence on the streets like the beat cop or the community officer who is out on the street and very visible. we would like to see more of that proactive police presence because we think that is the best way to keep crime from happening.”
the ask
ida canada wants the government to make downtown investment a cornerstone of national infrastructure and economic development efforts with investments in housing density, commercial revitalization and ensuring downtowns are included in major nation-building projects that shape the future of the economy.
traffic and congestion are major talking points for customers and people working in downtown halifax, said mackinnon.
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“our daily conversations are with people saying it’s harder to get downtown,” he said.
“what we are seeing, especially in halifax, is that the real infrastructure need is public transit. we have been talking about a whole new transit system, which the city said is a priority. the province, actually, now through link nova scotia, has said it is a priority for them as well.
“so our city and provincial governments are aligned on this. to my mind, there is a great opportunity to unlock some federal dollars to come in and invest in something both the province and city want. so that’s a priority for halifax.”
ida canada also asked the federal government for a co-ordinated national approach to ensure federal funding for mental health, addiction and homelessness.
“homelessness is a huge challenge,” said mackinnon. “the issue is growing in every community. it’s a very complicated issue and it requires all levels of government to work collectively on how to solve that.”
ida canada said downtowns are critical drivers of national economic growth. statistics show that canadians living in downtown cores contribute nearly 15 per cent more gdp per capita than those in rural areas.
mackinnon said the national meetings are a way to remind politicians of the importance of a thriving downtown.
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“these urban area economies are driven by the downtown core because in most cities, that is where people work, the social life and events happen,” said mackinnon. “sometimes i think we have to remind the politicians often because downtown isn’t always top of their minds.”
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