CHARLOTTETOWN - The Charlottetown Area Development Corporation is ready to reveal the Eastern Gateway Master Plan that will (we hope) transform the area at the foot of the Hillsborough Bridge, the Red Shores Raceway and the gateway to Charlottetown into a true representation of all that PEI's capital city has to offer. WHAT: Eastern Gateway Waterfront Presentation WHEN: Wednesday, February 23, 2011 WHERE: The Rodd Charlottetown Hotel (75 Kent Street) This is a great opportunity to participate in the landscape of our city. Photo by:  Stephen Desroches

CHARLOTTETOWN - When voters in Charlottetown head to the polls on November 1st they will be casting a vote for not just for a mayor and council to represent them, but will declare their preference for election reform through a plebiscite. While the plebiscite is non-binding, the newly elected council will use the results of this vote to determine if and how the current electoral process should change. Election reform offers little of the glitz and glamour of a heated political race.  In a race where incumbant candidates were asked by the City to not publicly declare their preference on this plebescite so as to not influence the voting public, the importance of this historic vote has been further devalued. Without candidates taking positions, and in spite of public information campaign, the plebescite issue has received little attention by most media organizations and even less among the voting populace. Consider the state of the electoral process in the provincial capital — the birthplace of Confederation. In 2006, incumbant councilors where challenged in 9 of the 10 wards. Jump forward 4 years, and only 7 of 10 wards have challengers this year, and only 1 of 10 wards has more than a single challenger to the incumbant. That means that roughly 30% of Charlottetown's residents will not have an opportunity to exercise their right to vote for council representation. That is a travesty and has only contributed to the disconnection of voters from the plebiscite process.

HALIFAX REGIONAL MUNICIPALITY - Ever wondered how decisions in this city are really made? Tried to decipher one of City Hall's official reports? Pondered how your councillor voted on the latest issue? Well, ponder no longer. Brand new website, Show of Hands Halifax, aims to provide a one-stop facility for political accountability and dialogue in HRM. Created by Spacing Atlantic contributor Emily Richardson, and described as "an independent resource for city-council goings-on", Show of Hands hopes to better connect councillors to their constituents through the pure power of simple, ...

Halifax - Nocturne, what a time! These oft empty streets were teeming with citizens and music and art OH MY!  But now that the dust is settling and the sun is back up Max Haiven is asking us to ask ourselves whose interests events like Nocturne and Nuit Blanche serve. This evening, at the Roberts St Social Centre, Haiven is going to be ruminating on the motives behind the "creative economy" and the capacity of this economy to benefit urban infrastructure and social programs.  He is interested in ...

CHARLOTTETOWN - If political participation in Charlottetown, the capital of PEI, is any indicator of the malaise of the general population, then we are in significant trouble indeed. Charlottetown's 32,000 citizens are represented by ten councilors elected in a ward system and, while candidate nominations closed Oct 8th at 4PM, only 7 of the 10 wards have challengers to the incumbent. The tragedy is not only that the electoral process is being circumvented, or that without multiple candidates voter turnout for the electoral reform plebescite will be crippled, but that we are willingly surrendering our hard-earned right to participate in an election for our civic representatives. Some might suggest that politics is a thankless job, where the only feedback from the electorate is negative. Others decry the demands on both family and work as civil service often forces concessions on both fronts. Both arguements are likely right. Politics is a thankless job, one that few are willing to take on in an era that is still reeling from the hyperconsumption, hyperselfishness of the 80s and 90s. Aside from a few exceptions, most of the current councilors fit neatly into the 40+ demographic, have the backing of either influential family members, influential political party members, or both. It is those luxuries that soften the blow of family and work interruptions, while only the thick skin of experience or disconnection can mitigate the thanklessness. Though not all of the announced council candidates are commonly known, it is hard to believe that we have fostered an environment where we can expect anything other than more of the same for this year's choices.

HALIFAX - Alas, summer is coming to an end.  Perhaps a little Earl-y, but those hot hot Haligonian hay days are now making way for crisp evenings and crisply dressed students.  BUT, before we retreat to the cozyness of our respective abodes, Jamie Mary Burnet and Su Donovaro are inviting us this friday to have one final hurrah in the Commons. This summer the Commons has born witness to both the triumphs and the tragedies of the common people.  It has also been given a ...

Photo by John McCarthy, member of the Spacing Atlantic flickr pool. HALIFAX - Voter apathy and low turnout are not uniquely Haligonian challenges. We are mired in a democracy-crippling race to the bottom, with the federal election in 2008 reaching record-low turnout at 59.1%. In the province’s summer-2009 election, so eagerly anticipated and vigorously discussed, voter turnout was another record low for the province: 57.95%. Turnout of two in three people, however, would be a victory for HRM’s municipal elections. During the 2008 election, the result of which shaped HRM's current council, only one in three of us rocked the vote, and the sitting council was elected by a measly turnout of 36.3%. In the past month, the results of two surveys on council size and performance have been released. The first finds a fairly even split between those who are satisfied and dissatisfied with council (if 1 to 5 is dissatisfied, and 6 to 10 satisfied), with a majority indicating dissatisfaction with the Mayor, and 56% preferring a reduction in council size. The second finds that 83% of Haligonians prefer a smaller council, and of those, 62% prefer a council of 15 or fewer councillors. The results of the first survey are misleading. The same questionnaire found that 81% of respondents voted in the last election; compare that number with the 36.3% of registered voters who actually voted. These results suggest one of two cases: either respondents claimed they voted when they didn’t or they don’t comprise a random sample of Haligonians.

HALIFAX - "How will my central library transform our lives, our city?", this is the question that Haligonians are being encouraged to ask themselves and eachother in preparation for the five stage public consultation process that will shape the Halifax Central Library. The site has been picked, the funding strategy is approved and the architects are ready to go.  And go they will.  The first place their going to is the public...five times.  The first time will be this Thursday at the Dalhousie Student Union ...