N.S. government support for development led by former PC candidate raises questions, says critic
CBC
Questions are being raised about the provincial government's decision to fast-track a development led by a former Tory candidate.
John Lohr, the minister of municipal affairs and housing, approved a parcel of land in Musquodoboit Harbour as a special planning area last month on Jan.17, following a recommendation from the province's housing task force.
The site is one of 10 planning areas in the Halifax region where the province has decided to speed up development in order to help address the housing crisis.
John Wesley Chisholm, a TV producer and two-time candidate for the PC Party of Nova Scotia, is leading the $60- to 70-million project, which he said will include 120 homes in a new neighbourhood behind the local Railway Museum. He added that 24 of the units will be affordable.
However, no formal planning application or paperwork has been filed with the Halifax Regional Municipality as of Thursday, and it's unclear what exactly the development will look like. Government officials confirmed it was fast-tracked because it will potentially include a long-term care facility for seniors.
"It should raise huge questions," provincial NDP Leader Claudia Chender said Thursday.
"All of Nova Scotia needs housing, and lots of rural parts of HRM in particular are squeezed, so we should do what we can to create truly affordable housing in those communities — but this stinks."
On Thursday, Lohr said he did not know Chisholm was involved with the project.
"The proponent's political affiliation was not considered," Lohr said.
"This is just me going off of memory, if you don't mind me saying. I think it has to do with seniors' long-term care and the urgent need to build new seniors and long term care units," he told reporters.
In a later statement, Lohr said the housing task force was asked to consider the area for designation in late 2022, to allow for "ongoing planning of a new local long-term care facility" of 48 units. They then brought the recommendation for designation to Lohr, and he said he agreed.
Lohr said the special planning designation will allow design and pre-construction activities to support the seniors care facility, and other community development work, to "proceed in a timely manner."
Chender said that explanation doesn't make "any sense."
"We can build long-term care facilities outside of special planning areas, surely," she said.
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