A Thanksgiving Win for Dartmouth Cove and a Reminder to Stay Engaged

This week, Halifax Regional Council made history.

Council voted to pass bylaw amendments that will finally protect Dartmouth Cove from infilling — ensuring our shoreline, trail, and marine environment remain public, accessible, and alive for generations to come.

It’s a victory years in the making, and one that belongs to every neighbour, advocate, and resident who spoke up. From packed council chambers to hundreds of written submissions, this community made its voice impossible to ignore. We are deeply grateful for the dedication and unity that carried us to this point.

As we head into Thanksgiving weekend, we truly have something to celebrate — but also something to protect.

The Next Step: Provincial Approval

The bylaw amendments now move to the Province of Nova Scotia for formal approval — typically a procedural step, but one that has become less predictable in recent months.

The Minister of Municipal Affairs, John Lohr, must sign off before the bylaw becomes law. Given the Province’s recent pattern of overriding Halifax planning decisions, it’s important that they hear directly from our community.

We are asking residents to respectfully reach out to Minister Lohr (dmamin@novascotia.ca), Premier Tim Houston (Premier@novascotia.ca), and Minister of Public Works Fred Tilley (publicworksminister@novascotia.ca) — who oversees Build Nova Scotia — to urge them to support HRM’s decision and respect the democratic process.

This bylaw doesn’t stop housing. It stops the reckless destruction of marine habitat for private dumping and profit.

Setting the Record Straight

Following Council’s vote, Atlantic Road Construction & Paving (ARCP) — the company behind the infill proposal and the “One Dartmouth Cove” campaign — issued a statement claiming that HRM has “no jurisdiction” to enact the bylaw and suggesting they may pursue legal action.

Let’s be clear about a few things:

1. ARCP purchased a landlocked water lot with no guaranteed access. They took a gamble on a property they cannot legally reach without crossing land they don’t own. If promises were made, they were never guaranteed. Their frustration is understandable — but their business risks are not the public’s burden to bear.

2. The infill proposal was never about housing. It was about avoiding tipping fees for the disposal of pyritic slate — a toxic byproduct of excavation — by dumping it into the harbour. Framing this as a housing issue is misleading at best and dangerous at worst. Affordable housing does not begin with filling in public waterways.

3. The environmental costs are real. Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) has already identified that infilling Dartmouth Cove would destroy thousands of square metres of marine fish habitat. The need for safe and more readily available pyritic slate sequestration sites is a known issue, and one that needs to be addressed separately from protecting Dartmouth Cove.

4. ARCP’s approach to the public has been hostile and inconsistent. They’ve alternated between claiming they want to build housing and insisting that the city will decide what happens — while dismissing legitimate community and scientific concerns as “emotional” or claiming political interference. Their track record does not inspire confidence.

5. The housing crisis deserves real solutions. The lack of affordable housing stems from inflation, speculation, and population growth — not from Dartmouth Cove’s protected shoreline. HRM’s boundaries stretch from Ecum Secum to Hubbards. There are countless opportunities to build new communities without destroying one of the last open shorelines in the urban core.

Our Message to the Province and Federal Regulators

We call on the Province to respect HRM’s democratic process and approve the Dartmouth Cove bylaw amendments without delay.

We also call on DFO and Transport Canada to reject ARCP’s infill proposal while their review is still active. Protecting Dartmouth Cove isn’t about stopping growth, it’s about ensuring growth happens responsibly, with respect for the environment, science, and public access.

This Thanksgiving, Dartmouth has every reason to be proud and thankful. But we can’t take this win for granted. The next chapter of this fight will require continued vigilance, clear voices, and the same unity that brought us this far.