The Grand Parade

Jan 17 2025 55 ep. 53 mins 32
The Grand Parade Podcast artwork

The Coast's 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.

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Five little piggies went to a public meeting

Jan 10 2025 61 mins  
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 Commissioners meeting on Wednesday, December 8th, was one of the best meetings in HRM's recent history, which included five little piggies and some light-hearted civil disobedience. Matt's been doing a lot of research into roa

Councillor Cuttell and the spanner wrench

Dec 12 2024 42 mins  
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 transit ever get better in this city? How do you cook a crow? And is there any point to the city's advisory committees? Plus, we also have a new show format! Except for the any other business segment at the end your listening

Committee rosters and budget preview

Nov 27 2024 54 mins  
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 since being out. In this episode, the two talk about how the council is shaping up three meetings into their term. Which councillors are making mistakes? Who's looking promising? The conversation then turns to the HRM's co

Municipal election primer

Sep 14 2024 57 mins  
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 interview candidates for the upcoming fall election. Chris will be sitting down the candidates of District 7 to interview them and find out who would be the best candidate for his district and wanted to advice. Happy to oblige,

Predicting the End of Canada's Oldest Colony.

Jul 31 2024 44 mins  
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 management. The Coast has covered risk management extensively since Halifax’s Auditor General released his scathing indictments of the city’s Risk Management Team, but this is one of those things that just can’t be talked

The Windsor Street Sobriety Test

Jun 27 2024 53 mins  
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 while making transit worse, plus how councillors aren't using the powers they have at their disposal. Also, if you have any issues you want Matt to look into for the upcoming municipal election please email them to hfxvotes2024@

An Emergency's Emergency

May 30 2024 33 mins  
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 will shape the city to come. Plus, Halifax has an emergency response… emergency… and the region’s transportation plans still don’t make sense.

Hitting the gas on housing and violence

May 01 2024 80 mins  
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 blunders and why a labour shortage isn’t to blame for the city’s housing crisis. Plus, they delve into Halifax’s deferred plans to abandon its Strategic Road Safety Framework in favour of a new plan that is worse than t

Moving towards cautious optimism

Apr 12 2024 45 mins  
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 Brad Anguish. Matt explains why this interview left him feeling a bit like a Philadelphia 76ers fan circa 2013. After a break, Matt gives each councillor a rating for their performance during Halifax's budget season

An autopsy of Halifax's IMP (2018-2024)

Mar 21 2024 42 mins  
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 planning.