By Andrew Macdonald
Halifax mayoral contender Andy Fillmore launched his mayoral candidacy the other week and the soon-to-depart Liberal MP for Halifax offers the message that he is not running away from something, instead he is running for something.
And had three-term mayor Mike Savage been willing to run for a fourth term, instead of retiring from the job before the municipal election this October, Fillmore suggests he would have run again as a Member of Parliament.
But, Savage is not running again, and having been denied a cabinet post by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Fillmore is eying the mayoralty for Halifax Regional Municipality.
Having an urban planning degree from Harvard University, many thought Fillmore would go into Trudeau’s cabinet. Nova Scotia has only one cabinet minister, while Newfoundland and New Brunswick each have two.
Andy Fillmore is running for mayor of HRM/Halifax. Fillmore campaign website
Fillmore will have more power to make changes in society as mayor than as a backbencher in Ottawa.
I asked Fillmore how he would be able to distance himself from the increasingly unpopular Trudeau, who is 20 points behind Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre in various polls, since Fillmore, after all, was part of the Trudeau government.
“I am very proud of the work I did as a Member of Parliament,” responds Fillmore. “I went there and did what I said I would do and that has been to be a champion for our city. I moved us from one of the least invested in ridings with federal dollars to one of the most invested in ridings with federal dollars. I am extremely proud of that record.
“This is happening because of my love for my city, and it is happening now because Mike Savage has said he is not re-offering. I do not see any other candidates with the skill set that I have, which is…required to guide HRM through this incredible period of growth, and the challenges and opportunities that come with it,” he tells The Macdonald Notebook.
“I am not running away from anything, I am running to my service to Halifax, and it is the service that I have given my whole career to. For me, nothing is changing, I am just going to be able to give service to Halifax more directly (as mayor) and sleep every night in my own city, instead of half the year in Ottawa.”
I pressed Fillmore on how he can distance himself from Trudeau.
“People know I have not been a partisan Member of Parliament, that I have always just been focused on my constituency, focused on my city, and that is what people see now,” Fillmore says.
“Sure some people are asking, ‘Well, are you leaving the (Liberal) party when the polls are looking dicey?’ It has nothing to do with that, if Mike (Savage) was re-offering to run as mayor in 2024, I would support him and I would be running to be MP again.
“But, that is not what the world had in store for us and Mike (Savage) is moving on to something different and it is critically important that we get a new mayor that can manage this city effectively and in a cost-effective way that protects our neighbourhoods while allowing the growth to happen in a really smart and sensible way.”
