By Andrew Macdonald
- MacPolitics: HRM Mayoral Contender Pam Lovelace On Her Mayoral Debate Strategy
On Monday (Sept. 16th, 2024), three of the 16 candidates for HRM Mayor will gather for a Mayoral Debate in Downtown Halifax.
The three contenders asked to attend the debate include: Andy Fillmore, Waye Mason & Pam Lovelace.
The Mayoral Debate on Monday is at the former World Trade & Convention Centre, which has been renamed the Art of City Building Forum, also known as Lighthouse Arts Centre.
The Mayoral Debate begins at 4 p.m..
I asked mayoral contender, Pam Lovelace her strategies for the debate. The regional councillor for Hammonds Plains is in third spot in the election, says a recent poll from Narrative Research, which found the majority of voters support or prefer Andy Fillmore as the successor to outgoing mayor, Mike Savage.
The vote is being held on October 19th, 2024.
As for as the strategy contender Lovelace plans to deploy at the debate, I asked if she will beat up on competitors Fillmore and Mason.
“I do not need to beat up. They have their own track record of poor planning, missteps, and lack of priorities that actually would meet the needs of Nova Scotians,” Lovelace tells The Macdonald Notebook.
“I am just going to continue doing the work that I do and putting forward solutions that build a better Nova Scotia and focus on our Capital Region – not just the Downtown.
Lovelace is advertising her campaign on Seaside FM, where the former GM, Riley Murphy worked for nearly five years. Murphy is now campaigning himself for HRM mayor.
In her Seaside FM ads, Lovelace is telling voters she is the only mayoral contender from the former County of Halifax.
Both her main opponents, Fillmore and Mason live on Peninsula Halifax. History has shown that the last HRM mayor from the Peninsula was decades ago when Walter Fitzgerald was mayor.
Successors to Fitzgerald have included Peter Kelly, of Bedford, and Mike Savage, of Dartmouth.
Clearly one of Lovelace’s strategies is to vote-get in the suburbs – a vote-rich region of HRM.
Her radio advertisements seeking voters from the old County of Halifax are interesting.
“I have already gained quite a bit of traction,” from the reference to the County of Halifax. “People are tired of only hearing about Downtown Halifax. They are tired of the massive congestion and infrastructure money from the federal government going to Downtown bike lanes.”
In an interview with CTV, Lovelace stressed she is not a career politician, and in fact is a first-term regional councillor. Her opponents Andy Fillmore and Waye Mason are career politicians. Fillmore was MP from 2015 to 2024; Mason is a 12-year veteran of the HRM council.
She told the media outlet that she believes the three top issues facing HRM include:
- Affordability crisis
- Tent encampments
- Infrastructure deficit
Pam Lovelace wants to be Mayor of Halifax. (Avery Mullen/The Notebook).
CTV asked her ‘Why do you think you’re the right person for the job?’
She replied: “I’m not a career politician. I am a mother fighting for sensible solutions to serious and complex issues to ensure future generations can build their lives here in HRM. My focus on Halifax Council has been to resolve legacy problems, modernize local government, and fix poor planning and policy decisions of the past.”
