Halifax’s mayor said the city is growing and everyone needs to help build.
About 750 people gave Andy Fillmore a standing ovation after his first state of the municipality speech, which was hosted by the Halifax Chamber of Commerce at the Trade and Convention Centre.
Just few months into his term, Fillmore is highlighting his four main focus areas, while giving “optimism for the future.”
“The challenges before us today, be they affordability, housing or mobility or tariffs, are formidable, but they’re not insurmountable,” said Fillmore.
He said after the Halifax explosion, people worked together to rebuild, and we have to band together in a similar way now to tackle these issues.
Fillmore said people have to “meet the moment,” one of his campaign slogans, to tackle the challenges now.
Patrick Sullivan, CEO of the Halifax Chamber of Commerce, is pictured on April 14, 2025. (Jacob Moore/Acadia Broadcasting)
Patrick Sullivan, the CEO of the Halifax Chamber of Commerce, said he was pleasantly surprised that Fillmore’s focus in the speech was similar to those of the business community.
“Those are many of the things that the Halifax Chamber of Commerce has presented in in our recent pre-budget submission. And not always something you would hear about from city council, but we’re very pleased that we’re hearing about them now,” said Sullivan.
Sullivan said taxes were a big concern for businesses, and the city recently passed a budget with no municipal tax increase. Fillmore said he heard from businesses and people that they couldn’t afford an increase, so he and the council voted to leave it as is.
“It’s probably fair to said that that the mayor and city council have heard some of those concerns and are beginning to act on them, although it’s a long term process to sort of change the way the city has done things in the past,” said Sullivan.
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