Best Failing Forward Pod Podcasts (2025)

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Council doesn't know how the CAP works, a Dec 1-5 council recap 1:30:24

Play Pause

4d ago1:30:24

1:30:24

These show notes will be updated on Monday (probably). The Val-d'Or Foreurs bus blew a tire on Sunday, which means minor hockey day down at the Metro Centre really jammed up my ability to sit down and link the stuff in the show. So that's a tomorrow job. Which is today you (if it's Monday)By Matt Stickland

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We will ever learn from the past? A Nov 24-28 council recap 43:00

11d ago43:00

43:00

Another week of city politics another week of this podcast. If you're here for the rabbit hole on drugs, right here is season 2 episode 2 of On Drugs about the history of weed in Canada https://www.cbc.ca/listen/cbc-podcasts/157-on-drugs/episode/15521363-s2-e2-cannabis-from-prohibition-to-legalization But in the rest of this episode host Matt Stick…

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BUDGET SEASON IS BACK BABY, a Nov 17-21 council recap 1:02:33

18d ago1:02:33

1:02:33

It's everyone's favourite time of year, which means I've run out of time to do everything I need to do before Monday's deadlines, like write show notes. Are you looking for more information about something I said in the show, email me [email protected] and apologies that it's not in the show notes like it normally would be. Ta ta for now, I ha…

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Police reform good, road safety bad, a Nov 10 - 14 council update 38:59

25d ago38:59

38:59

Were you expecting the start of season four and a budget preview? Well PSYCHE! Two things happened. First, Remembrance Day was not great, but it provides some context for Halifax's road safety strategy. Then in the second half of the show, some genuinely good news: police reform is taking tangible strides in the HRM, and the Board of Police Commiss…

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The end of season three 9:30

1M ago9:30

9:30

Short episode this week as Matt gets ready for Budget Season. In this episode, some hope, a budget season preview, preview, and another week where I go tell you to watch that video by Kevin over at HFX by Bike. This one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8kCed6o4Bc&t=17sBy Matt Stickland

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Hali-fail-to-ACT, an Oct 27 - 31 council recap 39:48

1M ago39:48

39:48

In this episode host Matt Stickland recaps a relatively uneventful week in city politics. A lot of information about strategic plans, from HalifACT to Snow Clearing but not a lot of ACTion on any thing yet. Also in this episode, last week's board of police commissioners meeting happened and Matt talks about Eastern Passage's new police expense. Bui…

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HFX by Bike: Built to Fail 11:25

1M ago11:25

11:25

In this special episode of the Grand Parade podcast, we feature the spooky YouTube video made by Kevin over at HFX By Bike. In that video (linked below) he explains in great detail how and why the city is fiscally unsustainable. Also linked below, as mentioned in the intro, is the city's housing strategy public engagement survey. Have a safe and dr…

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Halifax's deadcade of road violence, an Oct 20-24 council recap 40:46

2M ago40:46

40:46

This week is all about Road Safety and how Halifax has killed a record number of people this year on our roads. This violence is both publically funded at great expense and completely avoidable. In this episode, host Matt Stickland struggles to keep it together as he tries to mimic all of the mental gymnastics on display last week. As promised, her…

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EMERGENCY POD: Our roads are more deadly because the road safety strategy is working 28:42

2M ago28:42

28:42

Hey, our road safety strategy is working as designed, which means it's working against it's intended outcome. As a result children and their parents are dying and only you can prevent it from getting worse. Here are the links promised in the show: https://thehappyurbanist.substack.com/p/more-cars-in-body-shops-less-kids The video: https://www.youtu…

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One billion 113 million 338 thousand, a 13-17 Oct recap 47:09

2M ago47:09

47:09

I gotta be honest here. It's 7pm on Sunday night and I have a beer league hockey game to go to and I can't skip it because I'm the goalie. If there is information you wanted in these show notes but is not here please send all your complaints to [email protected]. Enjoy this week's show!By Matt Stickland

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Ticking boxes until the world ends, an Oct 6-10 council recap 57:23

2M ago57:23

57:23

Another week at city hall and another week of the Grand Parade podcast. This week is a far less... let's say excited episode that runs back over the relatively mild municipal news since last Monday Here are the links promised in the show notes from the ep itself: The rise of Canadian Women's Rugby: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Foq1rCWiYuA&t=1041…

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Amalgamate all hope ye who live here, a Sept 29 - Oct 3 council update 57:27

2M ago57:27

57:27

Fair warning, the failure of the Bus Rapid Transit pilot in 2022 (but formally at the last Transportation Standing Committee meeting) combined with the failures of council to do tax reform in the 28 years since amalgamation, and the failure to learn any lessons from the Bus Rapid Transit Pilot for the “improved” 2024 Road Safety Strategy sent me sp…

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All aboard the straight talk express, a Sept 22 - 26 council recap 51:52

2M ago51:52

51:52

We are back fully recharged to talk about a wet and wild council meeting. It actually wasn't all that wet or wild, as the Dartmouth Cove motion was dealt with early and largely without incident. Most of the interesting debates, and therefor most of this show is about the city's budget. The upcoming budget season, and our massive amount of debt, and…

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Rest And Maintence Period 14:36

3M ago14:36

14:36

Apologies. Due to personal circumstances, physical illness and mental health, there will be no issue with the paper this week. More details on this and local roads in this week's abridged show.By Matt Stickland

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The worst version of water world, a Sept 8-12 council recap 46:58

3M ago46:58

46:58

Thanks to the sponsor of this week's show, there's not much in these show notes this week. In this episode Matt covers the three water issues council debated last Tuesday before shining a light on the city's sunshine list. In the paper this week we've asked our reader for some feed back, check it out in store.…

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Daydreaming about good governance, a Sept 1-5 council update 31:19

3M ago31:19

31:19

Do you ever have one of those things where it's like a thing you do every week, but some weeks it's just like "OH MY GOD I HAVE TO DO THIS THING AGAIN!?" Not sure why I thought that was relevant, but this week's episode is a format that was a bit easier to manage. Join host Matt Stickland as he walks his dog and plans for the American invasion of C…

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Single family land acknowledgement, an Aug 25-29 council recap 10:30

3M ago10:30

10:30

The show notes will be as short as this week's routine meetings. What does Mortal Kombat have to do with underground parking? Listen to city hall reporter Matt Stickland break it all down. Contest? What contest? I haven't the foggiest.By Matt Stickland

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Sportswashing and vibes, an Aug 18-22 council recap 35:24

4M ago35:24

35:24

This week we get back to the more neo-traditional clipped show format, recapping the last week of council meetings. Sportswashing, fiscal sustainability, road safety, park lighting, this week really had it all. Also this week host Matt Stickland explains what the plans for the future of this paper are, should we continue to be successful in this en…

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Can you help me make Halifax a better place? An Aug 11 - 15 council update 46:00

4M ago46:00

46:00

Hey folks, I know I promised real show notes, but it turns out that was a lie. I find these hard to do and so far the feedback I've gotten on show notes is that no one reads these things anyway. You read this thing? Shoot me a message (matt(at)grandparade(dot)news, first one to do so gets one month's free subscription to the paper. That said, if yo…

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The party won't stop until we're bankrupt, an Aug 4 - 8 council update 1:03:35

4M ago1:03:35

1:03:35

Big week in Halifax politics as Morris Street bikeway was killed and then immediately reanimated by Halifax's council. More people are homeless now than they were last year and Matt details the 20 some odd years of Halifax failing to accomplish real tax reform. By way of apology for the rougher than normal edit, here's the world anvil page for the …

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Rerun: Hitting the gas on housing and violence 1:22:52

4M ago1:22:52

1:22:52

As threatened, we've taken the week off but to fill the void left by our absence, we're re-airing a fan favourite. Here are the show noted from the episode 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’…

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Halifax needs tax reform 27:48

5M ago27:48

27:48

Last council meeting in July council started some pretty beefy discussions about tax reform. During that debate in early July, mayor Andy Fillmore suggested Halifax could learn lessons from how Hamilton and Winnipeg do their budgets. Since council isn’t meeting this week, it gave city hall reporter Matt Stickland time to go read other cities’ budge…

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Strong mayor debate highlight reel, a July 14-18(ish) recap 36:36

5M ago36:36

36:36

Council is on vacation, but Matt is not, and the last council meeting on July 8 was a beefy one with a lot of really important debates. Among those debates was one about strong mayor powers in which our city councillors performed really well! So we’ve put together a highlight reel of the strong mayor debate.…

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Strong mayor powers, bike lanes and sexism, a July 7 - 11 council recap 37:00

5M ago37:00

37:00

We are back with another full show covering last Tuesday's (and Thursday's) council meeting.By Matt Stickland

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Halifax may become sustainable, a Jun 30 - July 4 recap 15:32

5M ago15:32

15:32

Hello it's summer vacation season and I've been taking full advantage. This is a live to tape episode with a recap of last week's one meeting and a preview of Tuesday's council meeting.By Matt Stickland

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A programming note, not a June 23 - 27 council recap 4:43

6M ago4:43

4:43

Just a quick programming note from Matt this weekBy Matt Stickland

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Grand Parade goes to Quebec 25:15

6M ago25:15

25:15

On Saturday May 31, 2025 Halifax Wanderers travelled to Quebec City, to play York United in a Canadian Premier League on tour, regular season game. The Halifax Wanderers put on a bus to Quebec City. Grand Parade reporter Matt Stickland embedded with the fans and watched the game. This is that story.By Matt Stickland

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All planning no results, A June 16-20 council recap 39:42

6M ago39:42

39:42

As promised during the episode, here is how, in my opinion, the Traffic Calming Administrative Order should be amended. It would be beneficial to get rid of the TCAO all together so road safety money could be spend on more efficient strategies, like the Integrated Mobility Plan, however, since politicans seem to want to keep it, clause 21 of the TC…

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Andy Fillmore must be stopped 23:32

6M ago23:32

23:32

Enough is enough please share this episode with everyone you know in Halifax.By Matt Stickland

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Councillors consider killing taxi industry, May 19 - 23 council recap 29:01

7M ago29:01

29:01

In this podcast Grand Parade's city hall reporter Matt Stickland recaps what went down at city hall last week. There's a development on a heritage property, Halifax is making slow progress police reform thanks to an unlikely hero. And there's also a pop quiz! We trust you can find any legislation yourself, and if you can't, you should be able to, b…

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Scooters, taxes and sidewalks, oh my! May 12 - 16 council recap 31:16

7M ago31:16

31:16

In this episode a recap of everything that happened last week. Can you tell that I'm writing this blurb too late on a Sunday? Yes, probably. For more info about city hall, head over to www.grandparade.news To follow Matt on Social media, find him @landofsticks TootlesBy Matt Stickland

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One advisory committee meeting 4:33

7M ago4:33

4:33

Short one this week as the Board of Police Commissioners meeting was cancelled.By Matt Stickland

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Downtown's burden and core municipal services, April 28 - May 2 Recap 39:29

7M ago39:29

39:29

Hey folks, bit of a lighter show notes this week because I've done a bonus show and had to put a newspaper to bed. See ya next week, don't forget to grab a copy of the first issue of the paper this week at Atlantic News in Halifax and The Dart Gallery in DartmouthBy Matt

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Homework: How to fix Halifax's BRT /w HFX By Bike 56:17

7M ago56:17

56:17

Since journalism is homework the job, after last episode where I explained in great details the issues with the HRM's planning, I felt obligated to explain how I'd fix it. For this bonus episode I invited Kevin Wilson aka HFX By Bike and the two of us work through fixing the BRT. Over on his YouTube Channel, Kevin does this sort of thing on a regul…

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Halifax's Bus Rapid Transit is designed to fail, council update April 21 - 25 33:46

8M ago33:46

33:46

I suspect most people don't usually read the show notes, but if you're here for the study, scroll down. If you're here for information in this episode Matt Stickland, recaps council and goes deep into the weeds of Halifax's Bus Rapid Transit Plan. Here's the promised study: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1361920919314026?via…

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Parking minimums and traffic planning: April 14 - 17 Council recap 12:10

8M ago12:10

12:10

Bit of a light week at city hall and since I forgot it was Good Friday, a bit of a lighter episode. Councillor Janet Steele is trying to get the city to protect and create more heritage districts. Councillor Cathy Deagle Gammon is trying to remove parking spots in land use bylaws because toddlers don't drive cars. All of that and a deep dive into t…

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Fiscal reform and systemic racism: April 7 - 11 council recap 27:36

8M ago27:36

27:36

Last week was a relatively slow one as far as the schedule was concerned, with only a Tuesday council meeting and Thursday’s African descent advisory committee. Halifax now has a budget, and thanks to Mayor Andy Fillmore, next year’s budget will be wildly different from this year's. Also, last week, Halifax once again found itself standing in the l…

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Domestic Violence and the Green Network Plan: Mar 31 - April 4 counil recap 19:57

8M ago19:57

19:57

In a week dominated by breathless international news Halifax's city hall had a relatively slow week. This week there were only two meetings of consequence, which allowed the Board of Police Commissioners to do a deep dive into intimate partner violence and the Envrionment and Sustainability Committee to learn about the failures of the green network…

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Audits, horse hearing and a beach bus: Mar 24-28 council recap 18:08

9M ago18:08

18:08

Now that budget season is done, as threatened, this show will now become a weekly roundup of what happened at City Hall last week. The obvious high/lowlight of last week was when council finished the budget adjustment list debates on Wednesday, March 26, but did you know that other meetings also happened last week? There was an audit that missed so…

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Halifax’s budget: a political win and fiscal failure 24:28

9M ago24:28

24:28

Halifax's budget playoffs wrapped on Wednesday March 26 and Halifax has a budget! The budget itself was a political victory for our new mayor, Andy Fillmore, who promised to keep Halifax’s property tax rate flat, which the council did. However, property values went up by 4.7 percent, and so will property taxes. Those property taxes will pay for Hal…

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Halifax city council's making your life more expensive, a 3rd intermission update 25:03

9M ago25:03

25:03

Halifax council’s budget meeting on monday March 24th was a stinker, quite literally, and also because council almost voted to make Halifax’s poorest people just a little hungrier because of how Canadian governments divvied up their power and responsibilities. But the good news is that your odds of dying in a fire are going to decrease slightly in …

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Library cuts and the police tank, 2nd intermission update 29:13

9M ago29:13

29:13

It's the second intermission of the budget playoffs and a lot happened in Friday's debate. Council approved an armoured personnel carrier, the central library got it's reserves cut and council avoided making a terrible cut. All that and more in this budget playoffs' second intermission update!By Matt Stickland

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Budget Playoffs Intermission update 22:52

9M ago22:52

22:52

By Matt Stickland

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Budget playoffs and a new era 16:23

9M ago16:23

16:23

In this episode of the Grand Parade Matt flys solo to update folks on the future of the podcast and the future of Halifax's budget.By Matt Stickland

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Halifax's budget season is finally here 1:06:48

10M ago1:06:48

1:06:48

The wait is over, it's finally here budget season started on Wednesday. In this episode Matt and Martin dive into what's being going on at city hall from strategic plans, to Windsor street exchange and of course, the start of budget season.By Matt Stickland and Martin Bauman

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HALIFAX STRATEGIC PLAN EMERGENCY PODCAST 46:42

11M ago46:42

46:42

This past week has been a huge one in municipal politics with Halifax's city council getting an update about how their strategic planning is going. Spoiler alert, it's going very bad. In this emergency episode, Matt and Martin break down the failures of Halifax's bureaucracyBy Matt Stickland and Martin Bauman

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Five little piggies went to a public meeting 1:01:23

11M ago1:01:23

1:01:23

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 d…

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Councillor Cuttell and the spanner wrench 42:18

1y ago42:18

42:18

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 se…

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Committee rosters and budget preview 54:58

1y ago54:58

54:58

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 convers…

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Municipal election primer 57:05

1y ago57:05

57:05

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 want…