[someone123]

I think the NDP have some good policies and some bad policies***, but their biggest problems come from failing to appreciate implicit costs to those who don't benefit from a particular policy. The same thing goes for special interests in Halifax.

For example, unions say it's good for them to get sweetheart deals because it creates a strong middle class of people with good disposable income. The downside that they fail to mention is that everybody else must pay, including in many cases people who are much poorer than those who benefit. For example, somebody working at Wal-Mart for minimum wage must pay extra when they take the bus to cover the high wages of bus drivers. The difference between a Wal-Mart worker and bus driver is mostly that the bus driver is luckier, not that they are more skilled or put up with a less desirable job. It is very difficult to argue convincingly that the Wal-Mart worker should be subsidizing the bus driver, but this is the situation we have right now.

Similarly the special interests in Halifax want things like a well-located, quiet neighbourhood to themselves. The downside to everybody else is that this increases sprawl and reduces the housing supply. Maybe 1,000 people would have moved into highrises nearby, but when the highrises are quashed those people have to find someplace less desirable to live. Some of the 1,000 will probably end up out in the suburbs, clogging streets and wasting their own time and energy commuting every day. This weighs heavily against the benefit to the few dozen homeowners who would get more "privacy" or a quieter street.

If this development fails because of special interests then the city will lose out on balance. The benefits of urban infill and public amenities heavily outweigh the vague prescriptions for what ought to be built downtown and the complaints about lost views from people who were never promised those views in the first place. If they wanted views they should have bought a street-facing condo.

***I should clarify that I was talking about the federal NDP. I think people in the thread are talking about the provincial NDP.. I don't really know enough about them to comment.