Timeline | HRM Mayor Peter Kelly's career
Mayor Peter Kelly became mayor of the Halifax Regional Municipality when he was sworn in Nov. 8, 2000.
Peter Kelly became mayor of the Halifax Regional Municipality when he was sworn in Nov. 8, 2000.
He beat out Halifax Mayor Walter Fitzgerald, and so began an almost 12-year history as mayor of HRM.
History of his political career
- He was elected to Bedford town council in 1985, then became mayor of Bedford in 1991.
- He was elected councillor for Bedford in the newly amalgamated HRM in 1995.
- He was elected as mayor of HRM in 2000.
- He was re-elected in 2004 and 2008.
- He was up for re-election in 2012.
- He announced he wouldn't run for re-election Feb. 22, 2012.
Highlights of Kelly's career
- He championed for the cleanup of the Halifax harbour.
- He delivered an apology to the people of Africville in February 2010.
- He was an early proponent of Halifax hosting the Commonwealth Games. He was also one of the first to back away from the idea in 2007 when it appeared the mega-sports event was too expensive the city.
- He helped Halifax host the 2011 Canada Winter Games, and emerged as a booster of the idea of making the oval from those games a permanent fixture.
Misses of Kelly's career
- When the sewage treatment plant failed, Kelly took responsibility for not communicating updates with the public.
News of secret payments to a concert promoter, which Kelly apparently knew about brought calls for his resignation.
He came under fire for the city's handling of the eviction of Occupy Nova Scotia at Victoria Park on Nov. 11, 2011.
How the city has handled the Metro Transit strike has only put further pressure on Kelly's job as mayor.
Most recently, he's been questioned on how he's handled the will of a woman who died in 2004.