The herald ran an opinion piece today by Andrea Arabic bemoaning the Robie Street bus lane projects. Its incorect, and requires a firm rebuttal.

Residents recently noticed windows being boarded up in a series of buildings along Robie Street, between North and Cunard. These buildings were purchased by HRM to make way for the widening of Robie Street and the implementation of the Robie Street Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project.

Residents might rightly question why, in the middle of a housing crisis, HRM, in partnership with the province, would spend an estimated $64.5 million dollars to buy 33 properties, containing dozens of affordable housing units, just so they can tear the buildings down to make way for buses.

The affordability of these units was dependant on the remaining owned by the same landlord. after sale, these capped properties faced a tax bill of around $1000/month, making units within unaffordable.

And that is only the cost of land acquisition. In 2025, HRM estimated that the entire project would cost approximately $150 million. However, as we have seen with other HRM infrastructure projects, by the time the project gets underway in 2028 and is completed four years later, these costs will undoubtedly have grown exponentially.

It is hard not to compare this project to the Harbour Drive, which was proposed in the 1960s as a four- to six-lane highway to be built along the Halifax waterfront to combat traffic issues. Sound familiar?

This project bears no resemblance to Harbour Drive. It is the addition of a single transit lane to an already 3 lane road. Robie is already more then 3 lanes for much of its length, yet no one is calling for the city to narrow the existing portions, which would carry long term cost savings in road maintenance. Robie street is too wide, and should be narrowed would be a more cogent argument against the proposed widening.

As part of the planning for Harbour Drive, numerous  properties were demolished, hundreds of residents lost their homes and historic buildings were demolished. Thankfully, due to the efforts of individual residents and groups like the Heritage Trust, the project was halted. The only part of Harbour Drive that was ever implemented was the Cogswell Interchange, a mistake that residents of Halifax have just spent $138 million fixing.

This is incorrect. The land was cleared as a result of 1945 and 1957 master plans for Halifax identifying areas of inadequate housing and living conditions, and federal funds becoming available for the clearance of those areas. Developers put forth the idea of Harbour drive, and the city investigated it, but with council of the day seeing limited benefits of the proposal, and not having a source to fund it, only cogswell got built, which was required by the contract to build Scotia Square, as the development would remove all east-west circulation between duke and Cornwallis (Now Nora Bernard) streets.

There were funds available for clearance, but limited funds available for new housing. Much of the land cleared in the name of slum clearance and civic improvement remains vacant today. It should also be noted the population of the peninsula peaked in 1956, and despite a decade of flat out building, has not re-achieved that population. Residents who were displaced by slum clearance, likely moved to new suburbs in the county, which contribute to our current traffic woes.

At the time, traffic planners and many politicians thought that the Harbour Drive was the answer to Halifax’s traffic woes. Today, it is clear that had the Harbour Drive gone ahead, Halifax would be a much-diminished city, with residents and tourists cut off from the harbour and a highway in place of the historic properties. What is proposed for Robie Street is not on the same scale as Harbour Drive, but it shares many of the same characteristics. It is heavy-handed, irreversible and relies on outdated thinking.

At the time, politicians wanted more traffic downtown, as they thought that traffic would make business more successful. Robie street’s bus lane is about moving more people in fewer cars, actually the opposite of building a highway. Halifax council actually preferred a south end bridge over the current narrows location, since those folks bypassed the shops and services of Halifax.

It is socially, fiscally and environmentally unconscionable to spend hundreds of millions of dollars tearing down affordable housing, destroying a heritage streetscape and cutting down dozens of trees to implement a plan that is unlikely to make any tangible improvements to traffic. We must find a better way to make it easier to travel to and from the Halifax peninsula. If we do not, future generations of Haligonians will look back on the Robie Street widening and put it in the same category as the Harbour Drive. The question is, will our elected officials today have the wisdom to stop this disaster before it goes any further? If not, history will judge them harshly. For those who say it is too late, many buildings have already been purchased, I say, what a perfect opportunity for the province and HRM to retain and operate these properties as long-term affordable housing.

The housing being removed is old, but not heritage. its not particularly affordable after cap removal, and once redeveloped, generate more tax revenue for the city then they bring in from that block now. The trees are also mostly dead, and will also be replaced as part of the project.

here is the fundamental problem with the groups opposed to the Robie street bus lane. They dont propose another solution. Its unclear if Andrea would support making Robie street transit only. what about a congestion charge? why not also argue that the north bound lanes next too the common be removed, and merged back into the the common lands?

Will our elected officials and planning staff rise to the occasion, see the error in their plans for Robie Street and come up with a better solution? Will residents have the fortitude to demand that of them?

The fact is, this isn’t about the bus lane, its about change, that the group doesn’t like. they don’t propose alternatives, because they don’t want alternatives, they just don’t want this. They are drivers, as they take a car to their Robie street bus lane protest table they periodically setup at peak times

The above image shows the project area. green dots are trees. Numbers on Buildings are registered rental units. Between Willow and Charles streets we can see an area where the city has carved off the portion of the property it needs for the bus lane. The remainder of that land will be resold for re-development.

From other sources, it looks as though approximately 20 housing units are being removed. Its probable one new building on this stretch will replace all of them, leading to a significant net increase in units in this neighborhood. Not all of the 33 affected properties require demolitions. HRM has published a map with the land required to be acquired highlighted in pink. Much of this land is already vacant, or used as part of a car dealership.

The CBC ran a story on Moncton engineer Hélène Thériault, who owned MATCH Engineering, and was fined, and lost her license for professional incompetence. She and her firm are also subject to at least 14 lawsuits over badly designed buildings.

The TLDR of the story was that when cracks formed in a new build slab, the building owner hired a new engineer to review the work. That engineer found the slab to be under designed, which they reported to the regulator. That complaint prompted a review of other buildings that the first engineer had worked on. As a result of that review, 22 buildings required emergency shoring, and permanent repairs to strengthen them.

From various articles that were written, it appears the majority of the involved builds are what are commonly known as 5 over 1’s These are a 4 or 5 story wood frame building constructed over a concrete parking garage, where the roof of the parking garage serves as the first floor slab. A transfer slab is hick, heavily reinforced concrete floor that redirects heavy vertical loads from upper columns to a different, unaligned column grid on the floors below. The transfer slab essentially works like a slab on grade, and carries the load of itself and the building above it to the walls and posts in the parking garage, and down to the soil under the building.

If the transfer slab were to fail, then the building above would fall into the garage. The seriousness of this cannot be overstated. This could have been a Surfside level event.

Surfside (a suburb of Miami FL) was a structural collapse of a condo building in June 2021, which killed 98 people. The investigation still has not issued its final report, but updates have indicated that an under designed and poorly built pool deck slab failed 40 years after construction, due to continuous overloading. The slab failure caused other parts of the sub structure to fail, bringing down a wing of the tower.

There were several warning signs in the weeks before the collapse, including new and larger cracks appearing around the pool deck, though the severity of the damage, and its potential impacts were all missed prior to the failure. While this was entirely a concrete structure, the initial failure mode is the same.

A modern concrete building is built with a 2 way spanning slab. Rather then having separate beams support the slab between the columns, the beams are integrated within the slab itself by increasing the amount of rebar. This has a number of advantages – its easier and faster to construct, and and it allows for consistent ceiling heights, without wasting space.

The problem with 2 way spanning slabs is that they can be prone to punching shear. Punching shear happens when the forces on the slab overcome the support of the column connections and they fail, causing the slab to collapse, and the columns remain standing. Punching shear often leads to large pancake collapses, where slabs collapse onto each other, leaving no voids, which makes survival unlikely. Punching shear would be a likely fail scenario for the transfer slab. Several photos of affected buildings show shoring posts around columns, which is exactly what would be done if there was concern over a punching shear failure.

There are 5 basic types of structural collapse. 4 of them generally happen in post and beam construction, where a wall or column fails, and the possibility of large void spaces exist. Given everything above the transfer slab in the affected buildings are platform framed wood structures, its likely a collapse would lead to void spaces in the normally occupied parts of the building. This is good, but significant loss of life would still be probable.

In this case 22 buildings were under built before this was caught. Since shoring was required in many of them, it suggests the structures were significantly under built, and could have been at serious risk of collapse.

Major Collapses in Canada

In 2019, the Lester B. Person civic centre Theatre in Elliot lake suffered a roof collapse, as a result of snow loading, and a newish hvac system that was installed on the roof. there was 1 minor injury. the building was demolished.

The Algo Center mall in Elliot lake suffered a partial collapse in 2012 after decades of water ingress caused a steal post and beam connection to fail due to corrosion, Causing a 40×80′ section of the roof to fall into the mall killing 2 people. The mall was built with a parking deck on the roof. it flexed, which allowed water ingress, which was never properly repaired, and was a constant problem over the life of the mall. This collapse and its response was the subject of a public Inquiry

The deadliest structural collapse in Canada occurred Sept 30, 2006, when a section of the Boulevard de la Concorde Overpass over Highway 19 in Laval (Montreal) collapsed, killing 5. The overpass dropped chunks of concrete onto the highway for at least an hour before it ultimately collapsed resulting in several 911 calls. an inquiry found that it was poorly designed and built, and used concrete that could not survive repeated freeze/thaw cycles and road salt.

In 1995, a section of roof of the Station Mall in Sault Ste Marie collapsed due to poor weds on a beam connection. The station mall was originally built by the same developers as the Algo Center mall, and used the same engineering firms. There were no injuries or fatalities and the mall reopened two months later.

The Burnaby BC Save on foods collapse occurred in 1988. At the stores grand opening, a 6400 square foot section of the parking deck collapsed into the store after a beam failed. The roof top parking was added during construction, and the added weight of cars caused an undersized beam to twist. Onset to collapse took 5 minutes, and there was sufficient time for shoppers to evacuate. there were no fatalities in this incident.

The topic of housing affordability and achiveability has remained a hot topic of conversation as of late. Despite a record number of housing starts in Halifax, completions remain flat, and time to completion has increased. Developers are building flat out, and even with a slowing in population growth, not enough units are getting finished to drive down prices, though they have stabilized.

The discourse focuses on luxury units suggesting that new units being constructed are unaffordable. Luxury is mostly a marketing term, likely used to justify higher rents, but it does beg the question, what would non luxury affordable housing that first time buyers could acquire look like?

Halifax’s Hydrostone neighborhood is an example of rapidly erected, well designed suitable housing. The neighborhood was established to be permanent suitable housing for survivors of the Halifax Explosion. Its construction made use of readily available local materials, Including the Hydrostone block, that the areas name is derived from.

Since the Second world war, average house sizes have more then doubled, but today fewer couples are having children. Do first time home buyers need 2000sqft+? what if we can achieve housing economy through design.

Back in 1990, Avi Freedman, a professor of architecture at McGill university developed the Grow Home. The Grow Home was designed to be sold for $70,000 making it affordable for a family with a income of $50,000.

The grow home is a 1000sq ft, 2 story house, designed to be built as a town home configuration with 4-8 units. It was Immediately noticed, and featured on the front page of the New York Times Homes section. A Montreal home builder, Leo Marcotte, looked at the units, which had a construction cost of $40,000 and took a leap. he sold 24 in weekend, and all 87 units were spoken for within 2 weeks. Marcotte knew his buyer, and built his units with basements, instead of on a slab. he offered some upgraded options and a brick facade, so his units were not bare bones, but still affordable.

Between 1990 and 2000, over ten thousand grow homes have been built in Canada, selling at prices between $69,000 and $95,000. 9 out of 10 buyers were first time home buyers.

The home is built to be 14′ wide, which is the maximum span of a 2×10″ floor joist on 16″ center. This also made the design flexible, as there were no interior load bearing walls. Builders offered full height unfinished basements, and several offered brick facades – options which added cost, but resulted in more flexibility.

Most municipalities didn’t allow land to be subdivided into 14′ lots. this resulted in units being sold as condos, which also reduced construction costs, as condos had a reduced fire separation between units. this also permitted cost savings from utility hookups, since the entire structure could receive one, rather then duplicating for each unit.

The Grow Homes small size,open plans, limited openings, and townhouse style also resulted in the homes being very energy efficient. they were originally heated with electric baseboards.

The Grow Home Today

Using the Bank of Canada’s CPI inflation Calculator, A grow home today could be built for ~$90,000 and Sell for $149,000-205,000. That makes a new build at less then half the median sale price in Halifax, of $545,000 and almost a third of the Average sale price of $592,000 (NSAR numbers)

The Grow Home 30 Years Later.

Thanks to research, I was able to track down the original Grow Homes built be Leo Marcotte. One of those first 87 units is listed today for $475,000. The home has seen updating over its 30 year life, and now commands a premium over comparable in the neighborhood. a third bedroom has been added in the basement, and various finishes have been upgraded.

while some might bemoan an affordable house, that now isn’t, the project appears to have achieved its goal – Provide an affordable entry point to home ownership, and allow flexibility to update, and change as the owners life changes. The owners were able to enter the market, and build equity over time. There are 1000sqft houses on the market in Halifax that command higher prices, and are in worse condition.

The Grow Home certainly looks to still be a viable housing option. with HAF changes allowing 4. units as of right, a 4 pack can be affordably constructed on many existing lots in hrm, adding gentle density, and providing an on ramp to home ownership for first time buyers.

Finding myself with time to kill in Montreal, I went to seek out the Gas Station on Nuns Island designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Mies built several buildings in Canada, including the TD Bank towers in Toronto. But in 1969, in Verdun, he designed a filling station for Imperial Oil.

I left Gare Central via the rem, and got off at l’Île-des-Sœurs, and walked the 1.2km in light rain to the building, Since 2012 a community centre called La Station, after the filling station closed in 2008. A filing station seems like such a strange project for one of the greatest modernist architects, Who built the Seagram building in NYC, Designed the Barcelona Chair, and was the last director of the Bauhaus.

The futuristic filling station, now part of the community, flanked by an electric car, while i wait for a bus back to the REM.

There is something about the Victorian train stations in Europe. Despite being well over 100 years old, and built in the days of Steam, they still look Distinctly modern serving 300km/h trains.

Perhaps just as futuristic looking, is the modernist Ottawa Union Station By Parkin and Associates. Built for the National Capital Commission, it was owned by CN, and built between 1962 and 1966. On Jul 31, 1966: CN Train No. 5, the Montreal-Vancouver Panorama, is the last train to depart from Ottawa’s old Union Station at 12:40 AM. All trains since have called at this station.

The Giant roof floats above the station and covers the entry and access to the tracks, though most passengers go down the escalators or the helical ramp, through a tunnel under the tracks to emerge on the platforms. The platforms themselves are Matt black and Minimalist, though they do provide coverage.

(Above) A brand new Siemans Charger/venture trainset is at the platform. This platform was raised in 2017 (Below) Looking from the railside towards the front entry.

Inside granite and board formed concrete make up the interior. a round ticket counter sits in the middle of the hall.

Everyone knows that in the event of an emergency, you pick up the phone and call 911, and you get Police, Fire or Ambulance. But how does that whole system work?

Rescue 911, hosted by William Shatner was a TV show that ran from 1989-1996, and featured re-enactments of real 911 calls. For many it was their first exposure to the 911 system, when it was still new in many places.

The First 911 call was made in 1968 in Alabama. That first 911 system routed all calls to the police. The 911 system was designed for POTS, the Plain Old Telephone Network, back when everyone had land lines. Basic 911 routed the call based on the Central Office or CO it passed through with no location data. All calls that passed through a CO would be sent to a single Public Safety Answering Point, or PSAP. A PSAP is basically the 911 call center.

A Central Office is where a phone line terminates at a phone switch, which connects your call to the rest of the phone network. Its also possible to have remote CO’s which are where lines terminate, but they can only route calls to one CO to reach the rest of the network. If your out an about and see a windowless building with a phone company sign on it, odds are its a CO.

The first big update to the 911 system was to add Automatic Number Identification and Automatic Location Identification or ANI/ALI. This is a lookup that happened when the call was placed, where the phone number (ANI) was used to query a subscriber database, and then send the subscriber information with the phone call. This worked well when everyone had a landline in a fixed location. The PSAP would now know where the caller was calling from, but routing was still based on the Topology of the phone network. Each CO still only routed to a single PSAP.

Enhanced 911 uses a selective router to route calls. With E911, A call is made, and the phone number and voice go to the central office, which sends it to the selective router. the router then queries the ALI Database with the phone number to retrieve the subscriber information, then uses that to query the Master Street Address Guide, which identifies the proper PSAP to send the call to, and then routes the call there. This allows multiple PSAPs to serve an area – for example city calls get routed to the Cities PSAP, while rural ones are sent to a different PSAP. Call routing can now be done based on location, and not just Telco topology.

Cell phone providers use a Mobile Positioning Center to assign a Pseudo ANI to the call. The selective router then routes the call to the correct PSAP based on the Cell towers location. The client location can be determined by triangulation on the radio network, or in some cases the phone can send the devices geographic coordinates to the positioning center. This requires an active 911 call to be in progress. Network Triangulation works on non smart devices, and provides a general location, that is not precise.

Many traditional land lines have been replaced by VOIP Service. When using VOIP, the call is routed to a VOIP Positioning Center to get a location. In its simplest form, the VPC will provide the address of the subscriber. VPC’s can also handle dynamic entries, for example,Microsoft teams when enabled for External VOIP Calling, allows you to set your location using location services so your address dynamically updates if your device moves around with you. The VPC then routes the call to the Selective router to determine the appropriate PSAP.

Phase 2 E911 was only finally implemented across Canada in 2010. Phase 2 E911 Sends the Voice Call, and the location only to the PSAP, and is the currently the Minimum required service level in Canada. 911 is pretty dumb.

Your smart phone,watch, car and many other devices can also send Data to 911. right now these service providers send that 911 data to Emergency Data Brokers, such as RapidSOS or Interado. The broker is able to collect all the various data about an incident, and provide it to a PSAP. This includes data that your phone sends, including the voice call and location, But can include other information such as health data, which seats were occupied, and which airbags deployed in a car. This information is sent over the internet to the PSAP, This data is nice to have, but is not required by regulation, so may not be available to every PSAP, as PSAPs typically need to subscribe to the service, which is typically free for the PSAP to do. Services like RapidSOS are also how E911 PSAPs enable SMS texting to 911.

NG911 is a fully modern 911 system, and is IP Based. At the Core of the service is the Emergency Incident Data Object, which is a package of information including the voice call, and all the other data about the call. Its transmitted in one package, and enables photos and video to be included in the call. per CRTC regulation, PSAPs need to be NG911 compatible my March 31/2027, though only voice services need to be offered by that date. NG911 will open up new services, like allowing everyone to sms text 911, and allow PSAPs to forward calls to each other, so if someone in Halifax calls 911 about their friend needing help in Ottawa, the call can be forwarded on to the appropriate PSAP.

So what happens when your call reaches a PSAP?

Nova Scotia maintains 4 Primary PSAPs, depending where you are, the selective router will send you to one of these 4 Centers. If a call is not answered within a prescribed time frame, it is routed to another PSAP. The four primary PSAPs are operated by HRM, CBRM, Valley Dispatch and the RCMP, and these are locations where a call taker will answer the 911 call.

Calls for medical assistance from all 4 Primary PSAPs are transferred to EHS’s secondary PSAP, which EHS refers to as the Medical Communications Center, or MCC. At the MCC a call taker will collect information from the caller, and an in many cases provide care instructions.

When a Call taker at a PSAP takes a 911 call, they create an incident in the Computer Aided Dispatch System or CAD. The Call taker will typically confirm and clarify the location, write a short narrative of what happened, and categorize the incident. Workflows vary, but that incident then goes on to a dispatcher to manage. As part of the incident transfer, The call can be sent to other systems, which can automatically dispatch units, sending notifications to those units to respond. the dispatcher can then pass on updates from the call taker to responding units via radio. Some CAD systems will dispatch certain units in a predefined matrix based on location, or others will select the closes unit of the appropriate type.

In HRM 911 calls are answered and sent to police and fire dispatchers all within the same physical PSAP. Three other PSAPs handle calls for Nova Scotia; CBRM in Sydney who dispatch police and fire in CBRM, Valley Dispatch in Kentville, who also dispatch various fire departments around the province, and the RCMP based in Dartmouth. There are additional Fire and police dispatches that serve smaller departments throughout the province that calls for service can be sent to. For example Digby Dispatch dispatches 30 Fire Departments in South West Nova Scotia. The New Glasgow police department also has its own dispatch.

Typically the dispatcher does not talk to the 911 Caller, that is the role of the call taker. One exception to this is calls for an ambulance.

When units are responding to a call, they will typically communicate with dispatch. Since dispatch audio is recorded, this communication creates a record. Units will typically notify when they arrive, when they need something and when they clear the scene. Most units are also equipped with an MDT, or Mobile Data Terminal. The MDT runs a CAD Client and can be used to receive updates from dispatch, access additional information about an incident. The MDT can also provide mapping data, and a text messaging facility with dispatch and other units.

the province maintains two key datasets for 911 – these are Street Center lines, and civic addresses. These allow location information to be translated to a physical point on a map, and resources be dispatched there. MDT maps can also display locations of other units responding to a call, the location of resources like Fire Hydrants, or building standpipes and even building footprints themselves.

NSP has been quiet about what happened, but enough details came out in the OPC’s letter that we can piece together a likely scenario.

Editor Note: Though I’m probably mostly known as the shipping and built environment guy, My day job for the 26+ years is in IT, where for the last bit has been primary dealing with Endpoint management/security, so I’m uniquely qualified to speculate what NSP was doing (or not doing) based on the public details. I have no insider details, the only things i know for sure are what NSP, UARB and OPC have publicly released. the rest is plausible speculation on my part based on what I have seen over the years at other organizations, as well as how attacks like this typically operate. This article began life as a reddit post, and this updated article considers some of the feedback that post received.

On March 19 2025, a NSP Employee visited a compromised website that contained the SocGholish” (FakeUpdates) malware. The malware is frequently inserted into compromised wordpress sites, and pretends to be a message from the browser, informing users their browser are out of date and offering them a update to download. That “update” contains further malware that performs reconnaissance on the machine, reporting back to a command and control server, and typically downloads and installs other malware, such as ransomware, or remote access Trojans, which allow attackers to access the machine. They now have a beachhead to launch the full attack.

SocGholish has been around since 2017. It also suggests this was an attack of opportunity, rather then a targeted attack of NSP. The Criminal hacker group that began using SocGholish typically uses it to cast a wide net, investigating targets to find those that can potentially lead to a large payday. Historically threat actors have targeted large publicly prominent organizations to attempt to use that prominence to increase the likelihood of a ransom payout. Its not personal, its just business.

SocGholish will commonly download cobalt strike malware (which is also not new, and should be detectable by AV, at least until it kills the av), and it seems plausible that this was the next step in the attack. Cobalt Strike has a number of features, including providing remote access, data collection, and can perform privilege escalation attacks. Privilege escalation is a process by which a normal user gets granted admin rights on the device.

Cobalt strike is able to perform privilege escalation by exploiting poorly managed windows processes to run other code in their place. This requires a the service to be restart, which requires admin rights. (which if the attacker had, they wouldn’t need to perform privilege escalation). the other way to restart a service is by rebooting the device. this may explain the initial infection on the 19th, and traversal of the network occurring on or around April 8th. The attackers needed to wait for the device to reboot. Microsoft’s normal patch cycle releases monthly updates on Patch Tuesday, which is the second Tuesday of the month. In April 2025, patch Tuesday fell on the 8th, and the updates would have triggered a reboot.

Based on feedback I received, it looks like most end users at NSP operate day to day without administrator rights. Users who do have admin rights have the ability to install software and access privileged settings on the system. Having users operate day to day with Admin rights on their user account is a bad practice, but frequently happens due to perceived requirements of legacy software. In many cases legacy software can be made to work by changing permissions to the file system, or performing other tweaks, so that it will work without the user having admin rights.

if the attackers were able to compromise someone with local admin, or perform a privilege escalation attack to obtain admin, that grants them access to the internals of the Operating System. With admin access, a user can dump the local account database,and any cached credentials, and then run them against password cracking software.

Every device has a local administrator user, in many organizations, this account uses a common password, which then gives access to additional machines, and possibly servers. Microsoft has a tool called LAPS that will set and rotate local admin passwords ensuring they are unique on each device. Better practices are to not have any users normal accounts operate with admin rights, and to use a separate account for admin access. Admin should also be granted explicitly on devices rather then using domain admin rights to do so. A commonly used admin password would enable traversal across the network.

From the OPC Report “On or around April 8, 2025, the threat actor began to move laterally across systems in the Nova Scotia Power network environment, using accounts with domain administrator privileges. Between April 8 and April 22, 2025, the threat actor deployed and leveraged additional malware to perform internal reconnaissance and credential harvesting activities”

Domain admin credentials are the highest level of access that exists on a windows domain. accounts with domain admin rights basically have access to everything. Since a domain admin account was accessed its likely IT staff operate with this right, and use it more widely then they should.. this would result in domain admin credentials being cached locally on a device, and with the compromised user having admin rights, dumping the cache and cracking passwords offline would have been possible.

With Domain Admin rights, the attackers had access to every windows based device in the domain. this would have allowed them to exfiltrate data, likely by access file-shares and dumping entire databases. This also allowed them to destroy backups. Many organizations keep online backups, which are sufficient to protect against server failure, or data issues, but cant protect against malicious destruction, or physical loss of the equipment containing them. Periodic backups should be stored on disconnected media, and off site.

Domain Admin access would have also been sufficient to deploy ransomware widely, which works by encrypting systems so they cease to function. This also explains how so much of NSP’s operations were rendered inoperable.

We know the threat actors had access to NSP for a month. they were able to blend in, and avoid detection, until they chose to start breaking things. There were several controls that were they in place would have made this attack much less impactful, and certainly there were multiple events where the attack could have been detectable, by anti-virus, or network monitoring.

Endpoint Antivirus is important, but one of the first tasks of any basically competent malware is to disable anti-virus. Since almost all cyber crime is financially motivated, monitoring networks for endpoints accessing command and control is an important step in detection.

Based on the damage caused, and the wide spread access the attackers had, the recovery likely included rebuilding large portions of systems from scratch.

Recently the Cities plan to add a bus lane on Robie street has come under fire from groups like Friends of the Commons. The groups assert that the money being spent is wasteful, destroys affordable housing, removes heritage, and just generally will ruin the city. The friends of the commons social media posts against the bus lane generate comments like this:

The assertion being made is that the properties being acquired by the city for the bus lane, will then be sold off at a discount to developers. (this is bunk, as the HRM Charter precludes below market sales). He believes that he subsides Robie Street with his property taxes, and suggests we follow the money.

A quick google resulted in me finding the posters address. This led me to his street, which consists of 7 properties. Those 7 properties in 2024 generated a total of $26,681.90 in tax revenue for the city. This works out to be $3800/property, but as you can see there is alot of variation in taxes paid on the street.

In 2005, HRM had a report produced that estimated servicing costs based on certain development types. For our purposes I split the difference between the Rural Commuter “B” and “H” patterns, for a servicing cost of $4000/lot in 2005 dollars. Using the Bank of Canada’s inflation calculator, the 2024 servicing cost is $6013/property.

So our commenters street consumes $42,091 in city services, but only paid for $26,681 of that, leaving a shortfall of $15,410 to be made up by other parts of the city.

Using the same report, and Urban Pattern “G”, the 2024 servicing cost is $2173 on Robie Street. the 10 properties Between Columbus and Merkel generated $47,059 in tax revenue, but only consumed $21,730 in city services, resulting in a surplus of $25,329, more then enough to cover the shortfall from our commenters street, and still leaving $9919 left over for something else. I should also note that these 10 properties account for 19 units of housing.

So contrary to the commenters belief that he was subsiding Robie street, he was a net burden on HRMs finances to the tune of $2201 in 2024. That is money came from the urban core of the city.

The Properties being acquired on Robie street collectively paid about $166,000 in tax in 2024. As these properties get redeveloped into more dense projects, tax revenue for the city will also increase. for comparison, The Residential building on the Corner of Robie and Cunard paid $150,000 in property taxes in 2024.

References

I have made my 2024 HRM Tax data shapefile available at https://ziobrowski.net/opendata/ This data set combines the PVSC Parcel Land sizes Data set, with the NSPRD property polygons, and the SUM of all taxes per AAN (Assessment Account Number) from HRM’S 2024 property tax bill data.

Canada needs more housing. One of the Items frequently cited in preventing housing from being built is a building code requirement that multi unit buildings over 2 stories have 2 sets of egress stairs. Urbanists claim this is an unnecessary requirement. The IAFF says single egress stairs (SES) “Put simply, lives will be endangered.” As an architectural historian, and a firefighter, I think I’m uniquely qualified to weigh in on this topic.

Please note that the thoughts and opinions here are my own, and do not reflect positions of anyone else, unless otherwise noted.

The General Argument for allowing single stair buildings generally covers these points:

• Single stair buildings reduce construction costs
• They allow for more ideal unit layouts, suitable for smaller lots
• they are common in Europe
• Seattle and NYC allow them
• Fire safety can be achieved with mandatory sprinklers and pressurized stairwells.

The argument is that the 2 egress stair requirement prevents the construction of missing middle housing. Missing middle housing refers to a range of medium density housing types, like duplexes, townhomes, and small apartment buildings, that fit within existing single-family neighbourhoods. The dual egress stair requirement specifically effects stacked townhouses and small apartment buildings, where a multi-unit building with a single stair could be built in a standard single family home lot; The use of a single stair enables larger units to be built with better layouts. Missing middle structures are typically 3 stories, with midrise being in the 4-6 story range.

The 2 stair requirement typically results in a built form with a double loaded hallway. that is there are units on both sides of the hall, and with the exception of the corner units, only offers windows on one end. this can lead to units that lack natural light, and poor natural ventilation. They result in larger buildings, which would not fit on single lot.

How we got here

In April 2022, Conrad Speckert of LGA Architectural Partners (based in Toronto, and maintainers of the Singlestair.ca and https://secondegress.ca/ sites) and David Hine of David Hine Engineering Inc. submitted the code change requests to the Canadian Commission on Building and Fire Codes to modify Part 3 – Single Egress for Multi-unit Residential Buildings up to 6 Storeys and Part 9 – Single egress for Multi-unit Residential Buildings up to 3 Storeys. the Canadian Commission on Building and Fire Codes was established by the National Research Council to produce model building codes. Anyone can submit a proposed code change via a webform, The commission then evaluates the proposed changes for possible inclusion. It should be noted that this is the accepted and appropriate path for a code change to initiated.

In Nova Scotia, the Building Code Act regulations adopt the National Building Code of Canada 2020 with a errata and changes made prior to April 1 2023. Changes to that code can be made my the province, through regulations.

BC rapidly instituted a code change through regulation that took effect in August 2024 permitting single exit stair apartment buildings up to six stories as long as the following are met: occupancy load per floor limited to 24, travel distance to exit is limited, smoke management is included, sprinkler systems are installed, and increased fire inspections. The BC changes certainly sparked debate in Canada. The position of the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs is that any changes to the NBC should go through the normal code adoption process, and that process should not be circumvented via alternate means to enable SES buildings. BC implemented the change very quickly, and both the BC Fire Chiefs, and firefighters association were concerned about safety. the Greater Vancouver fire chiefs indicated that they would be pressed to meet the response standards of NFPA 1710 to a six story SES building, among other concerns.

In a 2026 report to Halifax Council, it was pointed out that single stair buildings could be built now with approval of building officials through the NBC’s alternative compliance method, which allows builders to meet the goals of the building code through other methods. Approved single stair buildings in other provinces have been enabled this way, typically by shorting exit distances, including sprinklers where they would otherwise not be required, and increasing fire separation standards, beyond what would normally be required for a building that size. Several provinces have single stair buildings in excess of the NBC 2 floor height as a result of the alternative compliance mechanism in the NBC. Some examples of approved projects can be found at https://singlestair.ca/Pilot-Projects. Project pages there show plans and how alternative compliance was achieved.

The downside to alternative compliance is that it becomes regulatory red tape. there is not a rule, and the design becomes a negotiation with building officials. It enables missing middle housing, but not rapidly. This is why a change to the building code is the preferred solution.

The Seattle Special

The City of Seattle introduced what has become known as the Seattle special, a six story SES building in 1978. The goal was to encourage multi unit infill on smaller lots. It has been very successful, and the same rules were adopted by Honolulu in 2012. While the Seattle special is a compelling success story, isn’t even recommend to other cities by Seattle. The chief fire prevention officer, fire marshal, and building department have all spoken caution about the style being exported to other cities, and maintain that the only reason for their success with that style is because of their well funded fire service. The Seattle Fire department has ~900 operations members, in 33 stations, serving a population of 755,000. the department has a Budget (2025) of $327million USD

Firefighting and Life Safety Impacts

To understand why single egress stairs in large buildings are a bad idea, we need to understand how fire response occurs, as well as how a fire spreads.

When a fire starts, at some point the fire is detected, and someone is notified. from there the fire department is alerted, dispatched, and travel to the scene. In best case scenarios, this can take 5-6 minutes for the first due unit to arrive. The NFPA 1710 standard specifies the ideal response time and number of firefighters required to deal with an incident. Many departments fall short of this standard. With the increased use of synthetics in our houses, Fires can grow rapidly and explosively in minutes.

In the above video, the synthetic fire room flashed over in less time then the typical response time for a first arriving unit. Once that unit arrives, additional time is needed to reach the unit, setup equipment and begin to fight the fire.

The best data suggests that ~12% of fires occur in multi-residential buildings. This amounts to about 2400 fires per year across the country. 96% of these fires resulted in injury or death to occupants. In just over half of unintentional residential fire deaths (~179/year), the individual was age 70 and up. In 14% of unintentional residential fire deaths, there were mobility-related issues or cognitive impairments. these were people who needed to be found promptly and rescued by the fire department.

Modern multi-unit buildings are designed to contain a fire to a unit. This is why unit and stairwell doors have auto-closers on them, However there is no guarantee that these will work. People prop open doors, and auto-closers fail, or get disabled because they can be inconvenient. If a fire starts in a unit, and the door is left open, The hallway fills with smoke. If their is open access to stairwell, the stair becomes a chimney, rendering it impossible to use for residents above the fire floor. This also complicates firefighting efforts, as crews now need to climb a stairwell in an IDLH (Immediately dangerous to life and health) environment before they even get to the fire floor.

Firefighters stage in stairwells – they get clogged with hose and other equipment. this means it becomes harder for residents to egress.

A benefit cited by single stair proponents is improved ventilation in units. Given the above situation combined with increased airflow can lead to a wind driven fire. This turns a normal fire into a blast furnace, with much more rapid fire spread, and much higher heat, into the hallway and stairwell. To be clear, I’m not suggesting that we should have poorly ventilated apartments for fire safety, but pointing out how the bad situation above can be made worse.

SES proponents argue these concerns can be addressed with sprinklers and pressurized stairwells. Both of these rely on mechanical systems, and both can fail. Pressurizing stairwells requires fans, and sprinklers rely on fire pumps, both those rely on electricity, the supply of which cannot be guaranteed in a fire. There have been numerous examples where sprinklers have failed to control a fire, or even activate when needed. problems with smoke alarms were reported in almost 9% of fires, while in 7.3%, automatic extinguishing equipment did not work because the fire was too small or other reasons. The 2022 Winters Hotel fire in Vancouver, B.C., where two people perished in a building equipped with a sprinkler and fire alarm system, shows that fire protection systems are not the sole enablers of safety

reliance on mechanical solutions required stepped up inspection regimes from cities.

A single stairwell constitutes a single point of failure. If that stairwell becomes unavailable, the workload for firefighters increases – they must find alternate means to access the fire, as well as alternate means to evacuate residents. Research of Canadian apartment building fires showed 9% originated in the means of egress hallways and stairwells and that smoke affected primary access routes in more than 42% of the fires. SES Proponents typically down play the risk, citing examples from buildings that exist, which have multiple sets of stairs.

Prompt response from the fire department, with sufficient aerial apparatus on scene is really the only way to mitigate risks from a single egress point. This means cites need to increase staffing and buy more equipment. But even this might not be enough, as the lots best suited for missing middle densification are also the most access constrained, in many cases only one side of the building can be properly accessed.

Canadians tend to build with wood. The NBC currently allows Lightweight timber frame construction up to 6 stories. There are many examples of these buildings in Halifax. Lightweight construction can burn. The Hanwell Drive fire in Middle Sackville is a good example. The fire separations enabled everyone to get out, however the sprinklered building lost much of its roof and top floor in the fire. This building has 2 stairwells, one of them remains intact.

Constructing SES buildings out of non combustible construction could be one way to reduce the risk. NYC allows SES buildings of up to 6 stories. Each story is limited to 2000sqft, and the building must be of non combustible concrete or steel construction. The structure of concrete buildings wont burn, which greatly reduces the risk of structural failure in fire. The downside is that it requires specialized skill to construct and is more expensive, negating some of the benefits of SES construction. Many other jurisdictions which allow much larger SES buildings primarily build with non-combustible construction.

The Grenfell tower fire in London, England was certainly made worse by the existence of only one stairwell. it became clogged with firefighting equipment, and also became a chimney. Grenfell tower was a 24 story building of non-combustible construction, though it lacked sprinklers, adaquite fire alarms, and was wrapped in a flammable foam cladding. That fire serves as a reminder that safety is achieved through multiple complementary approaches, and simply doing away with a requirement for a second egress stair is not a viable solution.

Micro Mobility

A recent trend in residential fires is with micromobility devices – e-bikes and e-scooters. Their use has them typically stored in the entry areas of buildings and units. When a Lithium ion battery fails, it releases toxic gasses and jets of flame. There have been several fire deaths reported in various cities when a mobility device caught fire and impeded escape. There have been mobility device fires in units in Halifax. A single egress point compromised by a mobility device can be a serious danger and hazard to residents.

Conclusions

There probably is room to relax the Canadian national building codes 2 story rule. The International building code, used in much of the US allows for single egress stairs in building up to 3 stories, with 4 units per floor. Even the IAFF and IAFC, who strongly oppose increasing the permitted building height state that it unsafe in buildings over 3 stories. The National Fire Protection Association Life safety code, NFPA 101, allows for 4 stories. Both codes require alternate measures, including limited length of exits, and inclusion of sprinklers.

Given the positions of the IAFF, IAFC, and NFPA, changing the NBC to allow 3 stories SES should be fairly uncontroversial. Adoption of the 4 story NFPA guidance should be considered more carefully

The NFPA publishes consensus standards. they form committees made up of experts on all sides, and the stuff they all agree upon makes it into the standard. Its not a perfect system, but its a credible process that generates sound recommendations. In the Fall of 2024, the NFPA held a SES Symposium, which resulted in a report, attached below.

Code changes for larger buildings should go through the normal code adoption process, to ensure the science behind it is sound. The leap from 3/4 stories to adoption of the Seattle Special requires more consideration, and larger investment in the fire department. Once buildings get above 6 stories, you are no longer dealing with missing middle housing, and the justifications for SES become suspect, and were beyond the scope of the 2022 Code Change request.

Notes

• CAFC page on Single Egress stairs https://cafc.ca/page/single-egress
• IAFC Position Statement: https://www.iafc.org/about-iafc/positions/position/reducing-stairs-in-residential-buildings-higher-than-three-stories
• IAFF Position: https://www.iaff.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/2025-Single-Exit-Position-Stmt-FINAL-1.pdf

This report was produced by Len Garis, retired Surrey BC Fire Chief , and professor with the University of the Fraser Valley to look at what data can tell us. it is the source for many of the statistics in this post.