Rookie councillor Virginia Hinch pledges support, collaboration

The steady sound of applause fills Paul O’Regan Hall at the Halifax Central Library, as Virginia Hinch walks in wearing a long black dress with a poppy pinned on the left side of her chest. 

She is one of eight members being sworn into Halifax Regional Council this evening in early November. 

After spending 15 years at the province’s housing agency, Hinch’s move to a new job is bittersweet. Although the prospect of change seems daunting, she’s comforted knowing the end goal is the same. 

“The process of me going into a new field is kind of scary. At the same time, it’s also exciting. The thing that’s the same is you’re still helping people,” said Hinch. 

Hinch was born and raised in the city’s North End and has seen how it has gentrified, raising rents in the neighbourhood, over the past few years. That’s why she decided to run for councillor for District 8.  

“What I was seeing within the community and how things were going, I felt that I could probably be more vocal in the community and support them on another level,” said Hinch.

Glendora Small, a former colleague at the Nova Scotia Provincial Housing Agency (NSPHA), is one of the people supporting Hinch this evening.  

“I’m going to miss Virginia … Anybody who works with Virginia is going to miss her,” said Small. 

Small has known Hinch for 22 years. The pair grew up in the same neighbourhood in the North End. A few years later, they raised their own kids in the same apartment building in the community.  

Knowledge and experience

Small says Hinch can apply her experience at NSPHA to her job as councillor for District 8. 

“The experience on the job, the knowledge of the job, the relationship she’s built over the years, her commitment to a position that she’s been in for 15 years, her compassion, her empathy. That’s something that she will carry over into her position as a councillor,” said Small. 

Small says Hinch’s desire to help people comes naturally to her. She believes those characteristics are what will make her a great leader for the district. 

Hinch says she is focused on accessibility, diversity and inclusion, responsible development, and affordable housing.  

From 1990 to 2010, Hinch worked at Scotia Drugs on Gottingen Street as a storefront and post office manager. During her time there, she implemented the largest black haircare line in Atlantic Canada at the time.  

Then in 2010, she began working at NSPHA, where she helped house hundreds of people. 

The 2016 municipal election was her first council campaign, but ultimately, she backed out to support the candidacy of Lindell Smith, who eventually won the district.  

In 2020 she threw her name in the hat again, knowing Smith was running to be re-elected, and likely would not beat him. But she wanted the community to know her and what she stands for. 

District 8 stretches from Cogswell Street to the Bedford Basin, bounded by the Halifax Harbour and Oxford Street. The community is home to African Nova Scotians and thriving multicultural neighbourhoods. The district is full of new apartments and older homes. The community is also experiencing rapid gentrification.  

“There’s 25,000 people in our district. I’m here to represent all, whoever needs me, that’s who I’m there to represent,” said Hinch. 

Hinch won the election with 27.44 per cent of the district’s votes. There were seven candidates for the council seat. 

She said she hopes to work with the candidates she defeated — among them Stephen MacKay and Anika Riopel — on community issues.  

“I hope that I get to work with most of the people, if not all the people, who have run in my district. They’ve all run for two or more things. And if I can help support that going forward, I would do that,” said Hinch. 

Smith, who has known Hinch since he went to daycare with her son, believes Hinch is equipped to do well in her new position. 

“Having been from the community that we both grew up in, she’ll be able to understand the complexities of trying to support residents,” said Smith. “And she also has some government experience working for housing, so she’ll be able to use that to navigate the system.” 

What’s next for Hinch? Making the community more accessible and addressing the current state of two closed schools, Saint Patrick’s Alexandra and Bloomfield. She is hopeful that she can collaborate with her fellow council members, candidates in her district, and the community to address the community’s needs.