During election szn, some councillors said they supported it. Come budget time, they backtracked. This week Halfiax’s budget committee voted on the police budget, but talks about how HRM spends its money on policing have been buzzing for more than a year–since El Jones’s presentation on defunding the police to the Board of Police Commissioners in January 2020, to a global movement demanding the police and prison industrial complexes are dismantled. Back in October, when citizens of Halifax were deciding who to vote for in the municipal election, The Coast asked every candidate a long list of yes or no questions. On the subject of defunding the police, here’s how the eventual winners–now our elected representatives–voted.