AB Economic Fundamentals 2008-07

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Oilsands threaten groundwater

EDMONTON - Oilsands development could be putting one of Canada`s largest groundwater systems in peril, the Alberta Wilderness Association warned Saturday.

Many of the region`s oilsands projects sit directly below what`s believed to be the largest aquifer in the North American Plains region.

This immense system of underground water channels, which includes parts of Alberta and Saskatchewan, is an invaluable source of Canadian freshwater that feeds into several important waterways such as the Athabasca River.

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...c5-d4fc3bf3c406

 

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Lure of `country residential` hard to beat

Summers at the lake, days filled with swimming and boating, hanging out in the beachfront house that they hope to pass on to their children one day ... a great vacation place and the stuff of family memories. That`s how Glenda and Miles Kern of Sherwood Park envision the property they just bought in Sante Estates, a newly hatched subdivision in the County of St. Paul.

Likewise, Chuck Swiniarski of Edmonton says his three children are looking forward to summer holidays at the lake -- in this case, Lac Sante, situated about an hour and a half out of the city. For Swiniarski, the layout of the subdivision, with large lots (half to one acre along the beach and one-acre-plus behind) not too close together and the pleasant views offered inclined him to buy in Sante Estates.

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...75-09d52967b1de

 

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Boyle completes first enforcement report

The Village of Boyle completed its first compliance report for the enforcement order on Skeleton Lake and so far has received no negative comments from Alberta Environment.

The reports consist of Boyle`s year-to-date water consumption in the past six months as well as predictions for the next six.

According to Dennis Tomuschat, superintendent of public works and utilities, the first half of 2008 saw Boyle consume 22 per cent less than the first six months of 2007 which can be attributed to water treatment plant upgrades.

http://www.athabascaadvocate.com/news/2008/0722/news3.htm

 

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MD council seeks water study for Cayley

The MD of Foothills is looking at options to increase Cayley`s water supply to meet the needs of the growing community.
MD council approved a study of Cayley`s water system to look at future options to increase water supply once the hamlet`s existing water plant reaches capacity.
MD director of public works Tom Gillis said the study will look at whether to build a new water plant or tie it into an existing water system, such as High River`s.
"The study is a prerequisite to obtain grant funding for either type of project," he said.
The Province will pay for a larger portion of a project`s cost if it involves a partnership with other municipalities. The Province would only pay 75 per cent of the cost to build a stand-alone water plant in Cayley, compared to 90 per cent of a regional project.

http://www.westernwheel.com/news-cayley.htm

 

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Province to focus on land use strategy

A group of provincial legislators will take a closer look at the finer details of putting the Province`s Land Use Framework into practice, from recreation in Alberta`s park areas, to getting to and from its major centres.
A committee of MLAs from across the province will work under the direction of Foothills-Rocky View MLA Ted Morton to develop strategies for future recreation areas, transportation and utility corridors as well as a review of landowner`s rights legislation.
"They will spend the next eight months working on critical priorities to ensure the policy that flows from the Land Use Framework responds to a broad range of interests and concerns," said Morton, who is also the Alberta Sustainable Resource Development minister, in a statement.

http://www.westernwheel.com/news-strategy.htm

 

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Town council eying sewer upgrades for flood protection

At last Wednesday`s regular Black Diamond town council meeting, council voted in favour of borrowing $155,000 for storm sewer upgrades to guard against future flooding.
The funds will be borrowed from the Alberta Capital Finance Authority (a non-profit corporation that provides local authorities within the province flexible funding for capital projects) for the construction and completion of a new 675 mm storm sewer line on a portion of Highway 22 south and a new 300 mm storm sewer line on a portion of 3rd Avenue NE.
Mayor Rolly Magee said the decision to request the loan for the upgrades is a precautionary measure in the event of flooding similar to 2005.

http://www.westernwheel.com/news-sewer.htm

 

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Serviced land scarce

Commercial land along St. Albert Road is quickly filling up, putting pressure on city hall to service land along Highway 2 north of Wal-Mart.

Future Shop, Petro Canada and TD Canada Trust are all building new locations in the power centre occupied by Wal-Mart and The Home Depot. Further south, a new CIBC branch is going up next to Paradise Pets and in front of London Drugs on Bellerose Drive, a multi-tenant retail commercial building is taking shape. The city has so far received an application for a Starbucks at that location, said development branch manager Jim Killoh.

http://www.stalbertgazette.com/news/2008/0726/top1.htm

 

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Bus drivers wanted


With students heading back to class in a matter of weeks, the wheels are in motion to hire more school bus drivers and avoid a repeat of last year`s shortages, transportation companies say. Southland Transportation and First Student Canada (formerly Cardinal Coach Lines), the two companies that bus Catholic and public board students, are both pushing hard to recruit more than 200 drivers to prevent the same staffing pinch they each felt last year.

http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Alberta/2008/0...285026-sun.html

 

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Pensions in Canada becoming increasingly inadequate

A recent report has added still more depressing data to the growing plethora of evidence indicating Canadians aren`t financially prepared for retirement.

The Association of Canadian Pension Management (ACPM) says in a report the typical pension plans being offered to Canadian workers won`t make a "meaningful" contribution to the creation of an adequate retirement income for them.

The report, Delivering the Potential of DC Savings Plans, says that only 25 per cent of people working for private employers have a registered pension plan of any sort. And employers are favouring group retirement savings plans or no plans at all over defined contribution plans.

http://www.albertalocalnews.com/reddeeradv...inadequate.html

 

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Pitches heard for Regional Event Centre

The two front-running proposals for Medicine Hat`s Regional Event Centre went head-to-head with their pitches Monday afternoon in a surprise open session of the event centre steering committee at city hall.Only a press release posted on the city`s website at 3 p.m. Monday – for the 4:30 meeting – gave any notification to the public about the proposals, which they could hear, worth upwards of $100 million.

Box Springs Business Park and Lansdowne Equity Ventures are the two consortiums vying to build the centre in two proposed locations.

http://www.medicinehatnews.com/content/view/38594/65/

 

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Bike plan confronts city`s cycling future

For years, Edmonton city planners and successive councils have ragged the puck on getting more of us to stop using our cars so much.

The endless drama of LRT expansion and bus controversies, such as the recent flap over trolleys -- not to mention regular ETS fare increases -- often make the news, negatively so in many cases.

Meanwhile, thousands of area residents have joined men, women and kids across the world in meeting the challenge by voting with their pedals, as it were.

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...57-cd0379a7e078

 

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TransAlta makes sure levee won`t break

EDMONTON - TransAlta has begun construction on a secondary wall and channel around an ash lagoon west of Edmonton after the existing dike threatened to leak.

On Saturday, a TransAlta employee noticed a slump in the dirt wall that holds more than 1.5 million cubic metres of water and ash.

"It`s literally a dirt wall and it`s slumping," said spokesman Michael Lawrence. "It is at risk of spilling over."

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...97-274bdbf1787a

 

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City seeks funds for airport tunnel

CITY HALL - The city will ask the federal and provincial governments to consider funding a tunnel under a future airport runway, allowing Airport Trail to become an east-west corridor.

Constructing an expressway and tunnel could cost up to $488 million.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/c...0e-95a943a80648

 

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Secondary suite bylaw awaits report

CITY HALL - A pilot project to provide up to 50 Calgary homeowners with forgivable loans to build secondary suites inched forward Monday.

The program, pitched by Mayor Dave Bronconnier during last fall`s civic election, has been delayed after several aldermen raised concerns about the move.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/c...1b-1f8505ead063

 

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City declared tax-friendly

Calgary ranks ahead of Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver as a competitive city in which to do business with some of the lowest tax costs among major Canadian cities, according to a report released Monday by a major accounting firm.

Calgary also rated well internationally, said the study of cities around the world by KPMG LLP.

"On the Canadian side, Calgary did fare very well when you compare it to the other major cities," said Rick Whitley, a tax partner in the Calgary office of KPMG. "There were a couple of smaller cities that ranked ahead."

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/c...bd-ff36b3a42e1c

 

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Canadian Natural to clear air on oilsands megaproject soon

Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. will soon provide some of the most eagerly-awaited tidbits of information of the current oilpatch earnings season.

Analysts and investors are tripping over themselves with questions about the company`s mammoth, $8.7-billion integrated oilsands project called Horizon.

Will it be up and running by Canadian Natural`s self-imposed September deadline? Will Horizon make it to the finish line without a third cost bump over original estimates from 2004 of $4.9 billion?

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/c...9d-4f89482f7033

 

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Calgary REIT makes $78M on hotel sale

Royal Host Real Estate Investment Trust, a Calgary-based hotel owner, says it has struck a deal to sell the Grand Okanagan Lakefront Resort and Conference Centre in Kelowna, B.C. to Delta Hotels for $131 million.

Royal Host will book a $78- million gain on the sale, slated to close Aug. 14. "Management, together with our board, evaluated the strategic and financial merits of this asset in the context of our portfolio compared to other investment opportunities that are currently available to Royal Host and determined that this sale is in the best interest of our unitholders," said Patrick Lambie, executive vice-president of Royal Host.

http://calsun.canoe.ca/Business/2008/07/29/6294856-sun.html

 

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House sales in Alberta drop 20% in first half of 2008

OTTAWA -- Canada`s red-hot housing market cooled considerably in the first half of this year, with sales recorded by the Canadian Real Estate Association slumping by 13.1% from the same period last year.

The real estate group said yesterday that new listings of homes for sale on the Multiple Listing Service jumped 9.1% to 518,270 units in the first six months - a record high - while sale prices rose a tepid 3.6% following the double-digit increases of the recent past. Unit sales were down in all provinces except Newfoundland, with British Columbia, Alberta and Prince Edward Island experiencing a fall-off in sales topping 20%.

http://www.edmontonsun.com/Business/News/2...294296-sun.html

 

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Oil sands get nod from U.S. anti-poverty group

CALGARY - Support for Canada`s oil sands is coming from an unexpected American group--an anti-poverty coalition led by African-American civil rights and faith leaders.

The group is waging a national campaign targeting 50 "extreme" environmental organizations and 100 U. S. politicians it says are restricting energy supplies through climate-change legislation, causing oil prices to spike to levels that are "strangling" the poor.

Niger Innis, co-chairman of the "Stop The War On The Poor" campaign and national spokesman for the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), one of the oldest civil rights groups in the United States, said the alliance wants more oil from Canada`s vast unconventional deposits.

http://www.nationalpost.com/todays_paper/s....html?id=686052

 

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Larger contingency built into police station

A new $30-million downtown police detachment building was given the go-ahead by council on Monday, despite costing $1.3 million more than planned.

Councillors Lorna Watkinson-Zimmer, Gail Parks and Tara Veer added their votes to the unanimous approval — although they expressed reservations about yet another construction project exceeding its estimated budget.

Previous examples of projects that gained approval with bigger budgets include the G.H. Dawe Centre renovation and two intersection improvement projects, including one at 32nd Street and Gaetz. (The Dawe is costing $30 million, $2 million more than planned, and the $17.6 million intersections projects include an additional $4.2 million).

http://www.albertalocalnews.com/reddeeradv...ce_station.html