AB Economic Fundamentals 2008-10

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1008EDTN
Shops, offices on tap for local Molson plant

EDMONTON - The former Molson brewery will be reborn as a place where people live, shop, work in offices and dine out under an early plan revealed Monday.

Molson Canada and developer Anthem Properties announced they are working on a proposal for the historic bottling plant at 104th Avenue and 121st Street.

"Anthem is looking to take it over, and that`s a process we`re working through and we`re still in the early stages of that, said Bryan Cox, Molson`s director of government and public affairs for Western Canada.

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...5d-d8ced4136bd7

 

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1008ALTA
Tory cabinet on global sales blitz

A globetrotting provincial cabinet is racking up hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of taxpayer-funded working trips over just a few weeks, as Tory MLAs pack their bags amidst a six-week fall legislature session.

Ministers and other senior government officials insist the international missions to Europe, Asia, Australia and the United States are "critically important" for selling Alberta in a global economy.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/s...9a-6d46bd017072

 

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1008CALG
Calgary real estate still a safe haven

With all the volatility in the stock market, people are forgetting another investment vehicle -- real estate, says the president of the Calgary Real Estate Board.

Ed Jensen said Monday that appreciation values in Calgary`s housing market have risen dramatically since 1990 when single-family home MLS sales averaged $136,842 and condominiums averaged $98,142.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/c...9d-4c11834077dc

 

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1008ALTA
Oil, gas sectors drive wage forecast

Workers in the oil and gas industry are again expected to lead the country in average wage growth next year, although the projected increases will fall below the six per cent gains these employees made in 2008, says the Conference Board of Canada.

The board`s 2009 Compensation Planning Outlook, released Monday, said wage increases will vary significantly across Canada with increases in the four western provinces expected to exceed four per cent on average.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/c...f3-4f4ee0dfa533

 

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1008CALG
Brace for tax attack


Mayor Dave Bronconnier is warning Calgarians to brace for a 22% tax hike over the next three years with little likelihood of an 11th-hour reprieve. As city council prepares to do its annual budget huddle next month, Bronconnier said the numbers have already been significantly slashed since the initial wish list presented in April. It called for a 14% tax hike in 2009 alone and there`s very little extra room to navigate it any lower.

http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Alberta/2008/1...226821-sun.html

 

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1008REDR
Downtown building approved

Downtown Red Deer`s supply of retail and office space should soon get a small boost.

The city`s municipal planning commission approved on Monday a site plan for an 8,700-square-foot commercial building on three empty lots at 4921, 4923 and 4925 53rd St. That site is currently being used for parking.

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

 

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1008ALTA
Online ballots `going to happen`

Voting in a municipal election could soon be as easy as clicking a mouse.

The provincial government wants to set up a committee that would review the way municipal elections in Alberta are run. The committee is expected to look at Internet and telephone voting, among other things, according to a report going before city council today.

"At some point it`s going to happen, it`s just a matter of time," predicted Coun. Don Iveson, referring to online voting.

http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Edmonton/2...236821-sun.html

 

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1008CALG
Homeowners face $300 tax hike

The average Calgary household will pay about $330 more in taxes and fees next year if the numbers currently on the table hold up -- numbers that led to verbal volleys at the legislature and city hall Tuesday.

A budget that has already been described by Mayor Dave Bronconnier as "the toughest in living memory" could hit Calgarians with a tax increase around 9.5 per cent next year, part of a plan that would see property taxes boosted 22 per cent over three years.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/c...e1-46921bc4433b

 

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1008ALTA
Pipeline partners strike deal

TransCanada Corp. on Tuesday shrug-ged off the global financial crisis by increasing its ownership in an expanded Keystone pipeline and recording strong quarterly results that beat analyst expectations.

The company racked up third-quarter profits of $390 million, or 67 cents a share, compared with $324 million, or 60 cents a share, for the same period in 2007 -- up about 12 per cent on a per-share basis.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/c...8c-4515cd69133f

 

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1008CALG
Developer extends lease

The Calgary Farmers` Market has been granted an 11th-hour reprieve, receiving an extension to its lease until 2010 after earlier yesterday being told they would have to find a new home by next year. Canada Lands Company, the developer of the former Currie Barracks land that is turning the site into a residential community, had a change of heart upon hearing the market has a new home and agreed to extend the lease 13 months after earlier in the day announcing it would let it lapse in October 2009.

http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Alberta/2008/1...236036-sun.html

 

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1008EDTN
Council approves $2.3M for Expo bid

EDMONTON - Edmonton will try to secure Expo 2017 after city council unanimously agreed Wednesday to spend $2.3 million on a bid to become Canada`s nominee for the world`s fair.

While some councillors expressed concern at the cost and the project`s potential impact on Edmonton`s long-term plans, Mayor Stephen Mandel cautioned that if the bid succeeds, the city can`t back out.

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...b9-9d135ecf5743

 

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1008EDTN
City wards will double to 12

Edmonton is poised to become the last big North American city to eliminate wards represented by two councillors after civic politicians voted Wednesday to create 12 single-member wards.

The move would replace the current six-ward, two-councillor system which has existed since 1980, a setup councillors said is increasingly unwieldy as the city`s population grows.

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...8c-557330e252a4

 

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1008EDTN
School lands easily rezoned under new law

The province is easing the transfer of surplus school sites to towns and cities with legislation allowing would-be school grounds to be developed for affordable housing, public libraries, police or fire stations, or other non-profit public facilities.

The legislation, introduced Wednesday by Municipal Affairs Minister Ray Danyluk, requires school boards to hand over land they don`t need to municipalities.

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...f0-9f6af2bca80b

 

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1008ALTA
Cool-down period for oilsands is hardly a crisis

EDMONTON - It`s been fashionable of late for the national media to write off Alberta`s oilsands -- yesterday`s favourite frontier boom story -- as just another bit of roadkill on the Superhighway to Economic Armageddon.

With key players like Suncor and Petro-Canada recently delaying big spending decisions on future oilsands projects, the casual observer in Ontario or B.C. might well assume Alberta`s bitumen boom has gone kablooey.

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...74-cbff1474106b

 

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1008ALTA
Alberta homeowners country`s top renovators

Renovation intentions in Alberta are the highest in the country, despite a cooling economy.

A survey, released Wednesday, indicates 74 per cent of Alberta residents plan to make improvements on their homes within the next two years.

The Ipsos Reid survey said renovation intentions among Albertans are the highest in Canada, up five percentage points from last year.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/c...e7-cff8ca2ea452

 

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1008CALG
Parking woes nix move to Stampede

A shortage of parking has bumped the Stampede grounds off the short list of sites to relocate the Calgary Farmers` Market to when it`s forced to leave Currie Barracks in November 2010.

For all the rumours, speculation and obvious links to local agriculture, the Stampede isn`t one of the five sites being seriously considered, market general manager Darrell Komick confirmed Wednesday.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/c...e4-aa41d3242129

 

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1008CALG
Would-be renters scammed

Consumer advocates are warning Calgarians about scammers exploiting genuine real estate listings to rip off people seeking rental properties. The heads-up comes after a city couple desperately seeking a home to rent fell for the scheme they found on a website Oct. 12 -- wiring $966 to a Nigerian recipient claiming to be a Calgary doctor headed to Africa to do Christian missionary work with a southwest home for rent.

http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Alberta/2008/1...248741-sun.html

 

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1008EDTN
Centimetres nearly cost couple their new house

EDMONTON - The uproar over construction of an "oversized" Highlands house came to a head Thursday when a city board rejected arguments it should be torn down.

Kim Mah and Shawn Johnson started building the two-storey home at 6428 Ada Blvd. last January. Within a month, the city started hearing complaints about the project, according to evidence at a subdivision and development appeal board hearing Thursday.

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...a8-0f3cdd7dfeb2

 

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1008EDTN
Research funding boosts U of A to No. 2 in Canada

EDMONTON -- The University of Alberta is now Canada`s second-richest school in terms of attracting research funding, a new national ranking says.

The report from Research Infosource Inc. found the U of A posted $461 million in research income in fiscal 2007, a jump of more than 20 per cent from 2006.

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...7f-ba8a1b950fc0

 

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1008ALTA
Oilsands` benefit to Canada likely to wane, report says

EDMONTON - The Canadian economy can expect to capture a smaller share of the benefit from Alberta`s growing oilsands in the future, says a consulting firm report on innovation released Thursday.

McKinsey and Company Canada estimates that in 2007, the "value chain" added $31 billion to Canada`s gross domestic product from 1.3 million barrels a day of production from surface mine and underground oilsands. But by 2015, although production could more than double, the sector`s contribution to the GDP would likely rise by only 58 per cent to $49 billion.

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...e2-fce494223412