AB Economic Fundamentals 2008-10

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1008REDR
County approves construction of shop to build parts for oilfield

Packers Plus Energy Services Inc. was given approval on Tuesday to build a shop to supply and manufacture oilfield parts in Red Deer County. The 32,400-square-foot building will be constructed on 4.45 acres in the Clearview Industrial Park south of Delburne Road and east of Hwy 2, according to a report to the municipal planning commission.

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

 

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1008CALG
Secondary suite incentives OK`d

City council has given the thumbs-up to a pilot program aimed at boosting the number of secondary suites in Calgary.

The $2.25-million initiative will offer up to $25,000 to a homeowner who either turns an illegal suite into a legal one or builds a new suite.

"I`m thrilled," said Ald. Druh Farrell. "I think it`s overdue."

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/c...b8-6149fbca43f6

 

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1008ALTA
Construction job growth losing steam, reports say

Two reports Tuesday underlined growing anxiety about the Canadian and Alberta economies` ability to churn out construction jobs, just as worries about the viability of planned massive oilsands construction projects spike amid the global financial meltdown.

The Toronto Dominion Bank said the Canadian construction sector is among three industries -- the others are professional and scientific services, and food and accommodation -- it is putting on a watch list as "none appear to have staying power." Both in Alberta and nationally, construction employment has accounted for effectively all of the job gains so far in 2008.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/c...a9-630d40b56e0e

 

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1008EDTN
Riding Profile: Edmonton Centre

EDMONTON - For Conservative Laurie Hawn, this year`s election in Edmonton Centre has a distinctly different feel from his previous two contests.

"This time we`re the hunted," he explains. "Not the hunter."

Indeed, the riding has been one of the most aggressively hunted seats in the province for more than a decade and is again near the top of political watchers` lists this time.

Former deputy prime minister Anne McLellan held the seat starting in 1993 and despite running for an unpopular party, she won a series of tight victories. The Conservatives made no secret of their desire to take down such a prominent Liberal, and finally defeated her in 2006.

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...13-48d7cae00248

 

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1008EDTN
U of A`s global reputation rises to 74th overall, influential poll says

EDMONTON - The University of Alberta has for the first time moved into the top 75 in a prestigious ranking of the world`s best universities.

The Times Higher Education-QS World University Rankings, a British-based report, annually compares the performances of hundreds of major schools in North America, Europe, Asia, Australia and other regions.

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...74-5f93dd693ed5

 

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1008ALTA
Forecast downgrades Alberta growth

EDMONTON - Pointing to a lagging housing market as the most visible sign of Alberta`s deteriorating economic health, RBC has downgraded its forecast for the provincial economy for the rest of the year.

"Following years of mega-investments in the energy sector that fired up most sectors of the economy, the province has shifted down a few gears to catch its breath," RBC said in its new RBC Economics Provincial Outlook, released Wednesday.

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...b9-317652e7b446

 

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1008EDTN
Opponents target upgrader, work camp

Residents near Gibbons have joined forces with Greenpeace in an attempt to stop the development of a Petro-Canada upgrader and 3,500-person work camp project just kilometres from the small community.

"Where the Petro-Canada upgrader is slated to be put, along with the work camp, is some of the best farmland in all of Alberta," said Mike Hudema, a climate and energy campaigner with Greenpeace.

"We`re displacing farmers that have lived on the land for over four generations,"

http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Alberta/20...025646-sun.html

 

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1008CALG
Housing starts dive 56%

Starts for single-detached homes in the Calgary area plunged in September to their lowest level in more than two decades -- and they were a whopping 56 per cent off the pace set a year ago for the same month.

Data released Wednesday by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. show single-detached starts in the Calgary census metropolitan area are down by 44.4 per cent so far this year until the end of September to 3,401 units. Multi-family construction is up by 37.7 per cent, to 6,460, compared with the same nine months of 2007.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/c...09-cd5c46079a1e

 

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1008REDR
Riding a Tory stronghold

For the first time since 1993 the federal Red Deer riding is up for grabs without veteran politician Bob Mills on the ballot.

But Liberal candidate Garfield Marks says that`s cold comfort in a district that hasn`t elected a Grit MP in nearly a century.

"It`s going to be tough to win," said Marks, 50, an independent consultant in the oilpatch.

"The only thing we can do is hope to engage the people to think and come out to vote. We have such a low voter turnout in this riding. We need to get it to the point where (Tory Leader Stephen) Harper at least has to earn his votes."

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/s...07-da2e922b1293

 

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1008REDR
Housing starts drooping

September was another slow month on the residential construction front in Red Deer, with housing starts down 85 per cent from the same month in 2007.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. reported on Wednesday that work was started on 30 single-detached homes in the city last month, as compared with 56 during the same period in 2007. The big decline occurred in the multi-family sector, with just four units started in September, versus a tally of 166 a year ago.

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

 

[Torey]

Housing slump adds to concernsAlberta best placed in region to survive storm: economists


"I see Calgary and Alberta weathering this better than anywhere else in Canada," he said.

The International Monetary Fund, meanwhile, projected that Canada next year will have the fastest growing economy of the G-7 major industrial countries, at 1.2 per cent, despite growth of just 0.1 per cent in the U.S., Canada`s main export market.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/s...c8-6098a9447515

 

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1008EDTN
Riding Profile: Edmonton Strathcona

EDMONTON - When elections are called, Albertans watch their star Conservative MPs -- once known as Canadian Alliance members and before that as Reformers -- head east. Folks with big national profiles and wide margins of victory are dispatched to Ontario or the Maritimes to help lesser-known local candidates.

Rahim Jaffer stays put.

"During a campaign I think it`s more important I stay here. Because I think people want to see you and want to talk to you," the MP for Edmonton-Strathcona says. "In Edmonton, this (riding) is always a challenge."

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...31-287e94e64f1e

 

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1008EDTN
Landlords fined $55,000

EDMONTON - Two Edmonton landlords who refused to fix crumbling, unsafe balconies were fined more than $55,000 Thursday.

Provincial Court Judge Elizabeth Johnson fined Ben and Connie Seutter $55,096.50 for failing to maintain the concrete balconies of their 46 apartments, and for refusing to fix railing spindles that were so far apart a child could fall through them.

"The fact that no injuries have been suffered is fortunate," Johnson said.

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...1c-60d7c6f359c4

 

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1008EDTN
Il Portico building could be saved from wrecking ball

EDMONTON - The building that once housed the popular Il Portico restaurant could be saved from demolition plans if a city proposal to stop new parking developments in parts of downtown is approved next year.

Alberta Blue Cross purchased the restaurant site at 10012 107th Street and two adjacent parking lots last week. The organization has its head office next door and wants to use the site for parking for its 800 employees.

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...c5-0ec9784d2dae

 

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1008ALTA
Oil-price plunge likely to curtail spending on oilsands projects

LONDON -- The plunge in oil prices toward $80 a barrel will curtail oil companies` spending on new projects, limit production growth and perpetuate the industry`s tendency for boom and bust.

The surge in oil prices since 2004, to an all-time high above $147 a barrel in July, supported an explosion in spending on new oil and gas projects that is now at risk as recession fears prompt analysts to drop crude price forecasts sharply.

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...0f-f2197c17cb09

 

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1008CALG
Calgary growth forecast to stall

Calgary`s economic growth this year and next could be the slowest in a generation as financial market uncertainty, paralyzed U.S. credit markets and sharply lower commodity prices worsen rapidly weakening fundamentals, experts say.

"It`s going to be lower than forecast, but how much lower, for how long, is an absolute guessing game at this point," Calgary Economic Development chief economist Adam Legge told the Herald.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/c...50-b75bc86cc12e

 

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1008CALG
Happy trails on Glenmore

Aggravated Glenmore Tr. drivers, start your engines.

After more than three years of construction, detours and traffic snarls, the city yesterday finished work on the Glenmore reservoir causeway, granting long-frustrated drivers free rein to drive the 80 km/h speed limit without worrying about work crews. That means commuters who have dealt with years of stop-and-start driving will have an uninterrupted straightaway from 37 St. S.W. to Ogden Rd. S.E.

http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Alberta/2008/1...039866-sun.html

 

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1008REDR
Vision examined at public meeting

An undeveloped east side of Red Deer may be transformed into a "town centre" of small shops, walking trails and tree-lined streets.

And there could be a major recreation venue, too.

The town centre concept is described within the East Hill Major Area Structure Plan, which looks at how best to develop land south of 67th Street and north of 30th Avenue.

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

 

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1008REDR
Lake future examined

A proposed plan to guide development around Buffalo Lake could sterilize lakeshore areas within Lacombe County from any kind of development, fear municipal leaders.

Reeve Terry Engen said a draft of the revised Buffalo Lake Intermunicipal Development Plan greatly increases the amount of land near the lake designated potential agriculture reserve, and would be off limits to residential development.

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

 

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1008CALG
All aboard this train of thought: Commuter rail service for Calgary and area. Premier Ed is all set to chew-chew-chew on the details

Can almost hear the horn.

Yes, it`s fitting the closed-door huddle is set for just before rush hour on a Friday in Calgary`s downtown.

After all, if the plan receives the green light, and gets the cash it needs, it will take a few cars off this city`s streets in as little as three years from the date the provincial loot hits the right bank. Yes, this coming Friday afternoon, at Premier Ed`s southern Alberta HQ, the business plan for a $1.5-billion commuter train service operating on heavy rail track between Calgary and neighbourhood communities will be presented to the man who has the final say over the provincial government`s cheque-writing machine.

http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Columnists/Bel...7052826-sun.php