BC Economic Fundamentals 2008-08

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Niche housing a burgeoning market

Yellow horse-crossing signs along the roadside signal you`re nearing Langley`s most unique neighbourhood -- an upscale development that`s among the players in Canada`s burgeoning equestrian real estate market.

More than half of the 164 lots at High Point Equestrian Estates have been sold -- they start at $620,000 for a half-acre -- and 17 houses are already under construction in the Fraser Valley community.

Residents of the larger properties will keep their horses in their backyards, while those on smaller lots will board theirs at an equestrian centre complete with clubhouse, riding rings and paddocks.

http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonis...a9-3460f25706c5

 

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Risk of explosions in Metro low

Propane tanks, underground gas pipes, and trains and transport trucks rolling through Metro Vancouver all pose the risk of an explosion similar to the one that rocked Toronto last weekend.

Metro officials say although there is always a risk, it`s low because the industry here is so strictly regulated. As well, the fallout would likely not be as widespread because most oil and gas facilities are located in industrial areas away from residential neighbourhoods.

If there was an explosion at Coquitlam`s Superior Propane, located near the Port Mann Bridge, for example, it would likely paralyse traffic rather than lead to the evacuation of homes, said Jim Ogloff, Coquitlam`s assistant fire chief.

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/we...22-308a89104eab

 

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Official outlines northern pipeline plans

Enbridge Inc. hopes to be piping oil from the Alberta oilsands to Kitimat by 2015.
Pending approval of a regulatory application, the company will require thousands of skilled workers and labourers during a three-year construction phase from 2012 to 2015, during which time Enbridge will fork out a projected $2.7 billion in wages in northern B.C.

http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/2008081...line-plans.html

 

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Developer urges incentives for heritage restoration

The revamping of heritage buildings, like the landmark Janion and Northern Junk buildings, would accelerate if builders were given better incentives, the redeveloper of several historic properties said yesterday.

Chris LeFevre, developer of properties on Herald, Chatham and Yates Streets and the owner of the old Morley Soda Water Factory on Waddington Alley, said a "density transfer program" would catalyze the redevelopment of historic Victoria.

http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonis...f9-83f2125ea5aa

 

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Shopping centre wants to expand

The region`s biggest shopping centre wants to add about 20 per cent more floor space to its already expanded footprint.

Morguard Investments has applied to the municipality of Saanich to increase the size of the Uptown Town & Country development on Douglas Street to 80,359 square metres from 63,948 square metres.

The majority of that extra space would go towards office space on top of retail on parts of the site. Some of the one-storey retail would expand to two storeys, and others to three and four storeys under the amendment, said Saanich director of planning Russ Fuoco.

http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonis...a3-9fd7153a6788

 

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Hastings Park casino to open with 600 slots machines to open at Hastings Racecourse

A gleaming new casino festooned with big-screen TVs, a show lounge and 600 slot machines opens at 9 a.m. Friday at Hastings Racecourse.

The most controversial component of a $40-million facelift for the 116-year-old track at Hastings Park, the 42,000-square-foot casino replaces the stark benches and concrete of the old lower grandstand with a bright glossy gambling house, a bar with live entertainment and restaurant service.

A temporary casino with 150 slot machines that opened last November at the track will close when the new casino opens its doors to the public.

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/we...c8-615bf21ab7f0

 

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Calgary developer in line for Harmac pulp mill

An employee-backed bid to buy Nanaimo`s Harmac pulp mill will get no extensions if workers are unable to close a court-approved deal within the next two weeks, opening the way for the mill site to be purchased by an Alberta developer.

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Donald Brenner turned down a request Wednesday by employee-owned Nanaimo Forest Products for a two-week extension, a so-called "buffer zone" after receiver PricewaterhouseCoopers said it has a backup offer ready to go on Aug. 29, the closing date for NFP. The extension could have been possible because of an ambiguity in NFP`s purchase agreement with PWC.

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/bu...bc-d1f0ac01fac4

 

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PetroCan gasline shortage felt here

The Fifth Avenue Petro-Canada was the first station in Prince George hit by a gasoline shortage.
Management at the station declined to comment, but Petro-Canada spokeswoman Kelli Stevens said Thursday there is no way to know how long the station will be without gas.
"It`s going to depend on whether or when we can get another shipment into those stations," she said from Calgary. "As times goes on, we`ll know a little bit more, but it is going to change depending where stations are."

http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/2008081...-felt-here.html

 

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North featured on gov`t to-do list

The provincial government`s major projects inventory for the second quarter of this year was released Thursday and a handful of project in northern B.C. have been added to the list.
Here`s a look:
- Canpotex`s proposal to expand the potash terminal at the Port of Prince Rupert, a $300-million project. The start and finish dates are still to be determined.

http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/2008081...to-do-list.html

 

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New runway third longest in Canada

Once completed, the new runway at Prince George Airport will be long enough to land a space shuttle.
While the airport isn`t expecting space shuttles anytime soon, the new runway will be one of the longest, if not the longest in Canada on the Asia-Pacific airfreight route, said Todd Doherty, aviation services manager for the airport.
The runway will be the third longest in Canada, trailing only those at Calgary International Airport at 12,675 feet, and Vancouver International at 11,500 feet.

http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/2008081...-in-canada.html

 

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Objections can`t kill highrise proposal

Surrounding citizen groups hate it. Victoria municipal planners are cool. But city councillors still refused to shelve a developer`s proposal yesterday for a highrise condominium tower.

Instead, at a meeting of committee of the whole, councillors sent developer Westbank Projects Corp. back to the drawing board for the fifth time to come back with a revised proposal for the site at 701 Belleville St., formerly the Crystal Court Motel.

The move that kept the proposal alive drew criticism from Coun. Pam Madoff, its most vocal opponent. "Why we would even be addressing it is something I can`t understand."

http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonis...d2-fe9a432d6ebf

 

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Turning trees into power

WILLIAMS LAKE -- In the forested heart of British Columbia, Geoff Wagner is walking through huge piles of woody debris, the kind of stuff once considered trash by an industry that turns less than half of every tree it cuts into 2x4s.

But no longer. Today, those piles are a vision of a future in which forests not only build houses but light streets, and in which forest companies are no longer simple hewers of wood but rather power players.

It is already happening under plant manager Wagner`s watch, as Edmonton-based power producer Epcor Power LP transforms chipped bark and railway ties into a constant stream of electricity powering this part of central B.C.

http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonis...4b-343b1b6650d5

 

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Comox Valley firm wins spot at Olympic Water Cube

BEIJING -- A Comox Valley bottling company has landed a lucrative contract to market Canadian glacial water in China at Beijing`s national swimming centre, the Water Cube.

The bottles, which Natural Glacial Waters manufactures itself, have the venue`s distinctive ceiling bubbles blown into the bottom half.

For the Olympic period, it can`t sell the bottles of water inside the Cube since that is the territory of Coca-Cola, an International Olympic Committee top sponsor. But Feng Hong Guang, the company`s managing director, said Water Cube water is already being stocked in stores around Beijing and demand has already reached about 1,000 boxes, or about 1,200 litres a week.

http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonis...a2-946b3c63f63f

 

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Gas drilling auction sets B.C. record

VANCOUVER -- Gas drillers bid enough for land rights to set a new provincial record with their efforts to secure positions during August in the Western Horn River basin in B.C.`s far northeast corner.

Companies paid $321.4 million for six drilling licences in the basin, some 80 kilometres north of Fort Nelson, which was the lion`s share of the $501 million that companies bid in the August auction.

That was the second highest monthly total, compared with the $610 million paid in July`s auction, and it brings the total drilling-rights revenue to a record $1.8 billion since the start of the province`s fiscal year in April and $2 billion since January.

http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonis...29-ee78c626ecc1

 

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Marijuana grower forfeits mortgage-free $600,000 home

A B.C. judge has ordered a marijuana grower on the Sunshine Coast to turn over his mortgage-free $600,000 home to the government in what appears to be the largest such forfeiture in B.C. history.

"The value of the equity in this property would appear to be higher than that in any other reported cases," Sechelt Provincial Court Judge Carol Baird Ellan wrote in a ruling ordering Roy Sundstrom, 59, to turn over his Roberts Creek acreage to the government.

More than 30 B.C. marijuana growers have had their homes forfeited in recent years under laws that allow the government to seize crime-related property.

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/st...98-8e32ac586c82

 

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Firms bid for B.C. power

TORONTO -- Plutonic Power Corp. said on Thursday it has teamed up with General Electric`s energy financing arm to bid on a $4-billion hydro project in British Columbia, which it said would be Canada`s largest private-sector hydroelectric investment.

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/bu...eb-52c7e4a3cf7f

 

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Gold medal finish for forestry in B.C. just a fading memory

VANCOUVER -- Hope is growing in the forestry sector that by the time the Olympics finish up, the industry will finally be able to see the end of the depression that has in turn destroyed prices, production and shareholder value. Unfortunately, that would be the 2010 Olympics, 18 months from now. For the moment, the downward spiral continues, and could be accelerating. This week, the B.C. government`s statistics arm released new export numbers that underscore the extent of the crisis. For the first time since the government started tracking exports 20 years ago, forestry is not the top export sector in the province -- energy has leapfrogged into the No. 1 spot.

The energy sector (with the notable exception of electricity exports) is on a roll, but the real reason for this historic reversal is the dismal state of the forestry industry. The broad picture is bad enough: Seasonally adjusted exports have plummeted to $788-million in June, 2008, from $1.1-billion in April, 2007, slashing forestry`s share of provincial exports to just 27 per cent from a dominant 39 per cent. The numbers are new, but the cause is familiar enough, the implosion of the American housing market and the Canadian industry`s failure to wean itself from what is obviously now a dangerous dependence on U.S. exports.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...ritishColumbia/

 

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Community complex coming to Mount Currie

Whistler – Built by community members in the 1960s, the old gym in Mount Currie has a great deal of significance for the area residents who`ve attended many an event within its walls. Pow wows, sporting events, elders` programs, gatherings to honour those who have passed on, and more have all taken place in the building.

But when the provincial government named the Mount Currie Band and the building recipients of a $300,000 Olympic/Paralympic Live Site grant, which would pay for upgrades to the gymnasium, administrators discovered it would cost more to fix the old building than to construct a whole new one.

http://www.whistlerquestion.com/article/20...1025/whistler12

 

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Mayors like how city has progressed

DAWSON CREEK - `Homecoming` is a time to remember and with four Dawson Creek mayors attending the Aug. 7 celebrations, they did just that. Each, sharing their views on Dawson Creek and the part they played in its development, helped paint a picture of the past 50 years.

"I moved here in 1990 in the middle of the summer and I just couldn`t believe the amount of activity that was going on here," said current mayor Calvin Kruk. "Thought I`d stay for a year or so and just fell in love with the community - the people here were just great."

Many things have remained constant, like the sense of community and close relationships that develop. That closeness is one of Wayne Dahlen`s favourite memories. And while that remains, other things have changed. Both Bob Trail and Dahlen recalled mud streets and wooden sidewalks, and on the city`s development and growth. "The proudest thing (I accomplished) was being able to develop an atmosphere where business wanted to come and at the same time maintaining the quality of life," said Blair Lekstrom. "I think we`ve managed to keep that balance."

http://www.northeastnews.ca/index.php?opti...92&Itemid=1

 

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Motion made for no city land crematoriums

At its Monday night meeting, Abbotsford city council turned down a staff recommendation for a $10,000 detailed analysis on the need for a crematorium and chapel on public land.

"They chose not to proceed with any other studies or analysis," said city manager Frank Pizzuto on Wednesday.

Coun. Simon Gibson raised a motion that states public land should not be used to build a crematorium, and that the community-organized crematorium committee should look at other options. Gibson`s suggestion was changed to a notice of motion, to be discussed at a future council meeting.

http://www.canada.com/abbotsfordtimes/news...0e-82742717ecc4