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BC Economic Fundamentals 2008-09

joeiannuzzi

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Regional luxury homes sales climb


Luxury home sales rose slightly this year in Greater Victoria, but financial uncertainty is expected to cool buyers` ardour in coming months, says a report by a major real estate group.

In the first seven months of the year 165 properties sold for $1 million or more, up from the 159 sales in the same months in 2007, according to a Re/Max report released yesterday.

http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonis...74-2ae2f1502614
 

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B.C. lumber exports to China help fill void left by U.S. crisis


VANCOUVER -- Last week the first ocean-going lumber freighter to visit Port Alberni since January took on 10 million board feet of wood destined for Asia.

Longshoremen loaded the Saga Wave with the largest load of lumber to leave Port Alberni in nine years, and half of it - five million board feet -- was going to China.

China has suddenly erupted as a new major market for B.C. lumber fuelled by both growing demand and uncertainty over future supplies. B.C. exports are expected to hit one billion board feet this year.

http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonis...bc-832f5d736c0a
 

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Higher wooden buildings on way


The provincial government is planning to change the building code to allow buildings up to six storeys high to be built from wood.

At present, wood-frame construction is limited to four storeys but changes will be made in January 2009 to allow the increase, Housing Minister Rich Coleman announced Thursday.

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/we...86-dfe225be9fdf
 

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Kicking Horse planning expansion

Piece of Paradise: Revelstoke and Golden

If there is a theme that travels the small town resort areas located between Calgary and Kamloops, it is that you can have it all.

The spectacular mountains don`t just give you a place to park your tuque for some great skiing in the winter -- those same mountains can give you trails to mountain bike or hike, signature golf courses to try, and waterways to boat, raft or fish.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/s...9c-efbd2240139d
 

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Expect more cuts amid U.S. turmoil: forestry CEO


More cuts are ahead for the Island`s forest industry amid fallout from the U.S. financial crisis and continued softening of lumber markets, says the CEO of Western Forest Products.

"The company has come a long way, but the circumstances of the world swallowed up a lot of the positive effects of those changes," said Reynold Hert.

http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonis...f5-115c58820f92
 

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Bell tolls for charges on Coquihalla Highway


In a surprise move that marked a dramatic shift in the Liberal policy on tolls, Premier Gordon Campbell on Friday announced the end of tolls on the Coquihalla Highway.

The premier told delegates at the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention that as of 1 p.m. Friday the tolls, which have been in place since the highway opened in 1986, would be scrapped.

At the same time, he said a planned $3-a-vehicle toll on the twinned Port Mann Bridge when it opens in 2013 would only be in effect for 35 years.

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/st...15-5a56fe38afd7
 

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Miners happy with northwest power plan


The mining industry cheered an announcement on Friday by Premier Gordon Campbell that the province is committing $10 million to kick-start a moribund project to put northwest British Columbia on the BC Hydro electricity grid.

Campbell made the announcement in Penticton at the annual general meeting of the Union of B.C. Municipalities, saying electrification of the Highway 37 corridor would help diversify the northwest economy.

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/bu...3b-552789490491
 

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Credit bureau sticks to its bad-debt story


Lower Mainland clerical worker Susan Lloyd figured it was time to find out what two of North America`s biggest credit bureaus were saying about her.

So the 50-year-old information and technology employee applied to U.S. giants Equifax and Trans-Union for "free" snapshots of her credit history.

Five times her request was rejected. Both U.S. companies kept insisting the scanned copy of her driver`s licence was too dark. But if she sent them $20, she could get her ratings anyway.

http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/sto...0e-2814f4a504b5
 

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BC Ferries may reduce sailings to cut costs


BC Ferries may reduce the number of sailings for its Super-C class vessels as part of a strategic approach to cut millions of dollars from its operating costs.

Management has yet to make a decision, but spokesman Mark Stefanson said several cost-saving measures could be implemented, including a hiring freeze for non-essential positions and reducing travel for administrative staff.

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/we...6b-6665d38c7df6
 

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Vancouver Centre too close to call


Vancouver Centre may be the one riding in the country where four parties claim a realistic shot at winning.

Liberal incumbent MP Hedy Fry, who`s held the seat since 1993, should be the favourite but, with the Liberals running third in some polls, she`s being chased by Conservative Lorne Mayencourt. He`s a former B.C. Liberal who made plenty of headlines as an outspoken MLA.

If the surprising Greens have an electable candidate anywhere -- and that`s debatable -- it may be former B.C. Green Party leader Adriane Carr, now deputy leader of the national Green Party.

http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/sto...3e-65d90d47da4a
 

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Port comes on board for Olympics


VANCOUVER - The latest 2010 Olympic-sponsor arrangement unveiled Monday gives the Games access to Port Metro Vancouver`s roads, property and parkades around Canada Place, the main press and broadcasting location for the 2010 Olympics.

Port Metro Vancouver joins the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games` sponsorship program at the official supplier level, which values its in-kind contribution at between $3 million and $15 million, though a precise figure was not revealed.

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/we...c0-cbb34d8cdcee
 

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Slower growth expected for Metro Vancouver


Southwestern B.C. will not go into recession over the next two years but a dramatic drop in housing starts and sales is expected to slow economic growth to 2.7 per cent, according to an economic analysis by Central 1 Credit Union.

Investors and speculators have left the real estate market, said Central 1 economist David Hobden, leaving residential homeowners as the only buyers.

"As a result, demand overall is lower," Hobden said in an interview Monday.

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/bu...a4-36823a4a1f1f
 

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The carbon tax has come back to haunt B.C.`s Liberals

VANCOUVER — The idea of a carbon tax to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is dying politically in the place where it was born: British Columbia. The provincial tax`s growing unpopularity is threatening Liberal Premier Gordon Campbell`s grip on power, while the very notion of a federal carbon tax, even if offset by lower personal income taxes, is crippling the federal Liberal Party in the province.

According to a late-August survey by Angus Reid Strategies, just 19 per cent of British Columbians believe a carbon tax is the "best way to curb climate change," compared to 73 per cent who disagree.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...y/politics/home
 
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