MB Economic Fundamentals 2009-01

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What`s Behind the Curtain?
Manitoba
2009-01
Daily Online Edition

MB Economic Fundamentals 2009-01


The following codes will be at the top of each post using an eight sequence alphanumeric description of the month, year and area:

MMYYAREA

Examples

!--coloro:#0000ff-->0109MTBA = Jan 2009 Manitoba

0109PORT = Jan 2009 Portage La Prairie

0109WNPG = Jan 2009 Winnipeg

If you wish to view only one geographic area`s posts, you can use the advanced search mode and type in the 8 sequence code for your area as described above and select the "Result Type" > "Show results as posts".

I have also color coded each area along with the caption to make it easier for you to simply scroll through the posts and locate the ones you are interested in.

 

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0109WNPG
New project pitched for Forks

Imagine waking up every morning and having your choice of rivers outside your front door on which to take your daily paddle or cross-country ski. That dream could become a reality if Jim August is able to find public support for a residential development at The Forks.

The CEO of The Forks North Portage Partnership, the non-profit organization that manages the site, is in the early stages of planning a reconfiguration of the popular tourist destination to coincide with the pending construction of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/new..._for_forks.html

 

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0109PORT
Ground-breaking health care developments in Portage

It was an exciting year for health care in Portage la Prairie in 2008 with new building developments and plans for more nurses to fill vacancies for the future.

New wing

July was a ground-breaking month in Portage, literally, as construction was started on an emergency department (ER) expansion project at the Portage District General Hospital.

http://www.portagedailygraphic.com/Article....aspx?e=1370487

 

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0109MTBA
Fertilizer use topic of much speculation

The fields still lie under an insulating blanket of snow, but market analysts` attention has already turned to the next cropping season and more importantly, what that season might bring by way of commodity production. Of course market prices factor into farmers` decisions over what crops they might plant and in what quantity. Crop rotations, which are important for managing disease and pests, are crucial too.

But this year, the big wild card on the production scene appears to not be one crop versus another, but fertilizer.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/business/...peculation.html

 

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0109MTBA (Flin Flon)
New data show high mercury in Flin Flon-area lakes

New data that reveal once-pristine fishing holes near Flin Flon`s toxic smelter are contaminated with high levels of mercury have outraged at least one critic who says health is sacrificed to keep the town`s main employer in business. Water samples taken from 11 lakes in and around Flin Flon show that all of them exceed environmental water criteria for mercury. Three lakes have high levels of copper that exceed environmental water standards, and another four lakes surpass drinking-water criteria for mercury.

Mercury levels found in northern pike exceeded levels deemed safe for human consumption in several lakes.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/new...area_lakes.html

 

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0109MTBA
Heritage building pitted against new sport facility

SPORT Manitoba has a $25-million plan to build a field house and athletic training centre on the site of a 125-year-old warehouse building that city heritage experts would prefer to protect. The non-profit organization, which represents about 100 amateur sporting groups, wants to move from Main Street into the Smart Bag Company Building, a Pacific Avenue structure that most recently served as a factory outlet for Prosperity Knitwear.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/her...t_facility.html

 

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0109MTBA
Court victory for payday lenders

The Doer government has suffered a big setback in its attempt to regulate the payday loan industry in Manitoba.

A Manitoba Court of Appeal decision released today said payday lenders were unfairly treated by the province`s Public Utilities Board (PUB) when it set lending rates last spring for the payday companies. The PUB was acting on a move by the province to regulate the industry, which has been tarnished by high lending rates.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/bre...n_industry.html

 

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0109WNPG
Solid foundation seen for city house market

It`s sometimes referred to as the Chicken Little syndrome, and it`s putting a crimp in Winnipeg`s resale housing market.

Industry officials say all the grim economic news coming out of the United States and Ontario in recent months, coupled with plummeting house prices in previously overheated markets like Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver, have many prospective homebuyers thinking the sky is falling. So they`re holding back on buying a house.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/business/...use_market.html

 

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0109MTBA
Payday lending laws pledged

The Doer government vowed Wednesday to take direct control of the rates payday lenders can charge. Finance Minister Greg Selinger made the move a day after a judge gave the green light to a payday loan company to argue in court it was treated unfairly when the province`s Public Utilities Board set rates last April.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/pay...ws_pledged.html

 

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0109WNPG
Winnipeg`s high-end homes hot in 2008

THE demand for high-end homes soared to new heights in 2008 as Winnipeggers scooped up a record number of resale properties valued at $300,000 or more. New figures released Wednesday show 1,283 such homes were purchased last year through the Winnipeg REALTORS Association`s Multiple Listing Service.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/business/...ot_in_2008.html

 

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0109WNPG
Main Street complex not as billed

Winnipeg`s downtown development boss is blaming both the city and the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority for the construction of "a fortress" on Main Street, instead of the pedestrian-friendly streetscape promised when the project was announced last year. Point Douglas Coun. Mike Pagtakhan claims improper planning tools and too little cash were responsible for design changes that eliminated pedestrian access and street-level retail stores from the $30-million office and parking complex under construction at Main Street north of Logan Avenue.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/mai..._as_billed.html

 

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0109WNPG
Is your street on the list?

This list of 2009 proposed local street repair projects will go before the city`s infrastructure renewal and public works committee Tuesday.

The city`s proposed 2009 budget for local street repairs is $15 million. Some of the money would come from the province.

If city council approves less money than the proposed sum, fewer streets than those listed would be repaired this year. If there is a surplus after projects are advertised, new projects would be added.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/bre...n_the_list.html

 

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0109MTBA
Manitobans` tax burden too much for Tories

Manitoba`s Progressive Conservatives used the backdrop of a candy store and a small bag of gum balls Friday to showcase how little the Doer government is doing to lower the personal tax burden on Manitobans.

But Finance Minister Greg Selinger said the Tory event was like candy floss -- big on fluff and short on substance. Tory MLA Heather Stefanson said the opposition wanted to highlight just how miserly the New Democrats have been on cutting personal taxes and putting more money in the pockets of Manitobans.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/man...for_tories.html

 

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0109MTBA
Manitoba housing starts robust

You wouldn`t know that the national housing market is wobbling, judging by the furious pace of new home construction in Manitoba last year.

A last-minute surge of construction in December pushed Winnipeg-area housing starts to their second-highest level in nearly two decades in 2008. Year-end figures issued Friday by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. show there were 252 starts last month in Winnipeg and its 10 bedroom communities, including Headingley and East and West St. Paul.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/business/...rts_robust.html

 

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0109MTBA
Jobs stumble after strong year

Manitoba posted the second-best job-growth performance in Canada last year, despite a hiccup in December, Statistics Canada reported Friday.

The number of employed persons in the province increased by 10,100 in 2008. In percentage terms, employment growth in Manitoba (1.7 per cent) was second only to Saskatchewan (3.1 per cent) and well above the national average (0.6 per cent) last year. But Manitoba`s unemployment rate edged up to 4.3 per cent in December, from 4.2 per cent in November, as the province lost 400 jobs, StatsCan said in its monthly labour force report. The province actually gained 2,900 full-time jobs last month, but that was more than offset by a big loss in part-time jobs.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/business/...trong_year.html

 

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0109MTBA
Revamped electoral map shakes it up

One NDP cabinet minister will lose her riding while many other MLAs face difficult decisions thanks to a new map of Winnipeg`s provincial constituencies that could be the wild card in the next Manitoba election. Two ridings will disappear, three more will be added, and at least two more will be radically redrawn. A lot of the shuffling will happen in the city`s southern suburbs -- which will be critical battlegrounds for the NDP and Tories in October 2011, when the next provincial election is scheduled.

After a year of study and consultation by a non-partisan commission, the new riding boundary maps were released just before Christmas.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/rev...akes_it_up.html

 

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0109PORT
Slight tax increase for 2009 on horizon

Portage la Prairie residents are set to see a slight increase in taxes in 2009.

The City of Portage la Prairie released its 2009 budget at their regular council meeting Monday, which sees an increase of 1.9 per cent in taxes.

That translates to $26 more per $100,000 of assessed value for a home.

Counc. Dave Quinn, in a speech to council, laid out the main points of the budget.

http://www.portagedailygraphic.com/Article....aspx?e=1384287

 

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0109WNPG
City explores light-rail options

There might still be some life in former mayor Steve Juba`s dream of a monorail for Winnipeg -- or at least a stripped-down, high-tech version. City officials are looking for ways to follow up Winnipeg`s busway plan with light rail or some other form of fixed rapid transit, such as ultra-lightweight aluminum trams suspended above street level.

Mayor Sam Katz has asked senior members of the civil service to explore the feasibility of leapfrogging over the city`s planned bus corridor by either converting it to a different form of people-moving technology or augmenting it with another mode of rapid transit, several sources confirmed.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/cit...ossibility.html

 

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0109MTBA
Municipalities given $82-M present

DURING one of the worst cold snaps in recent memory, federal and provincial officials on Tuesday kick-started the summer construction season.

Manitoba`s senior MP and Treasury Board president Vic Toews and provincial infrastructure Minister Ron Lemieux said a combined $82 million from both governments will be handed to communities outside Winnipeg to fix roads and bridges, and build new water treatment plants and recreation facilities. With matching funding ($41 million) from the municipalities, $123 million is to be made available for a number of projects outside the Perimeter Highway

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/mun...-m_present.html

 

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0109WNPG
Non-stop flights to London on way

FEEL like strawberries and cream at Wimbledon this summer?

GO Travel Direct can make that a reality for Winnipeggers with direct, non-stop flights to London beginning this June. "We`re spreading our wings," said Dan Brennan, marketing director for the Ottawa-based tour operator. "We`re excited about providing Winnipeggers with an opportunity to go see family and friends in Europe at low-cost fares."

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/non...don_on_way.html