ON Economic Fundamentals 2008-08

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GM pension faces huge shortfall

As General Motors Corp. struggles with its massive financial problems, concern and anxiety are rippling through the ranks of company pensioners and senior employees in Canada.

Despite assurances from GM and the CAW that their pension plan is safe, many fear monthly payouts would be slashed dramatically if the auto giant`s drastic moves to cut costs and reinvent itself fail.

http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/471472

 

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Urban renewal flows on Niagara

There was a time not so long ago when Niagara St. was a place people avoided. Its housing stock was largely 19th century and had seen better days. Now, of course, Niagara is exactly the sort of street Torontonians seek out – well located, narrow, pedestrian-friendly and full of character, it has more to recommend it than ever. Little wonder, then, that so many condos have popped up in the area, and continue to do so. Given the mess we`re in, all of this makes a lot of sense. The future will be urban, which means taking full advantage of every opportunity the city offers.

http://www.yourhome.ca/homes/article/470085

 

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The East Market is vibrant

Re: New rules take aim at highrise buildings in Ottawa, July 28.

Ralph Wiesbrock, regional director of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, says that quality of design is lacking at the street level of many highrises in Ottawa. While this is undoubtedly true, I do object strongly to Mr. Wiesbrock citing my home, the East Market condominium complex, as an example of poor street-level design.

The claim that the East Market somehow hurts the city or the cityscape is baffling, especially if one remembers the ugly parking lot that was there before.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/l...27-3a6e76a573a3

 

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Gay village bid set back by clashing surveys

Efforts to designate a six-block portion of Bank Street as a gay village may have hit a roadblock.

The Bank Street Promenade Business Improvement Area (BIA) hired an independent firm earlier this year to survey area businesses on two separate occasions.

The results were anything but conclusive -- the first survey showed 75 per cent of businesses surveyed were opposed, while a second survey showed 73 per cent of those surveyed were in favour.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/c...2c-0256a8552364

 

[joeiannuzzi]

Hire an engineer to assess noise

Q: I am a newly elected member of the condo board at 3100 Carling Ave. in Ottawa. I recently received a letter from an owner with regard to a noise problem that occurs during the night.

He says has had this problem for quite a while now, with no end in sight. The owner has written to the building manager and the director of our board, as well as to the City of Ottawa, but the noise bylaw does not appear to have teeth. He has now written to me.

There must be some way of getting something done, even if it is just carpeting the unit. I realize the person above has a right to live, but so does the person below.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/h...8f-7de110f98375

 

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Buying U.S. property has ups, downs

Just four years ago, with the loonie at a lowly 85 cents against the American dollar, Canadians winced at even shopping across the border.

But with our currency riding high, we`re no longer feeling like the poor cousins. Now, even buying a vacation home or investment property in the U.S. seems within reach.

And the stars are lining up for Canadian buyers in other ways: the collapse of the U.S. housing market has led to steep drops in home prices in prime locations like Florida.

http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/news/sto...50-178056e4fb61

 

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Sewage backup claims rising

Single mom and first-time homebuyer Patti Rockey is frazzled, fed up, frustrated -- and temporarily homeless -- after sewage backed up into her east Hamilton house for the second time in the three years she`s owned it.

"I don`t have it mentally, physically or anything to deal with it again," said Rockey, who holds down two accounting jobs while raising a seven-year-old son on Whitfield Avenue in the Gage Avenue-Beach Road area of east Hamilton.

http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/413222

 

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City, developer clash over Longwood site

The future of West Hamilton Innovation District and of the controversial retail project planned for it is still wending its way toward an OMB pre-hearing Sept. 15.

Trinity Development Group bought about 35 acres in the district last November from two property owners: Hamilton Metal Trading Company and The Gore District Land Trust.

The two property owners had filed an appeal with the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) about new restrictions the city placed on development of the site earlier in the year.

http://www.thespec.com/News/Business/article/413271

 

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Via examines options to improve Kitchener-Toronto commute

WATERLOO REGION

Via Rail is planning "significant improvements" to the line that runs through Kitchener and Guelph, giving commuters hope of a more efficient alternative to clogged highways.

Malcolm Andrews, a spokesperson for the Crown corporation, cautioned that negotiations are continuing and only preliminary engineering work is being done on the line between Toronto and London.

But he said an announcement on firm plans is expected by the end of the year, with work to begin in 2009. "At this point, a number of options are being looked at," Andrews said.

http://news.therecord.com/News/Local/article/393496

 

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Economic engines ready to be fired: mayor

Hamilton is an economic success story that no one has heard about, says Mayor Fred Eisenberger.

So it`s about time the city started telling Hamiltonians and those beyond its borders that not only is Hamilton welcoming businesses with open arms, but it`s rolling out the red carpet for them.

"We have a new economic development model," said Mr. Eisenberger last week at the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce. "We are at the action stage. We have to get the engines fired."

http://www.ancasternews.com/news/article/138035

 

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Ontario and feds rip Michigan tax

Feuding finance ministers Jim Flaherty and Dwight Duncan are trying to bury the hatchet -- right in the heart of a new Michigan business tax targeting Canadian firms.

"Since Dwight Duncan became Ontario`s finance minister, Jim Flaherty and Mr. Duncan have worked together behind the scenes on a number of issues," the federal finance minister`s spokesman Chisholm Pothier said. "While the media have focused on some areas of disagreement, this is a good example of the work they`ve done together."

http://www.torontosun.com/News/Canada/2008...341636-sun.html

 

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Nortel struggles on

TORONTO -- Nervous investors punished Nortel Networks Corp. stock yesterday after the telecommunications technology company posted another big quarterly loss and warned that a "challenging" market in the U.S. is squeezing its business.

The Toronto-headquartered company, which has a significant research presence in Ottawa, reported yesterday a second-quarter net loss of $113 million US or 23cents per share in a "challenging business environment," more than tripling its year-ago loss of $37 million or 7cents per share. Reporting in U.S. dollars, Nortel said its revenue for the quarter ended June 30 was $2.62 billion, up 2% from a year earlier $2.56 billion, but down from $2.76 billion in the first quarter of this year.

http://www.ottawasun.com/Money/2008/08/02/6335021-sun.html

 

[joeiannuzzi]

Growing pains hinder growth of e-bikes

While politicians and entrepreneurs complain that some governments have been too slow to act on allowing the use of emission-free, power-assisted bicycles, others say it`s just a case of growing pains.

The use of power-assisted bicycles, widely referred to as "e-bikes," has risen exponentially since Transport Canada amended its regulations in 2001 to allow Canadians to have battery-powered motors on their bicycles.

John Stonier, spokesman for the Vancouver Electric Vehicle Association, said the popularity of the bicycles in British Columbia -- one of the first provinces to allow their use -- is skyrocketing, with an estimated 10,000 or more riders.

"And that`s increasing very quickly," said Stonier, adding that current fuel prices, coupled with growing concerns over emissions and climate change, create a "perfect storm" to encourage e-biking.

http://www.thesudburystar.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1141715

 

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Sudburians gas-guzzling way to the top

Northerners love their trucks and SUVs. That penchant for gas-guzzling vehicles has earned Sudbury a third-place rating on a list of least fuel-efficient drivers in Canada.

Automotive consultant Dennis DesRosiers released an analysis this week that says Sudbury drivers use an average of 10.15 litres of gas per 100 kilometres -- well above the national average of 9.77.

DesRosiers said it also establishes the city third highest for greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles.

"It is likely to do with the nature of the economy," he said. "Sudbury has been doing well economically and high-paying jobs usually equal larger vehicles."

http://www.thesudburystar.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1138090

 

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Xstrata set to OK $400M for Sudbury projects

If all goes well, the green light could be given Wednesday for a US$400 million expansion at Xstrata Nickel`s Greater Sudbury operations.

That`s the day Xstrata Nickel officials appear before the Xstrata PLC board in Switzerland and request US$180 million-$200 million for rk on the Fraser Morgan mining expansion project and another US$170 million for Strathcona Mill expansion.

Mike Romaniuk, Xstrata Nickel`s vice-president of Ontario Operations, is confident the money will be approved.

"I hope so," he told reporters Monday, following a 50-minute speech to more than 100 people at the Howard Johnson Hotel attending a Rotary Club of Sudbury luncheon.

http://www.thesudburystar.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1134424

 

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Orangeville hungry for slice of infrastructure pie

The federal and provincial governments recently joined forces to pledge $6.2 billion for Ontario infrastructure, $362 million of which is slated for communities of less than 100,000 residents.
Details of how that money will be doled out — between now and 2014 — have yet to be released, but local officials are planning to apply for every dollar they can get their hands on.
"It`s good to see that the upper level governments are stepping up to the plate. Hopefully that will be able to relieve some of the burden at the municipal level," says Coun. Sylvia Bradley, chair of Orangeville`s finance and budget committee.

http://www.orangevillebanner.com/news/article/53752

 

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Rose City seeks millions for infrastructure

An announcement of billions of dollars in new provincial and federal government funding for municipal infrastructure is just what Mayor Damian Goulbourne was waiting for.

He said he first learned about the Building Canada program, which will inject $9.3 billion into Ontario infrastructure projects over the next seven years, during a visit to Ottawa last fall.

"We knew this was coming," he said.

"We were told in the fall, as part of Niagara Days, that a program was going to be rolling out. We had meetings with key ministers and ranking staff in the Ministry of Finance."

The city has been anxious to apply for part of that funding ever since.

http://www.wellandtribune.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1140100

 

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City advancing construction agenda

In the next few days, the City of Welland hopes to start its portion of the downtown revitalization project on East Main, King and Cross streets.

It has, however, already begun work at the four planned gateways.

Right now the region`s contractors are still working on a traffic island on King Street, which is expected to wrap up over the next few days, said David Tsang of the city`s technical services supervisor.

Once those crews are done, the city can begin its streetscaping in the area. There are liability issues that don`t allow for two crews to be working in the same area, said Tsang.

For streetscaping, the city plans to add new street lighting, plant trees and employ what will look like interlocking brick, but is actually coloured "impressed asphalt."

http://www.wellandtribune.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1136367

 

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Region of Waterloo`s rapid transit plan gets a boost

The governments of Canada and Ontario announced last week the signing of an infrastructure framework agreement worth more than $6.2 billion under Building Canada, the Government of Canada`s long-term infrastructure plan.

The plan will help address infrastructure needs and priorities in Ontario until 2014.

The governments of Canada and Ontario identified rapid transit in Kitchener-Waterloo as initial priorities that the two governments will work together on under Building Canada.

http://www.waterloochronicle.ca/news/article/137790

 

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Area`s economy stays strong despite challenges

With youthful demographics, strong educational institutions and its diversified industrial mix, the area encompassing the Waterloo Region and Guelph should perform well as the broader North American economy remains slow, according to a new report from the BMO Capital Markets Economics Department.

"Waterloo-Guelph has developed a reputation for innovation," said Sherry Cooper, chief economist with BMO Capital Markets. "Its entrepreneurial spirit has allowed it to reinvent itself over the years. Old companies close their doors, but new ones are continually opening up."

http://www.waterloochronicle.ca/news/article/137803