ON Economic Fundamentals 2008-09

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0908TNTO
Much rides on plan by Metrolinx

Remember that agency set up to draft a transportation plan for the Greater Toronto Area and beyond? Metrolinx is the name and today it reports its findings after 30 months of study. Will it deliver an enlightened, bold and cogent blueprint for the ages? Or has the vision been distilled to a compromised remnant that won`t approximate its exciting promise?

The politicians and citizens on Metrolinx must surely know this is the last great chance to remake our transportation destiny – to arrest the bad planning decisions and promote a sustainable future that citizens will praise for its environmental, social and economic foresight.

http://www.thestar.com/GTA/Columnist/article/504051

 

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0908ONTR
Premier sounds equalization alarm

Everyone knows it`s unfair to change the rules mid-game but that`s just what Premier Dalton McGuinty fears Ottawa will do to the detriment of Ontario.

McGuinty made a pre-emptive strike yesterday to make sure the rules of equalization – the budgeting game in which richer provinces send money to poorer ones – don`t change just when Ontario is getting closer to needing it.

"One of the worst-kept secrets in Ottawa is that Ontario must never be allowed to collect equalization," McGuinty said in a speech to the Economic Club of Canada yesterday.

http://www.thestar.com/FederalElection/article/504047

 

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0908TNTO
Garbage fee hikes trashed

Garbage fees for Toronto residents may not be going up after all.

Mayor David Miller yesterday backtracked on the city`s stated position of hiking garbage fees by 3.5 per cent as of the new year.

"Not next year, no," he said when asked if homeowners would pay more for having their trash hauled away. "The plan when it was passed by city council contemplated regular increases to pay for things like an increase in the price of diesel and gas, but the project`s just starting for single-family residential in November, so it wouldn`t be appropriate to increase the fees in January."

http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/504032

 

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0908LNDN
Real estate lawyer got creative

The law caught up with a London real estate lawyer who claimed home renovations and groceries among his deductions on his tax return and was caught evading both income taxes and GST.

Marcus Lennox`s fine is equal to the amount of money he owes -- an eye-popping $115,630 -- and is due by his sentencing date in December. Failure to pay up could lead to a jail term, the federal prosecutor warned yesterday.

http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/News/Local/200...847576-sun.html

 

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0908CATH
Hydro merger OK`d

St. Catharines councillors have approved a merger between their hydro company, Horizon Utilities, and Guelph Hydro.

The unanimous vote in favour of the merger came Monday night after hydro board chairman Bill Marshall told councillors in a special hydro shareholders meeting that the deal will be good for customers, employees and taxpayers.

The merger will form a new company called Horizon Holdings Inc., wholly owned by Guelph Hydro, St. Catharines Hydro and Hamilton Utilities Corporation.

http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/Article....aspx?e=1212892

 

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0908CATH
Thorold business owners want downtown crackdown

Port Dalhousie did it.

Now the Thorold Business Improvement Area wants to do it, too.

The organization representing many downtown Thorold businesses is taking its crime-fighting cues from St. Catharines` lakeside hub by considering paying for extra police officers to patrol a city centre plagued by criminal activity.

"If it`s not safe and our ratepayers ... don`t feel safe walking downtown, I respectfully submit to you, we need to do something," BIA president Serge Carpino told a small group of business owners and city councillors at a special meeting on the issue Monday. "We need to resolve this problem. We at the BIA are at our wits` end."

http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/Article....aspx?e=1212886

 

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0908OTWA
A bridge too close: Residents gird for Kettle Island fight

Five kilometres east of Parliament Hill lies a landscape that offers a rare combination of natural beauty, cultural facilities and parkland.

Cyclists skim along paths beside the Ottawa River while tour buses daily visit the stables of the RCMP Musical Ride. Historic aircraft fly to and from the Rockcliffe airport, the oldest in Canada, situated beside the internationally renowned Canada Aviation Museum.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/s...4b-451ca85d46a9

 

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0908OTWA
Residents urge NCC to block light rail on parkway

Samuel Walker is only six, but he is sure about one thing: he doesn`t want light rail on the Ottawa River Parkway.

"They can put it somewhere else far away," said Samuel, hand-made sign in tow, as he stood outside the Nepean Sportsplex yesterday with his mother, Patty Walker.

The Walkers were among dozens of protesters who were trying to create awareness and put pressure on the National Capital Commission to prevent city council from going ahead with a plan that could see light rail on the parkway.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/c...e4-887153a1008b

 

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0908HAMN
Transit plan good news for city: Mayor

City staff want to start building a light-rail transit system in just three years.

They`ll find out this morning if they can start breaking out the construction equipment.


Metrolinx, the provincial agency charged with designing public transit thoughout southern Ontario, will release its draft regional transportation plan and investment strategy at 10 a.m. Mayor Fred Eisenberger has seen it and, while he refused to reveal details, said Hamilton will be happy with the news.

http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/439625

 

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0908KWCG
Guelph riding has a full slate

GUELPH

When Guelph`s federal byelection was torpedoed Sept. 7, all advance poll votes went down with it.

Elections Canada is reminding anyone who cast an early vote in the doomed byelection that they`ll have to do it all over again for the Oct. 14 general election.

"The byelections were cancelled, so people will have to cast their vote in the 40th general election as per normal," Elections Canada spokesperson John McKay said.

http://news.guelphmercury.com/News/article/384351

 

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0908YRHL
Public meeting to shed light on proposed subway

You might not see the trains rolling down the tracks for a few years, but if you want to see what the Yonge Street subway extension will look like, now is your chance.

On Thursday night, an interactive presentation will reveal the region`s preferred subway plan at a public meeting.

The plan was developed in consultation with residents, businesses and stakeholders during a series of meetings in the summer.


http://www.yorkregion.com/News/Richmond%20Hill/article/81668

 

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0908TNTO
Metrolinx unveils massive transportation fix

It`s the $50 billion transportation plan the Toronto region can`t afford not to build. But where the money will come from still has to be figured out.

Despite its promise of bold decisions, in the draft plan finally released yesterday Metrolinx has backed away from recommending road tolls, congestion fees or other taxes widely touted as the way to pay for the expanded transit needed to prevent the region from choking on gridlock.

http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/504817

 

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0908TNTO
Needed: Transit to airport from all directions

All transit roads should lead to Pearson airport.

That`s the message of Metrolinx chair Rob MacIsaac, who says new transit networks should allow passengers to get to Pearson International Airport from all directions, including the long-promised fast link from Union Station.

With fewer than 1 per cent of all travellers getting to and from Pearson by public transit, MacIsaac says access needs to be a priority.

http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/504815

 

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0908TNTO
Subway extensions, new Eglinton line among priorities

Although the plan doesn`t specify timelines for all its key projects, it proposes the priorities as:

• Extending the Spadina subway line to Vaughan Corporate Centre, and the Yonge line to Richmond HillA new rapid transit line along Eglinton Ave. that would connect a renewed Scarborough Rapid Transit system with Pearson airport.

http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/504783

 

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0908CATH
Paxton Lane subdivision clears hurdle

A new subdivision in St. Davids that will include the preservation of the historic Paxton House was approved by Niagara-on-the-Lake`s planning advisory committee Monday.

The proposed development on 4.8 acres of land at 46 Paxton Lane is for 11 single detached homes and 18 townhouses.

Following concerns expressed earlier by neighbourhood residents, the developer made amendments to the plan to prevent a road connection between the existing Paxton Lane to the north with the new subdivision.

http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/Article....aspx?e=1214752

 

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0908BTFD
Hardy Rd. subdivision plans raise concerns

Plans to transform a rural area along Hardy Road into a series of subdivisions are raising concerns among residents.

"We think our area isn`t ready for this kind of development yet," said Hardy Road resident Jerry Klievik.

"The road already is overburdened and there are a lot of safety concerns. We need to see a transportation network first before any development projects come forward."

Klievik walked door-to-door in the neighbourhood to organize the Hardy Road Area Citizens Committee, which plans to air its concerns at tonight`s public meeting at which developers will discuss their projects.

http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/ArticleDi....aspx?e=1214073

 

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0908BAOR
Orillia`s economy bucks the trend

Despite the loss of hundreds of jobs at the Huronia Regional Centre and the recent closure of two small manufacturing companies, Orillia`s economy will remain solid thanks to university and college expansion, growth at other factories and the long-term benefit of an enlarged regional hospital, OPP headquarters and Casino Rama, says the city`s economic development manager.

"I still think Orillia is poised to push ahead in creating a new economy," said Robert Lamb on Tuesday.

Ontario`s manufacturing sector is struggling, the stock market is nose-diving and flying back and fears of a widespread economic downturn have pushed the economy to the top among public concerns, well ahead of the environment.

http://www.orilliapacket.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1214434

 

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0908BAOR
Township plots rec future

Constructing a multi purpose recreational/cultural facility, maintaining a number of facilities throughout the township or a combination of both.

Those are some of the possibilities Oro-Medonte residents were pondering Tuesday night at a public input session for the township`s strategic facility plan that will direct recreation, culture and arts planning for the next 20 years.

About 70 people broke into seven groups to address three key questions: what facilities are needed; should programs and services be delivered by a large facility, a number of smaller facilities spread throughout the township or a combination of both; and what factors should be considered for location.

http://www.orilliapacket.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1214409

 

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0908HAMN
$50b transit plan targets Hamilton

GO trains every five minutes during rush hour. Train rides from Hamilton to Union Station in Toronto that take 44, not 66 minutes like today. Two rapid transit lines by 2023, and a third in the years just after that.

It`s the kind of work that Burlington-mayor-turned-transportation-architect Rob MacIsaac calls "transformational."

http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/440254

 

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0908KWCG
County fears highway setbacks could hinder rural development

WALKERTON

Bruce County is worried about changes that would limit the number of entrances allowed near highways throughout Ontario.

The province wants the same standards on highways such as 6 and 21 as it has on 400 series highways.

Development like stores, restaurants, schools and subdivisions would be kept 800 metres to 1.6 kilometres from the highway, according to a report to Bruce County`s planning committee.

http://news.therecord.com/News/Local/article/419672