ON Economic Fundamentals 2008-11

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1108YNEW
Newmarket first to complete town`s future growth plans

You should not be paying for new growth but a looming deadline means we need to have plans in place soon, and then hope we can afford to pay for it later.

The province`s Places to Grow legislation directs GTA municipalities to concentrate growth that avoids sprawling further outward, but how we will pay for that growth remains unresolved.

Every local municipality needs to adjust its official plan to conform with the provincial legislation by June.

http://www.yorkregion.com/News/Newmarket/article/85113

 

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1108YTHL
Centre island could solve King High Road Battle

They`re divided by a road that runs right through their community and there is no sign that divider will change anytime soon.

A one-year pilot project to shut down King High Drive in Thornhill has made the residents on that street happy, but it has drawn the ire of residents living on the streets around it.

The neighbourhood is in the Dufferin and Centre streets area of Thornhill and has seen new development over the past year that has increased traffic. But the problem has been ongoing for more than a decade, according to some Vaughan councillors.

http://www.yorkregion.com/News/Thornhill/article/85176

 

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1108YWSF
Residents targeted in insurance phone scam

Three clients of Birkett-Hassard Insurance Brokers, and clients from another Stouffville firm were targeted by fraudsters pretending to be insurance industry representatives.

Luckily, none of the Birkett-Hassard clients gave out their confidential information, according to Rob McBeth, a broker with the Main Street company.

http://www.yorkregion.com/News/Whitchurch-...e/article/85099

 

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1108DURH
Growth plan riles residents

Hands off our farmland. Protect our water. And slow down before you wipe us all off the planet.

The message on urban growth from residents and environmentalists to Durham Region councillors was clear at a packed marathon meeting of the planning committee this week.

"Growth is our biggest enemy," said Pickering resident Michael Robertson. "If we don`t stop now, even our children may not be here in 50 years."

http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/545135

 

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1108TNTO
Road tolls back on GTA agenda

Road tolls will be forced onto the greater Toronto area`s agenda again today, as the provincial transportation agency for the region is asked to immediately start investigating tolls, taxes and other levies to fund its $50-billion, 25-year transit plan.

Metrolinx had planned to delay any toll debate until 2013, but board member Paul Bedford said Metrolinx "cannot afford to wait" that long to even discuss alternatives to government support.

http://www.nationalpost.com/todays_paper/s...html?id=1002963

 

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1108BAOR
Highway 400 work gets the OK

Barrie and area commuters will soon see changes to Highway 400 as the Ministry of Transportation begins the inevitable widening of the roadway.

Broad stroke environmental approval has been given for the widening to 10 lanes from Major Mackenzie to Highway 11, just north of Barrie, according to MTO spokesman Will Mackenzie.

It`s part of the MTO`s Southern Ontario Highway Program.

http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/ArticleDi....aspx?e=1319690

 

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1108BAOR
Innisfil residents want GO to stay

Hundreds of Innisfil residents are concerned that council may endorse moving a GO station planned for Lefroy/Belle Ewart to an area south of Alcona.

About 350 residents have signed a petition, urging the Town of Innisfil to drop a recent proposal to move a planned GO train station from the 5th Line to the 6th Line.

Larry Hurd presented the petition to council on Wednesday night.

http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/ArticleDi....aspx?e=1319704

 

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1108OTWA
Why we pay for transit, and Toronto doesn`t

If you run a city that wants a lot of provincial money for transit projects, it pays to be small.

While Ottawa is nervously eyeing major borrowing to pay its share of a big new transit plan, transit builders in the Golden Horseshoe are pushing ahead with billions worth of transit with no contribution from area taxpayers -- because parts of those projects cross municipal boundaries.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/c...2f-acb0c5a0ba98

 

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1108OTWA
Ottawans love our town

More than 90% of Ottawa residents are proud of their city, according to the city`s annual 2008 citizen satisfaction survey.

The data for the survey, released this morning, was collected through telephone interviews by Harris/Decima with a sample of 1,128 Ottawa residents between October 9 and 22. The interviews were comprised of random samples of at least 275 residents from each of four regions that make up the whole of Ottawa (East, Central, West and Rural).

http://www.ottawasun.com/News/OttawaAndReg...28/7565956.html

 

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1108OTWA
Council orders Transitway LRT study

City councillors voted Wednesday to have staff consider yet another possible light-rail route for the capital.

Knoxdale-Merivale Coun. Gord Hunter, who proposed the motion, says it makes sense for the city to consider taking light rail down the southeast Transitway from South Keys to Hurdman station. "It`s a better route. It`s a cheaper route and it`s faster," said Hunter, whose motion came at the end of the transit debate Wednesday night. The debate continues today.

http://www.ottawasun.com/News/OttawaAndReg...561451-sun.html

 

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1108HAMN
HSR ridership up 1 per cent, well behind other cities

HSR ridership rose this year, although less quickly than in other Canadian cities.

But Hamilton Street Railway transit director Don Hull said the expected 1 per cent growth for the city is a good sign.

"We had a good year in 2008," he said, adding fare box revenue is expected to grow by $1.2 million this year.

http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/473677

 

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1108HAMN
City looks at upping density downtown

In 20 years, could Hamilton`s downtown be nearly as densely developed as Toronto`s?

It`s a question some councillors want municipal planners to study as the city decides where its growth should be focused in the next two decades.

http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/473711

 

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1108HAMN
Innovation Park slow go

It`s two steps forward and one step back at McMaster Innovation Park.

Excavation for the $60-million federal laboratory next door to the research park`s headquarters is expected to start in the next three weeks, and renovation work on the interior of the main building itself is about three-quarters done, with a major tenant preparing to move in.

http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/473715

 

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1108HAMN
Hamilton port tries short sea shipping

Today, a barge will leave the harbour and hopes are high it will usher in a new era for Hamilton`s port.

The vessel will be loaded with 68 containers of scrap metal from Sunrise Metals, eventually bound for India by way of Montreal.

It`s the port`s first foray into short sea shipping. The tongue-twister means using inland waterways to ship freight, bypassing roads and rail.

http://www.thespec.com/News/Business/article/473575

 

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1108KWCG
City sticking with Loewig until 2012

GUELPH

The city`s top job will remain in the hands of Hans Loewig through the end of 2012.

The move announced yesterday was accepted by Loewig, the city`s chief administrative officer, and approved in-camera by city council. It is a major turnaround from when he accepted an eight-month interim position starting July 2007.

http://news.guelphmercury.com/News/article/409715

 

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1108KWCG
Agri-Technology centre opens doors in city

GUELPH

The first centre in Canada dedicated to commercializing new agricultural products opened its doors in Guelph yesterday.

Much is riding on the Agri-Technology Commercialization Centre, billed as one of the pillars of Ontario`s economic future.

The facility at 200-120 Research Ln. will be populated with agribusiness experts, legal advisers and mentors who can take good research, technology and new food products with global appeal and turn them into commercial products quicker and more successfully, pioneers of the centre said during a grand-opening ceremony.

http://news.guelphmercury.com/News/article/409751

 

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1108DURH
Needed: nuclear energy employees

DURHAM -- One hundred per cent of students who leave UOIT with a nuclear engineering degree have jobs when they graduate. "Everybody gets a job," said Dan Meneley, acting dean of the UOIT faculty. "In fact, if we doubled output I think that would still remain true."

All graduates who want a job get one -- a strong statistic in a weakening economy. That`s because the electricity sector is growing rapidly and can`t find enough employees to cover, according to recent statistics.

http://newsdurhamregion.com/news/article/114080

 

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1108DCLR
When rural and urban collide

CLARINGTON -- People moving to areas abutting farms need to be more aware of the legality
of regular farming practices, like pesticide use, says Clarington`s
Agricultural Advisory Committee.

Not only that, but minimum separations should be enshrined in law, to help
buffer urban from rural, which are often at odds with each other on matters
like pesticides and odours, says a motion recently passed by the committee.

http://newsdurhamregion.com/news/clarington/article/114083

 

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1108DWTB
More work to improve parking in Whitby

WHITBY -- A year-long wait for a new parking study appeared to bring more disappointment than relief for councillors at a planning and development meeting this week. Staff brought forth several recommended changes to the town`s parking standards, including an increase in the number of spaces in residential areas like townhouses and in non-residential places like community centres and retail establishments.

http://newsdurhamregion.com/news/whitby/article/114144

 

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1108LNDN
Huge tax hike? Not this time

Despite warnings of a budget tsunami at London city hall, fears of massive tax hikes and slashed programs appear overblown -- at least until 2010.

Senior managers will present a draft budget in 11 days that protects every job and program. And by the time the budget process ends in February, managers expect taxes and charges to go up between four and 4.5 per cent, similar to the 2008 increase. That`s a far cry from the 20-per-cent hike deputy mayor Tom Gosnell warned about seven weeks ago. But it doesn`t mean there aren`t tough choices ahead.

http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/News/Local/200...576136-sun.html