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AB Economic Fundamentals 2008-09

0908ALTA (Didsbury)
Didsbury sharpens its edge

The times they are a changin` in Didsbury.

Located halfway between Calgary and Red Deer, the town of 4,600 scored a major coup last year when JED Oil Inc. relocated its headquarters from downtown Calgary to the small Alberta community.

Mayor Brian Wittal says it`s a sign of things to come.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/n...f2-b1ae62d884fc
 
0908CALG
Resale prices to decline up to 20 per cent

I hate to be the bearer of bad news -- at least, for sellers of used homes.

The direction of resale home prices will continue to be straight down, say a couple of industry veterans who have ridden out all the strange twists and turns that historically make up Calgary`s housing market.

The fact that prices are declining likely isn`t news for potential buyers, who are enjoying the trend as they hunt for a place to hang their hat.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/n...59-4ec311cef61c
 
0908ALTA
Oilsand fears wrestle benefits

Albertans appear conflicted about the massive oilsands -- a resource nearly everyone agrees is an economic bonanza for the province, but one many feel is accompanied by a worrying array of environmental and human health effects.

In a wide-reaching Leger Marketing poll of 962 Albertans focused on their impressions of the oilsands, respondents were clearly concerned about the industry`s impacts, especially when it comes to health complaints.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/s...62-4ee10783de1b
 
0908EDTN
Mall blowing out the candles in style

It`s a celebration four decades, nine years, and 11 months in the making.

Bonnie Doon Shopping Centre, located at 82 Avenue and 83 Street, is throwing a block party this week celebrating being open for, well, almost 50 years.

"Our official birthday is next month, but we have so many wonderful things that needed good weather that we moved it up," says the centre`s marketing director Emmy Mills, adding with a laugh. "We thought if the Queen can do it, so can we."

The festivities include an outdoor midway running today through Sunday, with games, rides, and carnival food. On Friday, the classic film Grease will be shown outdoors beginning at dusk.

http://www.edmontonexaminer.com/ArticleDis....aspx?e=1193573
 
0908EDTN
Plan for the Quarters taking shape

Edmontonians got their last look at a plan to transform Edmonton`s downtown east into a trendy urban district at a public meeting Monday.

The Quarters proposal is scheduled to go before council for approval in late fall.

City officials are accepting public feedback on the draft until the end of the month.

The district is bordered by 92 Street, 103A Avenue, 97 Street and Jasper Avenue. A narrow pedestrian plaza runs through the district from 103 Avenue to Jasper Avenue.

http://www.edmontonexaminer.com/ArticleDis....aspx?e=1193561
 
0908ALTA
Oilsands under fire in U.K.

Days after Canada`s oilsands moved into the federal election spotlight, one of Britain`s largest investment firms is launching a campaign to convince petroleum giants BP and Shell to scale back their plans to exploit the controversial energy source.

Widely seen as a future driver of the Canadian economy in a world facing oil scarcity and premium prices, North America`s oilsands have also been targeted by environmentalists as "dirty oil" that produces far more carbon pollution than conventional sources, and requires a massive amount of energy and water to extract.

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...04-75010e0554ae
 
0908EDTN
Anonymous naysayers target hero of Alberta Avenue rebirth

In my little world, not all heroes wear uniforms or sign autographs.

They aren`t millionaires, or TV darlings. They might be household names, but only in theirs.

Show me an inner-city counsellor, a community-league volunteer, an unpaid fundraiser or food-bank worker -- show me a family picking up litter on their weekly walks -- and I`ll show you people who do heroic work.

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...0736f08&p=1
 
0908ALTA
Liberals pledge $250M to battle beetles

Albertan communities and groups bitten by the mountain pine beetle scourge cautiously welcomed a campaign trail pledge by the federal Liberals Sunday to commit $250 million to help combat the spread of the bug.

But Gary Lunn, the Tory natural resources minister, blamed the beetle problem on the "negligence" of Jean Chretien`s Liberal majority government in the mid-1990s. The Liberals could have stopped the beetles, he said, by cutting down "a few blocks" of trees in central B.C.`s Tweedsmuir Provincial Park where the latest infestation may have begun in 1998.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/s...59-7fdb5ea0167d
 
0908CALG
City turns up heat on Cecil Hotel

The city is prepared to expropriate the rundown Cecil Hotel if it can`t reach a deal to purchase the valuable downtown property from its owner.

Sitting near the northwest corner of the East Village, the site is considered strategic and the city has a "municipal use" lined up for the location.

"We look at a number of key strategic parcels that are required for municipal purposes -- everything from parks and playgrounds to roads and parkades," Mayor Dave Bronconnier told the Herald.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/c...be-926f73e1eead
 
0908ALTA
Exports on record pace

Alberta exports continued on their record pace in July with the value of shipments over seven months already eclipsing full-calendar figures of just a few years ago.

Statistics Canada reported Alberta manufacturers and producers shipped a record $9.9 billion of goods in July, as relatively high energy prices boost the value of shipments sharply higher. The latest monthly figure was a stunning 50 per cent higher than the same period of 2007.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/c...dc-6953b4465265
 
0908ALTA
Western cities lead growth forecast

OTTAWA -- It`s the best of times and the worst of times for Canadian cities, depending on where they`re located, according to an economic think-tank that expects cities in Saskatchewan will enjoy their strongest growth, and Ontario cities their weakest performance, in more than a decade.

Western Canadian cities take the top seven spots in the Conference Board of Canada`s latest Metropolitan Outlook, released Monday, led by Saskatoon and then Regina.

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...92-ca4b6561b6ef
 
0908CALG
Calgary expected to weather the storm

Calgary is not immune to the economic firestorm gripping the world, but the city -- and the province -- appear to be well-positioned to ride out the turbulence that is roiling markets and wreaking havoc with commodity prices.

A gathering storm of economic bad news hit world markets with force on Monday, as the Toronto Stock Exchange declined four per cent, the Dow Jones Industrial average plunged 4.5 per cent and the price of oil fell $5.47 per barrel, dragging down the loonie, which fell by six-tenths of a cent to 93.64 cents US.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/s...7d-43d1e6485edf
 
0908ALTA
Oil`s fall could crimp Tories`s spending spree

The Alberta government potentially lost $650 million in annual revenue over eight wild hours on Monday, as oil prices dropped more than $5 a barrel.

It was a mere drop of blood in the global fiscal carnage, but the number shows how quickly things can change in a province driven by oil and gas.

In July, oil hit $147 a barrel. Today it`s $95. Every dollar drop, if sustained for a year, costs the Alberta government $130 million.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/s...70-f817432317ad
 
0908CALG
Study backs city sales tax

It`s time to consider allowing the City of Calgary to charge a sales tax, argues the author of a report from the Canada West Foundation.

Calgary is generating enormous wealth, but city coffers are barely profiting from it and property taxes don`t keep pace with all the needs the city must pay for, said Casey Vander Ploeg, a senior policy analyst with Canada West.

It`s time for the province, which controls how cities can collect cash, to look at new ways to bring in money including a sales tax, he said.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/c...f0-c5e47f01a3ff
 
0908CALG
School clears way for LRT extension

In a unique deal, the City of Calgary will build a new high school to replace Ernest Manning and kick in $30 million -- clearing the path for the west LRT route and future redevelopment of the existing site.

Working under a tight timeline, the city plans to have the new school open and occupied by early 2011.

Parents of Ernest Manning students are reserving judgment while waiting for details of the agreement.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/c...5b-3577a33cea2b
 
0908CALG
Calgary house price drop largest in Canada

The average MLS sale price for a Calgary residential property in August was eight per cent less compared with a year ago -- the biggest decline in the country, according to statistics released Monday by the Canadian Real Estate Association.

The association`s major market survey for August showed Calgary`s average price for single-family homes and condominiums was $390,091 during the month. Sales for the month were also off 16.7 per cent, at 1,990, and new listings dropped by 16.3 per cent to 4,103.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/c...74-6f308a3dc675
 
0908REDR
Town turns up heat on hotel project

The Town of Sylvan Lake is turning up the heat on the group behind a stalled hotel project that has become a downtown eyesore.

Council recently passed a resolution to have its planning and development department pursue an order requiring the hotel backers to clean up the "dangerous and unsightly" site on the town`s most prominent corner, says town spokeswoman Erin Peden.

http://www.albertalocalnews.com/reddeeradv...el_project.html
 
0908REDR
Sylvan to double-check legality of recreation levy

The Town of Sylvan Lake is double-checking the legality of its plan to request developers voluntarily contribute to a fund to support future recreation facilities.

The Urban Development Institute, which represents developers, recently called into question whether the proposed charge on new homes, condominiums and apartments was legal.

http://www.albertalocalnews.com/reddeeradv...ation_levy.html
 
0908REDR
Planners not enthusiastic about secondary suites

The city`s Municipal Planning Commission debated secondary suites in Red Deer at Monday`s meeting, with several members arguing the city shouldn`t be so quick to embrace high-density neighbourhood homes.

It was the group`s first meeting following the release of a report by Edmonton`s Western Management Consultants that recommended secondary suites be allowed in single detached homes.

http://www.albertalocalnews.com/reddeeradv...ary_suites.html
 
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