1108EDTN Loss of valuable farmland will leave us dirt poor
For the sake of some dirt, more than 550 citizens appeared at City Hall.
For the sake of some dirt, land developers pleaded with city council. For the sake of some dirt, city councillors revealed a rift in philosophy and a disparity in character.
No, this was not just any other week at City Hall. Nor is the dirt in questions just any other dirt.
EDMONTON - Parkland School Division trustees are asking school boards across the province to back their fight to create mandatory buffer zones between schools and potentially hazardous well sites.
The district is currently the site of several controversial sour oil wells and has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars trying to convince the Energy Resources Conservation Board to deny requests to drill near Tomahawk School, about 100 kilometres southwest of Edmonton.
1108ALTA Think-tank forecasts recovery for Alberta
OTTAWA - No province will fully escape the global financial turmoil, but Alberta`s growth will start ramping up again over the next two years, the Conference Board of Canada forecast Thursday.
Growth in Alberta`s once-blistering economy is expected to slow to just 1.2 per cent this year as output declined in goods-producing industries, but a recovery in those industries next year will boost growth to 2.6 per cent. It`s forecast to hit 3.8 per cent in 2010.
1108ALTA Province to unveil oil-wealth savings plan
The Stelmach government is expected to respond next week to an expert panel`s recommendations on how Alberta should invest its petroleum riches, as a think-tank laments the province "missed the chance" to save more during the energy boom.
The provincially appointed Financial Investment and Planning Advisory Commission made recommendations early this year on how the government should save for the future, but the report has been kept under wraps.
Per capita health-care spending in Alberta is once again expected to top the provinces, according to a medical number-crunching agency.
And the province should be third nationally in the growth of its spending in 2008 over the previous year, coming in at 8.2%, according to the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI). But Alberta can better afford the expenditure level, which comes in at $5,730 per person, said CIHI spokesman Chris Kuchciak.
A group of concerned Lacombe citizens have upped the ante in their bid to stop a town land deal and are now calling for a full public inquiry.
Glen Walushka, of the Concerned Citizens Coalition of Lacombe Taxpayers, plans to head to the Alberta legislature on Tuesday with up to a dozen other residents to draw attention the town`s handling of a 300-acre land deal with Canadian University College that is part of an affordable housing initiative.
There is an open house at city hall tomorrow from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., to which you are invited to let our elected representatives know what you think of the city`s proposed property tax increase over the next three years.
I have mixed emotions about it. Certainly, 20% is too big a hit on our pocketbooks at any time, but especially in light of the economic conditions that exist right now and the uncertainty of the future.
OTTAWA - Canada might sell its oil elsewhere if Barack Obama decides to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon warned Friday.
The threat to America`s energy security came after Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said earlier this week he was not reassured on the future of NAFTA, following a meeting with advisers to the U.S. president-elect.
1108EDTN Costly upgrades sought for Shaw centre, research park
EDMONTON - The city`s main marketing agency wants to do a $97-million makeover on two of Edmonton`s biggest business facilities.
The aging Shaw Conference Centre needs $37.7 million worth of upgrades by 2018 to stay competitive with other facilities, including renovated meeting rooms and improved heating, lighting and security systems, says an Edmonton Economic Development Corp. report.
EDMONTON - It cost nearly 15 per cent more to erect a non-residential building in Edmonton in the third quarter than it did for the same period last year, according to Statistics Canada.
The composite price index for non-residential building construction released Friday shows Edmonton recorded the second-largest increase from 2007 at 14.6 per cent. Calgary had the biggest year-over-year increase at 17.5 per cent.
Expropriation of land has cleared the path for construction of a new multi-use recreational centre in Penhold.
Town manager Rick Binnendyk and Mayor Julia King confirmed this week that, although no money has changed hands, the town how holds title to the western side of quarter-section of land that had been identified as an appropriate site for the project. Waskasoo Creek divides the quarter roughly in half, with the side west of the creek estimated at between 70 and 75 acres.
1108ALTA Alberta leading Canada despite construction drop
The numbers aren`t what they used to be, but Alberta continues to lead all provinces in residential construction on a per capita basis, says a federal agency.
"Despite a sharp decline in housing starts this year and next, Alberta continues to be the national leader," says Richard Corriveau, Prairie region economist for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.
I like Airdrie. To me it seems to be a city that`s got it all together -- the stars are aligned for this community just up the road that appears to have everything one needs to live and raise a family out of the hurly burly of the bigger city of Calgary.
Clearly, a lot of people agree. The last census shows a population of more than 34,000, and it continues to grow.
Calgary`s plan to concentrate new populations around light-rail stations will mimic successful and cost-saving initiatives everywhere from Vancouver to Germany to Australia, an urban planning summit was told Friday.
Neighbours around the Brentwood and Anderson stations have been urging the city to scale back designs for new highrise communities in the next two or three decades.
Still trying to get your head around the fact that the oilsands are worth $1.5 trillion to us?
And that as a result, each and every one of us has seen our net worth jump by $34,591 to $243,050 according to the Canadian Centre for the Study of Living Standards.
Perhaps you`re feeling somewhat less than euphoric-- even nonplussed --about this revelation. Don`t fret. You are not alone.
Non-residential construction costs in Calgary rose by an enormous 17.5 per cent--the highest in the country--in the third quarter compared with the same period in 2007, Statistics Canada said Friday.
The report based on surveys of general and special trade group contractors indicates escalating cost inflation--the year-over-year cost increase in the second quarter was one percentage point less, at 16.5 per cent--but local observers said it has likely reached its peak.
Swelling fuel stocks and a more than $90 drop in the price of oil have driven OPEC to call another round of urgent talks that could agree on a deep supply cut to try to shore up the market.
Since early September, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries has already agreed to reduce supply by a total of two million barrels per day.
Locked lips greeted analysts who yesterday tried in vain to pry information from H&R REIT executives about how the company plans to finance construction of Western Canada`s tallest office tower.
"We`re really sorry we can`t discuss the Bow at this time," Thomas Hofstedter, CEO of the Toronto-based real estate investment trust, said during a conference call with analysts. "At this point in time, there are too many things going on. So regretfully, we have to shut down all questions regarding the Bow."
Utopia for some Calgarians means an affordable home with a transit stop and beloved coffeehouse a few steps away. For many, many others, it`s a new spread on a tranquil cul-de-sac, far from the city racket.
City officials say a Calgary that may reach a population of two million people in 50 years can`t keep spreading out like it has, but know developers and consumers still want varying lifestyle choices.
