1108ALTA Alberta urged to pump up Heritage Fund to $100 billion
Alberta`s "ad-hoc" approach to saving is putting the province`s future prosperity at risk and demands the Heritage Fund be boosted to $100 billion by 2030, warns a new government-commissioned study.
The report of the Financial Investment and Planning Advisory Commission also cautions that Albertans will face deficits within five years and 40 per cent tax hikes within about 20 years unless the province curbs spending and subscribes to an aggressive savings plan.
The federal government will forge ahead with its push for a national securities regulator, arguing global economic turmoil underscores a pressing need for unified financial market rules and a common watchdog.
Securities regulation was one of a number of Alberta-related issues mentioned in the Harper government`s throne speech Wednesday, which focused mainly on the economy. The speech touched on removing trade barriers between provinces and working with the United States to develop a North American system to regulate and trade carbon credits.
1108CALG Transit riders to pay parking fee, higher monthly fares in 2009
Calgary Transit riders were hit with two hikes Wednesday as city council backed a new daily parking fee and higher monthly fares.
The parking fee, which will take effect Jan. 1, will result in a $3 daily charge for anyone parking at one of the 33 park-and-ride lots across the city.
EDMONTON -- Alberta is making plans to head off what critics fear will be a land-rush on blue gold. The province, in its revised water strategy released yesterday, announced plans to improve how its dwindling water supply is bought, sold and transferred to ensure such sales don`t dissolve into free-for-all market bidding.
EDMONTON - Planning to capture carbon and bury it underground is Alberta`s key weapon in the fight against its own international image as a greenhouse gas-emitting oilsands monster.
The project was Premier Ed Stelmach`s centrepiece in speeches to chambers of commerce members in London, England and the Netherlands last week, and it was championed by Alberta ministers in at least four countries in the past two months.
Some residents of a northside neighbourhood are accusing the city of throwing away good money during tough economic times by tearing up and rebuilding the sidewalks in front of their homes.
They say the work is unnecessary because the walkways are still in good shape. But a city manager says the sidewalks are surfaced with asphalt and will be replaced with concrete, which lasts longer.
"All of our neighbours feel it`s just completely a make-work project because it doesn`t need to be done," said a resident who asked she not be identified because of her job working with a social agency.
After a virtually unprecedented public backlash and often testy political confrontations, the most contentious budget in decades won approval from city council Thursday.
It took nearly 45 hours, but everything from relatively small cuts in staff to shuffling around large sums of cash dropped next year`s tax increase to almost half its original total.
1108ALTA Alberta health care to suffer as government tightens its belt
Provincial Health Minister Ron Liepert warned Albertans on Thursday to gird for difficult decisions ahead on health care as the government grapples with what`s likely to be reduced revenues next year and some tough-love budgeting.
The cautionary tone came the same day the Stelmach government announced its permanent 15-person team for the new Alberta Health Services board, which includes members from Ontario and New Jersey, but one critics argued is short on health expertise.
1108CALG Free parking at McMahon Stadium may soon end for LRT users
On the heels of city council approving a fee for transit park-and-ride lots, McMahon Stadium is now looking into charging those who park there before hopping on the C-Train.
For the past few years, the stadium has considered a daily parking charge for those who use the lot and then catch the C-Train at the nearby Banff Trail station.
Batten down the hatches, gang, we`re in free fall. And now that oil prices have slammed through the $50 US mark--they fell another seven per cent to close at $49.62 Thursday, their lowest point since 2005--all bets are off as to where we`re going to land.
Suffice to say, it`s not going to be a soft landing, either.
If you are keeping tabs, oil prices have fallen about $100 a barrel in a little over four months, or since the middle of July, when they topped $147.
The city is digging deep into the wallets of business owners to discourage them from appealing annual property taxes, says the executive director of the Calgary Apartment Association. Gerry Baxter slammed a council decision yesterday to hike filing fees for the city`s assessment review board, a move the city said was prompted by a spike in frivolous appeals by non-residential property owners hoping to lower their taxes.
In another sign the environmental agenda is likely to figure prominently amongst the new leaders in Washington, an ardent climate change campaigner -- who has battled against expansion of oilsands production -- has been elected chairman of an influential Congressional committee.
On Thursday, California Democrat Henry Waxman, 69, won the post of chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee from John Dingell of Michigan, a longtime champion of the now-ailing U.S. auto industry.
The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. hosted its annual Housing Outlook Conference this week in Calgary, offering a cautiously optimistic view of the state of our housing market.
Bob Dugan, CMHC`s chief economist, said despite the uncertainty facing financial markets, CMHC foresees Canadian economic growth over the next 12 months. It won`t be the same rate of growth experienced in the last three years, said Dugan, somewhere between 1.2% and 2%, based on a strengthening of consumer confidence and how quickly recovery efforts take effect.
By next spring, city residents will have no choice but to use a provincial 1-800 telephone service to get answers to their tenancy questions, once the local landlord and tenant information service is forced to shutdown.
The service provided by Community Information and Referral Society will be coming to an end on March 31 after the City of Red Deer decided to cut funding to the program.
Lacombe County is considering significant changes to a major development plan for the Hwy 2A corridor that has generated fierce opposition from some landowners.
One of the biggest bones of contention for some has been the focus on allowing urban-style high-density development in the corridor west of Hwy 2A and near Lacombe Lake.
CRESTOMERE - Possible conflicts with ranching and water supply were identified Thursday as key points for Ponoka County council to zero in on when it`s time to consider a draft plan for the East Gull Lake Overview Plan.
The plan, which looks at possible development in the next 30 years, could see 1,300 housing lots added to the 390 that are there now, about 80 people heard at an information meeting at the Crestomere School.
1108REDR Executive Place starts to rise above ground
After toiling below ground level for nearly a year, workers at Executive Place are moving up.
Construction activity on the proposed 12-storey office building at 4902 50th St. is now in clear view, with the resulting shadow expected to lengthen at a rapid rate in the coming months.
1108EDTN Retailers still see room to grow in Alberta
EDMONTON - Location is everything when it comes to retail, goes the old saw.
But what about timing, timing, timing?
Is it a serious miscalculation to open a new store in Edmonton just as the global economy nosedives?
Some retailers in the midst of launching new ventures in the city don`t think so. They speak about the strengths of their brands and the appetite of Alberta shoppers.
Taxpayers may not enjoy footing the bill, but the fact remains that the public sector workforce in Calgary will expand by thousands of employees in the near future as health-care, educational services and municipal workforces continue an expansion trend.
For those who plan to work in the public sector in Calgary, the employment outlook is very bright in a wide range of occupational fields. Police, fire, emergency medical services, bylaw, city transit, maintenance and environmental services jobs are among those to experience a strong employment outlook for at least the next three years.
1108ALTA Outlook healthy for hiring in West`s public sector
As the reality of a global economic recession sets in, provincial governments across Canada may tighten the purse strings in coming months. But the employment outlook remains healthy for public sector workers given that many employees will retire soon, while demand for services grows.
In the West, Alberta`s labour market remains the strongest in North America, according to a recent report by the Fraser Institute, while B. C.`s ranks second-best in Canada. The continued strength of western Canadian labour markets, while moderating, combined with an aging population will result in aggressive provincial public-sector hiring.
