The province and Tsuu T`ina Nation may ink a deal on the southwest ring road within weeks, pushing forward development on the key roadway after months of delay.
"In two, three, four weeks, I`m hopeful we can announce that we have a deal with Tsuu T`ina to acquire the land and move on to the next phase, which will hopefully be how and when will we build it," said Deputy Premier Ron Stevens.
Province on cusp of the largest power generation build in its history
CALGARY -- Alberta is on the verge of the largest power build in its history -- more than $15 billion in generating projects and transmission lines over the next decade -- to meet surging demand.
"It represents billions of dollars of new generation and investment," said Evan Bahry, executive director of the Independent Power Producers Society of Alberta, whose annual conference opens in Banff today. "It`s an incredible economic infusion."
CALGARY - Housing starts for the single-family home market in the Calgary area continued to plunge in February compared with a year ago, but at the same time the multi-family sector is soaring.
According to preliminary figures released today by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, new construction in the Calgary Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) for the month were 877 units, up 19.8 per cent from the 732 units started in February 2007.
EDMONTON - Not even the extra day of a leap year could keep February housing starts in the Edmonton area from falling sharply over the same time last year.
More caution among homebuilders led to total housing starts in the Edmonton census metropolitan area falling by 37 per cent to 692 units, according to preliminary figures released today from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. In February 2007, work started on 1,106 homes.
Calgary-based pipeline and power giant TransCanada Corp. has plans for a 500-megawatt, potentially $750-million natural gas-fired power plant near High River. The facility, if built, could further underline questions about the need for expensive new transmission between the Calgary and Edmonton areas.
"We think the fundamentals are looking pretty good," Alex Pourbaix, TransCanada`s president for energy and unregulated businesses, told the Herald Monday. "The challenge for us is do we think it`s the right time to build something."
Calgary continues to lead the country in new hires during the spring, despite a general slowdown in Alberta`s hot labour market compared to the rest of Canada.
According to the latest Manpower Employment outlook, 23 per cent of the city`s employers plan to hire new staff between April and June.
The numbers are slightly ahead of a 21 per cent increase expected by the 1,700 employers polled by Manpower across Canada.
Syncrude`s resource estimates hiked to 12.7 billion barrels
Canadian Oil Sands Trust on Monday hiked the resource estimates for Syncrude Canada in a move that could pave the way for future expansions of the planet`s largest oilsands producer.
The trust pegged the Syncrude project`s remaining recoverable resources at 12.7 billion barrels, up about 41 per cent from a previous estimate of nine billion as of Dec. 31, 2006.
As Scotty once said to Captain Kirk: "The dilithium crystals are melting, captain. We cannot go to warp speed."
Dilithium, as any self-respecting Star Trek nerd can tell you, is a fictitious substance used to power the USS Enterprise. However, it appears to have been replicated for real-life application by the LRT planners at city hall.
Things are happening so fast on the west leg of the LRT that affected residents are having difficulty coping.
When Edmonton Coun. Linda Sloan went door-knocking in west-end communities in last fall`s election, she had her eyes, or rather ears, opened to new noise problems.
On the doorsteps of Wedgewood homes, "you could hear the thumping of car tires hitting the joints in the pavement on Anthony Henday Drive," she told The Journal this week.
Fellow Ward 1 Coun. Karen Liebovici had the same aural epiphany: "It`s not that quiet hum of city traffic, it`s a roar."
Lacombe town council moved closer to its vision of developing hundreds of new housing units on Monday night.
It accepted the report of its Mayor`s Task Force on Housing.
While it urged caution, overall the report endorsed Mayor Judy Gordon`s belief that the town is in sore need of affordable housing and other types of accommodation, she said.
The acceleration in the cost of new housing continues to slow in Calgary.
Data released by Statistics Canada Tuesday showed prices for new homes in the Calgary area increased by 5.6 per cent between January 2007 and January 2008 while the national average was 6.5 per cent.
Alberta`s exports started 2008 with a bang, helped by mushrooming energy exports that set a record during January.
Statistics Canada reported Monday that the province`s exports rose to $7.7 billion in January, a more than $548-million, or 7.7 per cent, increase from the performance for the same month a year earlier.
Tunnel from 142nd Street best route for river crossing and link to U of A line: report
EDMONTON - The city`s transportation department supports a $1.6-billion west-end LRT line that would tunnel under houses near the North Saskatchewan River to reduce neighbourhood disruption and visual impact.
The proposed route from Lewis Estates follows 87th Avenue, travels underground through part of Parkview near the 142nd Street traffic circle, and comes out of the riverbank near the Valley Zoo, according to a consultant`s report.
EDMONTON - After nearly doubling over the past 10 years oilsands plant employment is poised to keep on growing almost twice as fast, the northern Alberta industry reported Tuesday.
The number of permanent new jobs created running Fort McMurray bitumen mega-mines and upgraders since 1998 will leap to 13,700 by 2012, the Athabasca Regional Issues Working Group predicted.
Calgary MLAs get greater presence in Stelmach cabinet
CALGARY - Premier Ed Stelmach overhauled the face of his government today, announcing a heftier cabinet that beefs up the number of Calgary ministers and women, and is more representative of a changing Alberta.
While many old faces still remain in cabinet - including some of Stelmach`s closest allies - political observers lauded the premier for putting a new stamp on government and successfully completing "a tremendous balancing act."
Airlines go head to head
Big Apple passengers the prize as WestJet and Air Canada start direct flights to Newark
Competition will be fierce once Air Canada and WestJet start daily flights between Calgary and Newark, N.J., but their plans may prove lucrative for both carriers, says aviation analyst Rick Erickson.
Calgary-based WestJet announced yesterday that starting June 2, it will offer seasonal, non-stop daily flights to Newark, an airport in the New York area.
Air Canada, which already flies into New York`s JFK Airport, starts direct flights to Newark on June 16.
Edmonton - Growing needs for thinning agents that make bitumen flow in pipelines Wednesday spun off a $50-million addition to oilsands operations developing on Edmonton`s eastern edge.
Mothballed storage, railway and trucking facilities -- left behind by the closure of the aged Celanese plant last year -- will be revived as a new terminal for industrial "diluent."
