CALGARY -- Calgary`s TransCanada Corp. has inked a deal to supply one quarter of New York`s power, agreeing Monday to buy the Ravenswood generating station in Queens for $2.9 billion US.
A company official reached late Monday said the purchase will further remake TransCanada, a historic pipeline company that in recent years has moved aggressively into power generation and related areas.
British Columbia, Saskatchewan drawing people away from Alberta
EDMONTON - You hear that trickling sound?
No, it`s not a leaky pipe, and you didn`t leave your kitchen faucet running. It`s the sound of people trickling out of Alberta, mainly for neighbouring Saskatchewan and British Columbia.
The final three months of 2007 marked the second straight quarter in which Alberta saw a net drop in interprovincial migration, and the first time this province sustained back-to-back quarterly losses since 1994.
Imperial Oil Ltd., Canada`s largest oil company, plans to go to court in May to overturn a federal government department`s decision that could delay its planned $8-billion oilsands mine.
The company believes a water authorization granted for its Kearl project by Canada`s Fisheries Department is valid and shouldn`t be revoked, spokesman Gordon Wong said Monday in a telephone interview.
The Stelmach government says it will react quickly to a new report reviewing the collection of billions of dollars in resource royalties -- something Alberta`s auditor general and an expert panel said is unacceptable and must be overhauled.
Former auditor general Peter Valentine was to have delivered his recommendations Monday to government on changes to the accounting and reporting of provincial oil and gas royalties, but he said he`s still putting final touches on it and will submit it soon.
Mayor Dave Bronconnier is warning that the city`s upcoming three-year budget will be "the toughest in living memory," resulting in property tax increases higher than five per cent.
"In my view it will be, certainly in the last decade, the most difficult budget, period, because of the growing demands, the growing size of the city. We`re still very much in catch-up mode," Bronconnier said Monday.
Fed up with what they feel is the city`s "my-way-or-the-highway" approach to the west leg of the LRT, a group of residents has started a website critical of the city`s planning process for the $700-million project.
The group says the city is rushing the west LRT project without adequate community consultation or undertaking a peer review of its proposed routes and engineering studies, as is done in other cities.
Serviced industrial land prices saw a significant increase in 2007 with the average hitting $611,000 per acre, well above the average price of $480,000 per acre the previous year, says a report by commercial real estate firm Avison Young.
"Prices continue to increase because there is very little serviced industrial land available inside the city," says the firm`s Calgary Industrial Market Report Spring 2008.
Planners authorize sport lounge, 40-suite hotel on 66th Street
Diners at a Tom`s House of Pizza proposed for Red Deer might also be able to quench their thirst at a sports lounge in the same building.
The city`s municipal planning commission voted on Monday to authorize a drinking establishment on the second floor of a building planned for 6852 66th St.
This will allow developer Brad Gabrielson to seek a Class A liquor licence for the lounge, which is slated to be called Brad`s Pit Sports Bar and Grill.
Northwestern Air Lease Ltd. has expanded its scheduled service out of the Red Deer Regional Airport, with twice-weekly flights to Calgary commencing this morning.
But Gordon Bush, Northwestern`s general manager, warns that his company`s commitment to the airport would be jeopardized if another airline cuts into its market here.
The Fort Smith, N.W.T.-based airline has been flying out of the Springbrook airport since December 2006, with two airplanes, four pilots and support staff based there. It`s been offering flights to Edmonton and points north.
EDMONTON - London Drugs bosses cut a ribbon at a northside mall Tuesday to launch a rebuilt store.
But they were also signalling the rebirth of the fading, `70s-style North Town Mall into a modern shopping destination -- now rebranded as North Town Centre.
"It was a project that just hadn`t received a lot of TLC over the years and had come into disrepair, but there were a lot of good fundamentals here," said Rob Blackwell, vice-president of development at Anthem Properties.
Canada has little to fear from the backlash against free trade in the midst of the United States` fractious presidential primaries, says the American ambassador to Canada.
"There is a concern, and I think rightly so among Canadians, and Americans quite frankly, when they hear talk about withdrawing from NAFTA`s obligations," David Wilkins told a Calgary luncheon Tuesday.
Calgary`s resale housing market has taken a dramatic turn and the latest MLS sales data from the month of March suggest it has become a buyer`s market with listings continuing to soar and sales plunging compared with a year ago.
"We have moved into a market that is currently providing a great variety of choice for the buyer," said Ed Jensen, president of the Calgary Real Estate Board.
Despite the softening of the Canadian economy in recent months and a very weak outlook for U.S. economic growth, the shopping centre industry is in good shape to withstand these challenges this year, says the CEO of Cadillac Fairview Corp.
And he says the Calgary market is a leader in Canada for new development and expansion of shopping centres.
Canmore has been tasked by the provincial government to write the terms of reference for a study to look at the financial implications of its weekender population.
The town currently receives capital grants for infrastructure based on its permanent population, which means it loses money every year because of its high population of second homeowners.
Red Deer would have more parks, a new concert hall and an aquatic centre with an Olympic-size pool, if citizens quizzed on Wednesday had their druthers.
Citizens at large were invited to help revamp the city`s strategic plan. Updated every three years, the plan outlines Red Deer`s missions, goals and vision.
People attending the Wednesday night workshop spoke both from personal interest and as representatives of various groups.
Red Deer`s newest auto dealership is expected to open in a few weeks, with its grand opening scheduled for May 1.
Work is nearing completion on the Red Deer Acura dealership at 1808 49th Ave. It will operate as a related business to Honda Red Deer, which is located next door.
Social networking sites like Facebook, YouTube and iTunes might be fun places to visit. But a Central Alberta web communications consultant thinks they could also be a source of workers.
Dean Owen recently launched albertaJOBcast, a business that turns employer profiles and job postings into audio and video podcasts — or jobcasts. It also helps clients get their jobcasts onto suitable sites.
EDMONTON - Albertans who shivered through a frigid winter can take heart knowing that bitter cold has likely taken a big bite out of mountain pine beetle populations.
Two cold snaps in late January and late February blasted northern Alberta with temperatures believed to be deadly for significant numbers of the voracious pest.
