Lacombe-Ponoka MLA Ray Prins pleased with latest provincial budget
The government of Alberta released the details of the 2008 budget last week – the 15th consecutive balanced budget in a row, and one that promises $1 billion in savings to residents and businesses in the province with the elimination of most health-care premiums by January 1, 2009.
"I was very pleased with the increases in the budget as related to health, education and particularly the transportation and infrastructure," said Lacombe-Ponoka MLA Ray Prins. "I think we need to spend a little more money on roads and highways in this area and I think that`ll be the strongest local component that you`ll see is the improving and rehabilitating pavement and building some roads.
City council`s recent approval of the sale of up to 75 residential lots requiring a commitment to Built Green building standards and the mandatory installation of renewable energy technology, has Ald. Ted Clugston pretty pumped up.
"I`m just really excited about it," he told the News Tuesday.
"I love the fact that we`ll be able to net-meter and the city is allowing that now."
EDMONTON - Mayor Stephen Mandel blasted the "intransigence" of the city transportation department Tuesday for its failure to plan a cost-effective west LRT line aimed at encouraging better development.
Based on a consultant`s report, the department is recommending a route along 87th Avenue that uses tunnels and a bridge to cross the North Saskatchewan River and link up with the Health Sciences station.
EDMONTON - About 60 per cent of Edmonton`s renters figure they can`t afford their apartments, judging by early results from a poll by the Edmonton Social Planning Council.
On the other hand, almost one in five tenants say their rents haven`t increased in the past year, although landlords are allowed annual increases.
The retail real estate market in Edmonton will pick up where it left off last year with new developments popping up across the city, rental rates rising and vacant shops filling up, says Kelly Horwood, a retail investment specialist at Colliers International.
"We expect the trends to continue in 2008 with hundreds of millions in retail development," Horwood said Tuesday at the Buildex Edmonton conference on real estate and property management at the Shaw Conference Centre.
CALGARY - Petro-Canada on Tuesday said it will delay a decision to proceed with the $14-billion Fort Hills oilsands project until the fourth quarter after it receives regulatory approvals.
It`s the second time the company has postponed the decision, which was originally expected this summer.
Despite four years of planning for a new downtown campus -- and climbing construction costs -- the University of Calgary is still awaiting provincial funding for its proposed East Village educational complex.
However, Advanced Education Minister Doug Horner maintains he won`t invest hundreds of millions of dollars until he is convinced the project is the best answer to Calgary`s post-secondary access woes.
Petro-Canada said Tuesday in announcing a record first-quarter profit of more than $1 billion it will delay a decision to proceed with the Fort Hills oilsands project.
It`s the second time the company has postponed a decision on the $14-billion project, which was originally expected this summer, and will now wait until the fourth quarter until after it receives regulatory approvals.
WestJet Airlines Ltd. is considering adding a fuel surcharge to all tickets or increasing its fares to combat soaring fuel prices.
"It`s really the velocity and the speed in which these fuel prices are rising which hampers some of our ability to catch up with fare increases," Sean Durfy, the low-cost carrier`s president and chief executive, told analysts in a conference call Tuesday.
Alberta led the country with the biggest drop in resale housing activity in the first quarter of this year while at the same time outpacing the other provinces in new MLS listings.
A report released Tuesday by the Canadian Real Estate Association says MLS sales in the province were down 30.5 per cent compared with the first quarter of 2007, new listings increased by 36.2 per cent, total dollar volume of all transactions dropped by 26.7 per cent but the average sale price increased by 5.4 per cent to $361,544.
The Buzzard North Sea oil project has taken wing for Calgary-based Nexen Inc., helping it bring in record first-quarter profits of $630 million.
And thanks to the settlement Tuesday of a Scottish refinery strike that had halted production since Sunday, it stands to continue to soar, shareholders heard at the annual general meeting in Calgary.
Oil giants Royal Dutch Shell and BP PLC beat forecasts with big rises in first-quarter profits Tuesday, lifting shares across the sector, as investors bet oil prices above $100 US a barrel would be an even bigger bonanza for the industry than expected.
Shell, the world`s No. 2 non-government-controlled oil company by market capitalization, said net income, excluding unrealized gains from changes in inventory values, rose 12 per cent to a record $7.8 billion US.
CALGARY - The Alberta government is optimistic that an energy-hungry United States will end up lifting a cap on imports of fuel mined from the province`s oilsands.
And deputy premier Ron Stevens dismissed calls yesterday from American environmentalists for an oilsands slowdown, saying the world needs Alberta`s oil more than ever.
If Beachcomber Hot Tubs and Patio had space issues, owner Jim Roth has solved them.
Roth confirmed Tuesday that his Red Deer store is relocating to the building currently occupied by The Brick, at 6751 Gaetz Ave. The Brick is preparing to move to new premises under construction at the southeast corner of 22nd Street and Taylor Drive.
Calgary`s apartment rental market is increasingly favouring tenants as the apartment vacancy continues creeping up.
Meanwhile, the number of residential resales dropped steeply across the province, whereas new listings jumped sharply. Anecdotal evidence gathered from landlords pegs the apartment vacancy rate in Calgary for the first three months of this year between 3% and 4%, said Gerry Baxter, executive director for the Calgary Apartment Association.
The blizzard may be over but some area businesses are still feeling the effects as customers stay away from purchasing fair-weather goods.
Ivan Karsten, owner of Harley Davidson of Medicine Hat, says his store is a ghost town.
"This week especially we have shut right down. Last week you could feel the momentum with spring weather and this week it has come to a screeching halt."
EDMONTON - Property taxes on the typical Edmonton home will increase $153 this year.
Coun. Ron Hayter complained Wednesday, as council approved the 2008 tax hike, that the increase was based on "smoke and mirrors," with an 11.8-per-cent rise in the municipal share of taxes offset by a near-freeze in the education levy imposed by the province.
