When Monica Champagne and her husband, Darrell, decided to raise four children, they were helping Manitoba lead the country in the percentage of kids aged 14 and younger. Statistics Canada reported Thursday that, according to the 2006 census, 19 per cent of Manitoba`s population was aged zero to 14 -- helping make the province one of the youngest in the country.
THE cost of all the road, bridge and sewÂer upgrades Winnipeg needs to make is more than double the cost of infraÂstructure improvements the city can afford, according to a draft internal city report.
The City of Winnipeg needs to spend alÂmost $4.5 billion on infrastructure over the next six years, but only has plans to make $2.1 billion worth of the required improveÂments to roads, bridges, parks, transit, pubÂlic buildings, land drainage and the waterÂand- sewer system.
0109MTBA Non-residential construction decreased 6.6% in 2008
A flurry of activity at the tail end of the year failed to prevent Manitoba from recording a decline in spending on non-residential construction in 2008.
Statistics Canada figures issued Thursday show Manitoba finished the year with $826.5 million worth of investments in commercial, industrial and institutional (government) projects. That was a decline of 6.6 per cent from the previous year`s $884.6 million, and came despite an 8.2 per cent jump in investment spending in the final quarter.
THE Winnipeg Winter Club`s vacant property on east Stradbrook Avenue is attracting serious interest from a second group of investors, after a plan to build a 22-storey residential building on the site fell through.
The earlier group of investors, whose identity has not been revealed, struck a tentative deal last year to buy the 0.8-acre parcel of land at 221 Stradbrook Ave. City of Winnipeg senior planner Michael Robinson said the group wanted to build a 250-unit, 22-storey residential building on the site.
THERE are not enough big, new building projects ready to tender, so any new infrastructure spending will probably be earmarked for small stuff, say a Winnipeg city councillor and an economist.
The premiers and Prime Minister Stephen Harper met in Ottawa Friday to discuss how to fast-forward billions in public works spending to stave off a long recession. That could mean squeezing five years` worth of spending from the $33-billion Building Canada Fund into the next two or three summers. In Manitoba, that would involve compressing as much as $320 million in federal funds for small communities and big strategic projects into the next couple of building seasons.
VANCOUVER -- You see will kits advertised on television and online as a cheap and easy way to determine who gets your stuff when you die, but experts say they`re not for everyone, in particular those with complex assets and multiple marriages.
Most people understand a will is a document with instruction on how your assets are to be distributed after your death. But just what makes a will valid is more complicated.
Winnipeg`s construction lobby says the global credit crunch could stymie the city`s public-private partnerships, including the one being used to finance and rebuild the Disraeli bridge. Winnipeg Construction Association head Ron Hambley said construction firms might have trouble getting banks to loan them money long-term, which could limit the number of bidders on projects like the Disraeli, the Chief Peguis Trail extension or a batch of police stations the city is planning to rebuild in the coming years. Fewer bidders could drive up the cost.
MANITOBA lawyers now have to know who their client is.
Under new rules which came into effect on Dec. 31, the Law Society of Manitoba has enacted Client Identification and Verification to help prevent lawyers from being scammed or being inadvertently part of money laundering by criminals.
"For all clients, you need to get basic identification information," said Allan Fineblit, CEO of the law society. Fineblit said this includes name, address, occupation and phone numbers.
A $10-million downtown development proposal spearheaded by local Liberal Senator Rod Zimmer has been shelved due to concerns over the current economic crisis.
Last summer, city hall approved a proposal by Zimmer`s Gatehouse company to build a restaurant, conference centre and marina on Waterfront Drive near the Alexander Docks.
Under the conditions of that approval, ground had to be broken by no later than Dec. 31, 2008.
A 500-unit condominium building, a 100-room hotel and a 16-screen movie theatre may join four big-box stores and "numerous smaller retail stores" at the $400-million Ikea development planned for Kenaston Boulevard at Sterling Lyon Parkway. More details about the southwest Winnipeg commercial development will be presented to Mayor Sam Katz`s cabinet on Wednesday, as city council begins to pave the regulatory way for the 1.5-million-square-foot commercial development to go ahead.
0109PORTPortage looking forward to visit from Kiev representatives A group from Ukraine will be arriving in Portage la Prairie this month to meet with area and local businesses.
Portage Mayor Ken Brennan said the opportunity arose when the city went to Kiev in December to make a connection with an agency there that handles immigration.
"The Canadian embassy informed us Kiev Youth Labour Centre was a very reuputable agency to provide immigration, so we signed a memorandum of understanding while there, and saw their operation from start to finish."
0109WNPG City may want homes certified before sale
THE City of Winnipeg may wade into the world of consumer protection by insisting all homes for sale are up to code and properly surveyed, but real-estate agents fear the plan could "open a can of worms" and further chill an already cooling housing market. The city`s planning, property and development department is considering a plan to issue residential compliance certificates and building locations certificates for homes that go on the market, the Winnipeg Realtors Association said Tuesday.
THE Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce is going to straight to the top in its bid to attract new businesses to Winnipeg. Over the next five and a half months, 50 high-profile, volunteer members of the local business community will be visiting the presidents and chief executive officers of the city`s 250 biggest companies to pick their brains.
0109MTBA Manitoba manufacturers stay strong in tough times
MANITOBA manufacturers continue to demonstrate strength in the face of withering losses nationally, posting the second smallest slippage in a key industry measure in November, according to Statistics Canada. Canada-wide, manufacturing suffered its fourth consecutive monthly sales drop, falling 6.4 per cent to its lowest level in four years.
0109PORTPortage looks like boom town in 2008 The 2008 building permit numbers are out, and they show more people applied to build a house in the city than in the previous year.
Permits for new single residential dwellings saw the biggest jump with 41 issued in 2008 worth about $7.2 million compared to 29 in 2007 worth about $5.8 million.
Not only were permit numbers up for single residential dwellings, but the overall numbers were up, as well.
Heritage building advocates and Exchange District residents are alarmed by Manitoba Hydro`s plan to gut three historical buildings on McDermot Avenue to make way for the expansion of an area substation. Hydro spokesman Glenn Schneider said the utility is in discussions to buy three century-old buildings on McDermot between Princess and King streets.
City hall may soon be embroiled in a chicken-or-egg debate about what came first: a $400-million IKEA project or the need to widen roads in southwest Winnipeg. The city and province say a 1.5-million-square-foot commercial development proposed for the southwest corner of Kenaston Boulevard and Sterling Lyon Parkway is speeding up existing infrastructure plans, but urbanist critics charge the developer is actually driving the planning process.
There will still be some heat, but the Winnipeg housing market in 2009 won`t be as hot as it was the last couple years, says the Canadian Association of Accredited Mortgage Professionals.
Will Dunning, a market prognosticator and chief economist for CAAMP, told the WinnipegREALTORS group yesterday the market over the next 12 months will be difficult to predict across Canada, as the volatility the national economy has experienced over the last three months continues.
