ON Economic Fundamentals 2008-08

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City propane facility to be inspected

In the wake of the Sunrise Propane explosion in Downsview, the Technical Standards and Safety Authority (TSSA) will conduct a re-audit of all propane facilities in Ontario.
TSSA says the inspections will occur in two phases, with the first phase to be completed by this Friday.
Ontario`s Small Business and Consumer Services Minister Harinder Takhar, who`s also the MPP for Mississauga-Erindale, requested a plan of action from the TSSA.
The re-audit will apply to facilities with a permanent storage capacity of more than 5,000 gallons, starting with those that have the greatest risk of harm in case of an accident. Only one of Mississauga`s 43 facilities — Super Save Disposal on Tranmere Dr. — is in this category.

http://mississauga.com/article/17894

 

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Condo boom coming to an end: report

New condos are still shooting up to crowd the Toronto skyline, but behind the scenes the condo boom times are ending, a new report predicts. "We`re expecting a slowdown in 2009," said Jane Renwick, editor and vice-president of Urbanation, a condominium market research company.

"So we would say that we were at 22,000 [condo] sales at the end of 2007. We`re predicting 16,000 sales to round out this year. And we`re expecting sales to dip beyond that in 2009."

Urbanation released a report yesterday about the Toronto condo market`s second quarter of 2008.

Following record condo sales in 2007, she said, the market is now back to 2005 and 2006 levels.

http://www.nationalpost.com/todays_paper/s....html?id=735190

 

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Cave Springs planners wary of visitor traffic

but not too public.

That`s the tentative plan for Cave Springs Conservation Area, the beautiful but off-the-beaten-path escarpment property in Beamsville.

The Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority presented a draft master plan to the public Tuesday night for the 86- acre property.

Creating the management plan has been "a bit of a wrestling match," land management director Darcy Baker told a crowd of close to 40 people.

"We`re trying to balance people`s desire to see the site with protecting the natural resource."

http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/Article....aspx?e=1164603

 

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Arena cost report falls short of expectations

Mayor Ron Eddy got less than he hoped for at a Tuesday meeting where politicians compared the cost of Brant County`s proposed twin-pad arena with arena facilities in other municipalities.

"It`s not what I really wanted or asked for," Eddy said. "I wanted a real, basic comparison."

Eddy was referring to a report prepared by Clare Wamsteeker, the county`s property and building maintenance manager, which compared the cost of Brant`s proposed arena with the cost of similar projects in the Township of Woolwich and Township of Wilmot.

County residents have recently raised concerns that the arena project may be costing Brant too much, especially when compared to the price other municipalities have recently paid. Meeting as committee of the whole, councillors on Tuesday were given the opportunity to ask questions about the cost of the county`s project.

http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/ArticleDi....aspx?e=1163847

 

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Raid on Lakeshore home uncovers pot grow-op

LAKESHORE - A Lakeshore man is in jail after police uncovered an alleged marijuana-growing operation in his house Monday.

The Essex OPP Crime Unit and Emergency Response Team executed a search warrant at a residence on County Road 2 in Lakeshore and found 188 marijuana plants in various stages of growth. Officers seized cultivation tools including fans, timers, lights, wires and other associated growing material.

http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/news/sto...1b-362d76fdfdb5

 

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Water plant funds OK`d

City council has approved up to $37 million in debentures issued to the Ontario Infrastructure Projects Corporation for the near-complete Lou Romano Water Reclamation Plant upgrade and expansion project.

This decision Monday confirms the city`s commitment to permanent funding through the OIPC, which is a government corporation that provides municipalities with loans for renewing local infrastructure, and converts temporary borrowing to long-term borrowing by extending their original agreement to the end of 2009.

http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/news/sto...2f-8e4061ca25c9

 

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Manufacturers` sales show surprising strength

The value of Canadian wholesale trade rose two per cent to $45.2 billion in June, the fifth increase in six months, Statistics Canada said yesterday.

That was above economists` forecasts of a 0.7-per-cent gain in manufacturing sales, following a revised 1.7-per-cent rise in May.

The federal agency said June`s increase "was largely a result of higher demand for automotive products."

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/b...cd-4b8b58e5bb79

 

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Panel rejects new limits on complex developments

Two ideas for tightening the way the city handles complex development proposals got a rough ride yesterday with the economic affairs committee.

The proposals came after the 725-hectare, multibillion-dollar Kanata West project near Scotiabank Place was frozen because a private consultant made a mistake estimating the likelihood of flooding from the Carp River, which runs through the property. Ontario Environment Minister John Gerretsen has imposed several criteria that must be met before building can recommence, aimed at making sure all the construction there happens on safe ground.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/c...eb-26a3b3292d01

 

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Ottawa has four, not two, major propane facilities

TORONTO - City officials were unaware of two large-scale propane facilities in town similar to the one that exploded in Toronto earlier this month, a fact they blame on the provincial regulator that oversees those sites.

Barre Campbell, a city spokesman, said officials got in touch with the Technical Standards Safety Authority (TSSA), an arm`s-length government agency, last week following the fatal explosion at Sunrise Propane in Toronto`s north end. They were told about a site off Hunt Club Road and one outside the city limits, in Vars.

"We contacted the TSSA last week and asked them what was comparable here in Ottawa and they gave us those two locations," Mr. Campbell said.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/c...3f-b7eeda6b02e8

 

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Heart centre lands $35m

The federal government is committing $35 million to a new Hamilton cardiac centre that will pull together world-class researchers from substandard nooks and crannies across the city.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper made the announcement yesterday after touring construction at the David Braley Cardiac, Vascular and Stroke Research Institute.

The centre at Hamilton Health Sciences will "cement Hamilton`s reputation as a global centre of excellence" in heart research, he said.

http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/421792

 

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PM pledges $500m for Pan Ams

The answer seemed practised, but Prime Minister Stephen Harper confirmed the depth of his government`s commitment to the 2015 Pan Am Games yesterday.

It is "willing to support the Games up to $500 million, exclusive of security costs," he told a gathering at Hamilton General Hospital.

And while that`s a bit shy of the $600 million or so the Ontario government was looking for, bid backers such as businessman David Braley said the math still works, even with the caveat about security costs, which can be a wild card in a Games budget.

Braley was one reason Harper was in Hamilton with a cheque for $34.7 million toward the estimated $91-million cost of the David Braley Cardiac, Vascular and Stroke Research Institute at the General.

http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/421816

 

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Developers reach out

A group of area developers has modified its proposals, including having the city give a percentage of its taxes to Six Nations, to try to end the troubling land claims dispute.

The Haldimand Tract Good Neighbours Coalition is now recommending Ottawa collect some revenue in consideration of development on behalf of Six Nations and, in exchange, protests that have halted various projects be suspended while talks on land claims are concluded.

http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/421753

 

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North Dumfries health centre to open next month

AYR

The doors of a community healthy centre here are expected to open by Sept. 30.

The modular building is two-thirds done, said Coun. Ben Benninger of North Dumfries council, who is also co-chair of the health centre committee.

The remaining parts of the portable building are under construction. All parts will be delivered to a site already prepared beside Cedar Creek public school before Labour Day.

"We want to make sure they`re in place before the kiddies return to school," Benninger said.

http://news.therecord.com/News/Local/article/401782

 

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Mould debate still fresh for parents

GUELPH

Portable buildings at the centre of a safety disagreement between the Catholic school board and parents at a south-end elementary school will likely be used as classrooms when school starts in two weeks.

A group of parents at St. Paul Catholic School said environmental contamination in portable classrooms caused rashes on several Grade 3 students last school year.

They are threatening legal action if their children get sick in the portable classrooms again this year.

"I am not going to stop until I feel confident and comfortable that our children have a safe and healthy learning environment at St. Paul Catholic School," said Steve Stewart, who leads the group of concerned parents.

http://news.guelphmercury.com/News/article/370120

 

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Conestoga gets $21M for new campus

KITCHENER

Conestoga College will get $21 million for a Cambridge campus alongside Highway 401, Premier Dalton McGuinty said yesterday.

The money will kick-start the new $50-million campus, which has been five years in the making, college president John Tibbits said.

"Other than the opening of the college, this is the biggest announcement we`ve ever had," Tibbits said.

McGuinty made the announcement after visiting the Toyota plant in Cambridge yesterday morning. The automaker`s training centre received $22.1 million in the provincial budget in March, when the Liberal government announced its $1.5 billion, three-year "Skills to Jobs Action Plan."

http://news.guelphmercury.com/Business/article/370077

 

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Clock ticking for public to weigh in on ethanol application

OSHAWA -- As council prepares to vote this fall on whether to allow an ethanol plant at the waterfront, the company behind the proposal is getting its ducks in a row.

On Aug. 11, Farmtech Energy Corporation applied to the Ministry of the Environment for a certificate of approval -- a permit that lays out enforceable requirements to protect the environment and human health. The public has a standard 30-day window to comment on the application, but some members of council are up in arms this week, saying no one was aware anything had been filed.

http://newsdurhamregion.com/news/oshawa/article/106404

 

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City gears up for bike rental plan

Toronto is getting the wheels in motion to roll out a high-tech rent-a-bike program next year, not unlike a wildly successful one in Paris, says the head of the city`s cycling committee.

"It will be announced sometime in the late fall and launched in the summer of 2009," Councillor Adrian Heaps said.

Heaps said Toronto plans to emulate the best aspects of programs in other jurisdictions and would include automated stations, with swipe-card access, with a subscription that would give access to a uniform style of bicycle "that is tried and proven around the world."

"It can be a one-speed or three-speed bicycle with a kind of mousetrap rack on the back where you can put books or a briefcase," he added.

http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/482631

 

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Asbestos cleanup nears end

The asbestos cleanup of the area rocked by the explosion at Sunrise Propane should be done by tomorrow, but the city could be on the hook for as much as $1.5 million in costs.

When the city assumed responsibility for cleaning the area, the first priority was ensuring it was safe and that people could live in the homes, Mayor David Miller told reporters yesterday.

"Our second priority will be getting repaid by Sunrise Propane. We will work on that through appropriate legal channels," he said, noting the city may also be able to seek costs from the owner of the site under environmental regulations.

http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/482628

 

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New home project hole lot of nothing

It`s the pits, living cheek-by-jowl with a gaping hole, and even more aggravating when it`s gone on for 14 years.

Back in 1994, an enterprising fellow purchased a narrow strip of property between a home and a duplex on King Edward Ave., near Danforth and Woodbine Aves., intending to build a house on it.

A hole for the foundation was dug and work began, but the project soon ground to a halt and has been stalled ever since.

http://www.thestar.com/GTA/Fixer/article/482632

 

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McGuinty mulls safety changes after propane blast

HAMILTON–Premier Dalton McGuinty is criticizing apparent shortcomings in the inspection of large propane facilities in the wake of the fatal propane explosion.

"Something didn`t work, there`s no doubt about that," the Premier told reporters yesterday.

Increasing the heat on the troubled Technical Standards and Safety Association, McGuinty conceded the industry-administered organization may have to be brought into the public realm.

http://www.thestar.com/News/Ontario/article/482630