Amid the continuing economic downtown, the news worsens for Aurora`s ailing automotive sector.
The town has been hit hard by the woes of the Big Three automakers with plant closures and job cuts being the result. November saw automotive giant Magna announce the closure of a pair of plants in Newmarket and Aurora slashing 850 jobs, 350 of which are in Aurora. Those cuts and closures came on top of other consolidations and lay-offs confirmed by Magna earlier that month following the release of dismal third quarter earning results.
Once new light standards and traffic signals are installed and the top layer of asphalt is laid, phase one of Stouffville`s main drag reconstruction project will be complete, but that won`t occur until next spring.
Although the project, inclusive of these last remaining items, was to be done this fall, Paul Whitehouse, Whitchurch-Stouffville`s director of public works, insists everything is on schedule. "Most of the hard structure work is done," he said.
1208DCLR CANDU can do lots for Clarington, says representative
BOWMANVILLE -- The Province`s decision to build new nuclear reactors in Bowmanville is a good one, says Dr. Neil Alexander. But what would be even better for Clarington, and for Ontario, would be if the Province chooses to go with Canadian-designed CANDU reactors on the site, he said.
1208DPIK Company makes case for rebuilding reactors
AJAX -- Ontario Power Generation laid out why it should be allowed to refurbish four Pickering reactors during a one-day hearing of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC). The CNSC moved the meeting to Ajax this Wednesday, given the interest in the community on the refurbishment.
GO Transit could begin buying up train tracks as early as next year as part of a strategy to improve reliability and attract a greater share of the commuter population.
GO now owns only portions of its rail system: a segment around Union Station; the eastern portion of the Lakeshore route; and parts of the Barrie and Stouffville lines.
Economic worries and a declining real estate market has some would-be home buyers staying put in rental housing, resulting in sharply declining rental apartment vacancy rates in Toronto.
The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. reported yesterday the city`s vacancy rate fell to 2.1 per cent this year, compared with 3.2 per cent last year. The drop comes on the heels of a Bank of Canada warning yesterday that some Canadians may lose their homes if the economic crisis gets worse.
1208ONTR U.S. automakers need lifeline as bailout fails
WASHINGTON–Their efforts in the U.S. Congress squashed, automakers are depending upon a reluctant White House to quickly provide a multibillion-dollar lifeline to help them avoid imminent collapse.
General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC, which have said they could run out of cash within weeks, have few options left after the dramatic defeat in the Senate of a US$14-billion bailout for the domestic auto industry.
A local church is buying the former Cinema 4 on Colborne Street, planning to convert the four-screen complex into a place of worship.
The sale is conditional on a zoning change that has yet to be approved by city council.
The pastor of the church, which has been holding Sunday services in an Orillia school, has asked that the identity of the church not be made public until the deal closes.
An application for the zoning change was recently endorsed by Orillia`s planning advisory committee.
The city continues to make moves now to expand the future use of Sandy Hollow landfill.
Barrie councillors have given initial approval to a $4.46-million project to help create more space in the landfill, located west of Ferndale Drive North.
Craig Hebert, the city`s operations director, said this process addresses the difference between how waste is handled now, and how it was handled for years before.
"It was sort of thrown in and there was some compacting. Sand was mixed in and it accumulated over years." he said.
Innisfil`s future GO train station will stay in Lefroy.
It was a side issue at a recent public meeting held to present a revision of the town`s Official Plan amendment No. 1 -- which, when first adopted in 2006, would have increased the town`s target population to 105,000 by 2026.
As a result of province`s Places to Grow policy and the Simcoe County`s growth management strategy and its new Official Plan, expansion plans have been reduced to a target population of 65,000.
A survey conducted by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) in the Hamilton - Burlington area indicates a drop in vacancy rates in the rental housing market.
The report says that people preferred to retain their renter status rather than buy because of the tough economic times.
Sarah Fong, a senior market analyst at the CMHC says renting appears to be the strategy of choice.
The cruel months of winter came early for Riccardo Guglietti.
His Burlington lumber company normally sees a slowdown in January. But this year, the decline in residential construction has been chilling business for months.
"We`re dead, absolutely dead," said Guglietti, general manager at Tamarack Lumber. "When this starts in the beginning of October and you`ve still got the winter to go through, it`s pretty scary."
1208KWCG Region trims proposed tax increase to four per cent
WATERLOO REGION
Regional council has whittled down its proposed 2009 budget to a four per cent tax hike.
An average property owner, with a house assessed at $214,000, could pay about $55 more in regional taxes next year if councillors make no changes to the budget when it is approved Jan. 14.
"It is a very flatline budget," Waterloo Region Chair Ken Seiling said in an interview this week after the latest budget talks.
1208KWCG City, developer continue OMB talks over Lafarge property
GUELPH
Mediation between both sides involved in the dispute over development on the former Lafarge lands remains unresolved. The sides -- Silvercreek (Guelph) Developments Ltd., the neighbourhood group, other local developers and the city -- have been meeting in a bid to come to an agreement before the Ontario Municipal Board hearing, scheduled to start Jan. 12.
1208YORK Growth plans in Simcoe County grab York`s attention
A difference of opinion could lead to Simcoe County and York Region battling each other at the Ontario Municipal Board.
Our northerly neighbour approved its official plan last week, outlining growth plans for the next 25 years, and the region voiced concerns about what it means for its northern municipalities. "We`re very supportive of our neighbours, but they also have to be supportive of us," regional chairperson Bill Fisch said at last week`s planning committee meeting.
How tall Markham Centre`s buildings will be is all in the numbers.
But council doesn`t have them all yet.
Council`s development services committee received a presentation on the ongoing Markham Centre density and height review on at its Dec. 9 meeting and was shown some preliminary designs. "These are nice buildings," said Councillor Joe Virgilio, whose ward covers much of Markham Centre. "But how many do we need and how high do we have to go?"
1208ONTR
Suppliers demand cash from troubled Chrysler
WASHINGTON/TORONTO — A major oil company and a utility are demanding cash up front from ailing Chrysler LLC, offering a glimpse of the threat posed by a collapse of the North American auto supply chain. Executives at Chrysler, which is considered the most vulnerable of the Detroit Three, refused yesterday to identify the two suppliers.
"The biggest risk we have is our suppliers coming and saying `I want to be paid on delivery,`" Chrysler chief financial officer Ron Kolka explained.
I`ll admit it: as little as a few months ago, you could have classified Condo Chic(k) as something of a smugly satisfied condo buyer.
Smug as in, "OMG, look how little I paid for my place a year ago and now it`s worth a trillion dollars (or some such) more!" Okay, so my thoughts weren`t quite so real-estate-junkie-meets-Valley-girl, but you get the idea. Like most buyers, I did take pleasure in knowing my pre-construction condo was magically going up in price before it was even constructed. Not so much anymore.
