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Ontario Economic Fundamentals 2008 Q2

50,000 acres of controversy

As a child in Ottawa in the 1950s, Valerie Cousins didn`t need to know words like "gem," "jewel" or "treasure" to understand that the Central Experimental Farm was a unique landmark. She knew instinctively that the woodlands and forests where she tobogganned or played hide-and-seek with friends, were very special. For half a century, the farm has been such a part of her life that she can`t imagine how anyone would dream of developing a natural paradise that some call Ottawa`s Garden of Eden.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/c...3e-7e4626feb23e
 
Fielding tackles increasing labour challenges

The administrator who helped rescue London city hall from labour unrest acknowledges that he now faces union challenges of his own.

Chief administrator Jeff Fielding was days on the job in May of 2004 when he reached out to a sometimes-combative leader of the city`s outside workers to restart stalled negotiations. His tenure since has been mostly marked by close relations with union leaders and long-term contracts that brought stability.

http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/News/Local/200...600421-sun.html
 
Landlord licensing bylaw not properly thought out

Oshawa council is finding itself in hot water, again, but this time it`s over two exemptions it gave to the City`s new licensing bylaw that limits the amount of bedrooms a house owner can rent out. Last month two landlords asked council`s finance and administration committee for an exemption from the four-bedroom limit in the new rental housing bylaw, which aims to control student housing near Durham College and UOIT.

http://newsdurhamregion.com/news/oshawa/article/98933
 
2,000 jobs vanish

The London area has lost the equivalent of a large assembly plant in the number of job losses that have hammered the auto parts industry here, a report shows.

More than 2,000 parts jobs have vanished through layoffs and closings as the manufacturing downturn pummels what had been a local business strength. The results are gathered in a first-ever survey by Canadian Auto Workers Local 27, which represents workers at the bulk of parts industries in and around the city.

http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/News/Local/200...614111-sun.html
 
`Dream" blooms in downtown Paris

The wish that memories of departed loved ones remain eternal has been given expression in a garden on the main road through Paris.

More than 100 people turned out Saturday for the dedication of the Garden of Hope, terraced down a slope of vacant land just up from Grand River Street North and William Street.

As they listened to accolades from Brant County crier Larry Davis, they could see rushes of more than 3,000 brightly blossomed tulips and daffodils nestled in gigantic armour stones. There were also four strategically placed memorial benches dedicated by the families of Neil Stewart, Cathy Hoogstraten, Alvin and Evelyn Keffer, and Jim Potentier, who all passed away from cancer.

http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/ArticleDi...el-Allan+Marion
 
Building fees battle rages; Builders wonder if high development charges decrease far enough

Barrie developers continue to come down hard on higher development charges.

"The proposed rates at the suggested levels are too high for development to continue and must be reduced," said Mike Dejean of long-time city developer BIN Management.

He says industrial development charges must remain economical if Barrie is to both retain its industry and bring new ones to the city.

BIN and nine other non-residential landowners and developers have hired the legal firm of Townsend, Rogers LLP to review the city`s background Development Charges Act (DCA) study, by Watson & Associates Economists.

http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/ArticleDi...auth=BOB+BRUTON
 
McGuinty woos deals with U.K.

LONDON -- Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty left his province`s current economic woes back home when he pitched investment opportunities to a business crowd in central London yesterday. In a lively speech to about 200 at the Canadian-U.K. Chamber of Commerce, McGuinty put the spotlight on what he considered Ontario`s strengths: the birthplace of RIM`s globally popular BlackBerry; a centre for biotechnology and medical research; and the province with the highest percentage of people with post-secondary degrees in the western world.

http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/Business/2008/...614071-sun.html
 
The rebirth of downtown

They are empty-nesters with spare cash and a hankering for a new urban lifestyle, or younger professionals who`d rather stroll down the street for a latte than roadrage to the suburban power centre.

Around Ottawa in the last few years, legions of homebuyers like Crystallina Chiu and Nancy and Pierre Gagné have been snatching up new condos and fuelling the revival of the city`s moribund downtown.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/c...76-b0963ed2d311
 
Renegotiation rumours hit BCE stock

TORONTO - BCE Inc. shares slumped more than five per cent in U.S. trading yesterday following reports that financiers behind the sale of the telecommunications giant want to restructure the $52-billion private-equity deal led by Ontario Teachers` Pension Plan.

The New York Times, citing unidentified sources, wrote yesterday that talks over the BCE deal began to fray late on Friday, and that the banks sent the buyers a set of revised terms, including higher interest rates, tighter loan restrictions and stronger protection that far exceeded original terms.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/b...6a-7c8ecc7e9b32
 
Copper is golden as thieves eye all metals

The wee hours of May 5: A white tractor-trailer full of steel slab thunders past the guard shack at Dofasco`s gates in Hamilton.

It makes a sharp turn past scrambling security guards, runs a pair of red lights and vanishes.

And just like that, $40,000 worth of steel is gone.

http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/371849
 
Cargill union accepts contract

GUELPH

Unionized workers at Cargill Meat Solutions voted 60 per cent in favour of a new contract Saturday.

"The plant will be operational," union representative Michael Duden said. "That`s good news."

The 900 slaughterhouse employees of the United Food and Commercial Workers of Canada Local 175 had earlier voted to strike if a deal was not ratified by Saturday.

http://news.guelphmercury.com/News/article/330075
 
Computer maker hits a milestone

May 21, 2008 07:39 AM -
Mississauga computer maker Hewlett Packard announced today that it has produced one million desktop personal computers at its CanBuild facility that opened here in 2003.
To mark the milestone, the millionth PC — an HP Compaq dc7800 Ultra Slim Desktop — will be donated to Ronald McDonald House Charities of Canada.
Hewlett Packard will donate another dozen HP notebooks, one for each Ronald McDonald House location in Canada.

http://mississauga.com/article/14231
 
Potters Guild site renews hopes

Every promise of potential is haunted by decades of neglect, but the hoped-for renaissance of Old East Village as an arts and culture stronghold may truly be underway. The promising arrival of the London Potters Guild is being heralded as possibly the best signal yet that the troubled Dundas Street corridor just east of Adelaide Street could be reborn as a haven for artists and niche shopping.

http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/News/Local/200...624976-sun.html
 
Wi-Fi controversy reignited in Thorold

Anca Gaston worries there are strings attached to the wireless broadband network being tested in a Thorold neighbourhood.

Those strings, she fears, lead to a tangled mess of potential health issues that had Gaston, along with a resident of the affected Confederation Heights neighbourhood and a Brock University employee, who becomes physically ill in the presence of Wi-Fi, urging Thorold council Tuesday night to do away with the pilot project altogether or move the transmitters to industrial areas, limiting residents` exposure to potentially harmful radiation they`re emitting.

"My recommendation would be to minimize exposure...," said Gaston, a St. Catharines resident. "(It`s) a frivolous technology. We`ve lived with cables for years."

http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/Article...+Standard+Staff
 
Tower project supporters missing big picture: planner; `Emphasis should be on the planning policy framework,` Benson says

The experts who liked the Port Dalhousie tower project were "picking and choosing" which guidelines they applied to the project, says the Region`s planner, who recommended denying the proposal.

But regional planner Curt Benson said that instead of relying on specific guidelines, the development should be evaluated against the overall planning framework established by the city, the Region and the province.

"The overall theme is they (other experts) have put emphasis and weight on the Region`s Model Urban Design Guidelines and the Port Dalhousie Guidelines for Conservation and Change, when the emphasis should be on the planning policy framework," Benson testified Tuesday at the Ontario Municipal Board hearing being held to determine the fate of the Port Place proposal.

http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/Article...MARLENE+BERGSMA
 
Laurier dean wants to grow campus

If Laurier Brantford`s new dean looks familiar, it`s because he is. Although he has been doing the job for the past three years, Bruce Arai has only now been officially appointed the city campus`s dean.

Arai has been at the flourishing campus since 2003, first as associate dean and then acting dean, taking a lead role in creating new programs, including criminology, leadership and health administration. He says he plans to do more of the same.

"I`m thrilled to have been chosen dean," Arai said on Tuesday. "One of my top priorities is continued program development. We need to expand programs to attract new students."

http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/ArticleDi...h=Michelle+Ruby
 
Queen`s Park asked to study shifting future Hwy. 24 route; Brant County council supports developer`s request in principle

Brant County will ask the province to consider shifting the southern end of a proposed new Highway 24 eastward and potentially create a new interchange at Jerseyville Road.

Councillors voted to make the request during a meeting of council on Tuesday, following a lobbying effort by Concord-based development company First Urban, which had asked Brant to support in principle a Jerseyville Road interchange.

The province is in the planning stages of creating a new Highway 24, which would serve as a link between Brantford and Cambridge, connecting with Highway 401 in the north and Highway 403 in the south.

http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/ArticleDi...ohn+Paul+Zronik
 
McGuinty pitching Ontario to Fiat

Some tourists go to Italy for great deals on Gucci or Prada garb, but Premier Dalton McGuinty is hoping to bring back a far more valuable souvenir.

McGuinty is meeting today in Turin with senior officials from auto giant Fiat in a bid to secure a new car plant that would aid Ontario`s struggling manufacturing sector.

"We`ve heard that Fiat has at least a high-level interest in a new North American assembly plant, so I`m going to meet with them directly, let them know that if they are contemplating doing that, we are very interested and we bring a lot to the table," the premier said in London.

http://www.thestar.com/News/Ontario/article/428063
 
Injuries make city `high-risk` employer

The City of Toronto was slapped with 39 orders to correct unsafe working conditions in the second half of 2007, a record that prompted Mayor David Miller to issue uncharacteristically negative comments about the way the city is being managed.

Orders issued by Ontario`s Ministry of Labour included deficiencies in excavations, guardrails, step ladders and scaffolding.

http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/428016
 
Light rail will `destroy` Parkway

City planners` preferred option to see a light railway line along the Ottawa River Parkway came under fire last night at a packed town hall meeting at the Hintonburg Community Centre.

"It will destroy the recreational use of the parkway," Robin Goodrich said to bursts of applause from the more than 90 residents who gathered at the centre.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/c...58-359d3d7fd46c
 
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