Ontario Economic Fundamentals

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Internet service blows into town

Thanks to future wind turbines, this tiny West Kent community will soon be wired and ready to go.

Coatsworth, located within the former Romney township, will have high-speed Internet access, a service required to operate Kruger Energy`s Port Alma wind project.

Bell Canada spokesman Jason Laszlo confirmed the initiative to The Chatham Daily News on Wednesday.

He said the goal is to provide Sympatico high-speed Internet to as many people in as many communities as possible - where it is economically feasible.

http://www.chathamdailynews.ca/ArticleDisp...TREVOR+TERFLOTH

 

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Keeping immigrants here is a problem

Census data released Wednesday came as no surprise to the people who work with immigrants every day.

Statistics showed that 3.7 per cent of Welland`s population identified themselves as visible minorities in 2006, up from 2.8 per cent in 2001.

But those numbers pale in comparison with the number of immigrants who made Welland their first stop after arriving in this country, said Sathya Gnaniah, project manager at the Niagara Immigrants Employment Council.

The challenge, he added, is to keep those people here.

About 40 per cent of immigrants who come to Welland and Niagara eventually move elsewhere, usually to larger urban centres.

http://www.wellandtribune.ca/ArticleDispla...th=ALLAN+BENNER

 

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GTA house sales drop 22%

Realtor Jim Common has been riding high on one of the most bullish markets in Canadian history. Just don`t ask him about this year.

"It`s been miserable," the ReMax agent said. "Buyers just seem stopped dead in their tracks."

Toronto Real Estate Board data that were released yesterday showed the first quarter of the year was one of the worst in recent memory, with sales falling for three consecutive months. Only 6,631 transactions were recorded during March, down 22 per cent from the 8,518 sales recorded in the same month last year.

http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/410042

 

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Economy not all negative: McGuinty

Premier Dalton McGuinty is playing down a new bank economic forecast that warns Ontario is "on the brink of recession."

Faced with dire predictions in the latest RBC Economics Provincial Outlook, McGuinty yesterday emphasized the positive.

"I haven`t heard from a single economist who has projected negative growth for the province of Ontario," the premier told the Legislature.

"Many are projecting modest growth. We, ... in our recent budget, forecast growth of around 1.1 per cent. It is modest."

http://www.thestar.com/News/Ontario/article/410138

 

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Tunnel would ease crowding on PATH

Toronto planners want to dig another pedestrian tunnel north from Union Station under York St. to connect with the business district, as well as widen sidewalks along York, which would reduce vehicle space to two lanes northbound.

The plan, outlined in a report to the works and infrastructure committee, points out that GO Transit expansion plans and the Union Station renovation will increase foot traffic to and from the station.

http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/410142

 

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Decision on Eastern Ave. mall will shape city

It`s clear now that the future of Eastern Ave. is the future of Toronto. This is the battleground where the forces of big-box retail and corporate development will go head-to-head with the city itself.

Urban or suburban, that is the question that must be answered. And who gets to decide? No other challenge faced by the city has greater implications. This is where we will make it clear who we are, who we want to be, and what kind of city we think Toronto should be.

http://www.thestar.com/GTA/Columnist/article/410070

 

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Harsh winter chills Ottawa housing prices

Ottawa housing prices experienced the smallest price gains of most big Canadian cities in the first quarter with increases averaging around five per cent.

Royal LePage Real Estate Services said that tough winter conditions put a damper on sales activity.

The average price of an Ottawa resale bungalow rose 4.5 per cent to $311,583, a two-storey house rose 5.1 per cent to $309,833 and a condominium unit rose 5.7 per cent to $198,083 in the first quarter compared to a year earlier.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/b...e1-469c13082d43

 

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City to study cost of cutting Ottawa River pollution

City bureaucrats have been instructed to find ways to stop human feces from contaminating the Ottawa River. The cost is likely to be in the tens of millions of dollars.

Members of the community and protective services committee asked for a set of costed-out options after a hearing yesterday into water quality problems at Petrie Island beach. E. coli bacteria have often been found in the river off the beach, making it unsafe for swimmers.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/c...b4-b2a475980a85

 

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Arena route delay eyed

Questions were raised Thursday by city councillors over whether construction on a new access route to the $64.9-million Windsor Family Credit Union centre will be completed on time for the opening.

Work to expand McHugh Street that includes a new bridge over Little River has been delayed because of wet weather this winter causing weak soil conditions, the city`s arena steering committee was told.

http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/news/sto...94-83d1d7835087

 

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City eyes raising building fees

City staff want to hike building permit fees by 15 per cent because the building and licensing department says it is losing money under the current fee structure.

The system is supposed to be revenue-neutral. The fees are intended to cover the costs of administering inspections and other related work caused by new development.

http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/349487

 

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Soggy cleanup follows record-level floods

The worst appears to be over -- at least for now -- for soggy communities in the Grand River watershed.

Just a few hours after the Nith River churned through Ayr at record rates, water levels were receding yesterday, leaving behind a few telltale high-water marks on foundations.

With the spring melt really just underway, officials aren`t letting their guard down. But the short-term forecast "doesn`t cause us too much concern," said Dave Schultz, the Grand River Conservation Authority spokesperson.

http://news.therecord.com/News/Local/article/331910

 

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Mentoring partnership boon to newcomers seeking work

Despite having a master`s degree in business administration from a respected university in England, plus the experience of running a software company in his native Pakistan, Nayyar Sohail ended up employed as a security guard in Canada.

"My initial impression was that Canada only valued Canadian education," Sohail said during yesterday`s official launch of the Mentoring Partnership Program for Waterloo Region.

Now, because of the program, Sohail has a renewed sense of hope in his quest to apply his software and business skills here.

http://news.therecord.com/Business/article/331368

 

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$7,000 bill for cracked sidewalk stuns local builder

OSHAWA -- You break it, you bought it. Local builder Ron Davies learned that the hard way this month when the City sent him a bill for $7,000 after he accidentally cracked some sidewalk while working on a construction job.

He was shocked by the steep invoice and says this is no way for the municipality to treat builders working on projects that improve the city.

"This is the kind of thing I could fix myself for $1,500," he said. "I can`t understand how they can charge so much. It`s unfair."

http://newsdurhamregion.com/news/breaking_news/article/96372

 

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When is a driveway not a driveway?

CLARINGTON -- The thing that looks a lot like a driveway outside the house Dennis Ebbs bought in Orono? That`s not a driveway. It`s an unopened road allowance.

And if he wants it to be a driveway, it`s going to cost him $10,000, says a preliminary decision made by Clarington councillors Monday. "I bought the place under the assumption that there was a document that allowed me to use the road allowance as a driveway," Mr. Ebbs said at Clarington`s General Purpose and Administration Committee. But, as the deal progressed, no one could find the document.

http://newsdurhamregion.com/news/clarington/article/96360

 

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Brenner talks tritium

PICKERING -- Now is the time to raise the bar on community safety regarding the levels of tritium in Ontario`s drinking water, says Maurice Brenner. Mr. Brenner attended the Ontario Drinking Water Advisory Council`s (ODWAC) public consultation meeting last week on Ontario`s Drinking Water Quality Standard for Tritium. The ODWAC will report its findings to the Ontario Minister of the Environment.

http://newsdurhamregion.com/news/pickering/article/96376

 

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Looking ahead to Port Perry`s future

PORT PERRY -- An ambitious improvement plan for Port Perry`s downtown core that calls for the introduction of a heritage conservation district, as well as a myriad of ideas proposed by the public over the past year, was adopted by the municipality on Monday evening. After almost a year of public meetings and background work, Township staff brought forward their recommended `Port Perry Downtown Development Strategy` report at the March 31 council session. The effort, as part of Scugog`s official plan review, kicked off last spring with a design charette where the public was invited to share their dreams for Port Perry`s urban core. A draft of the plan was presented last fall.

http://newsdurhamregion.com/news/scugog/article/96408

 

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Taking another look at student housing issue

OSHAWA -- North Oshawa homeowner Karl Neubauer wonders when the public meetings, consultations and planning proposals surrounding the issue of student housing will ever end. "We just finished one process and that was quite a fight. Now we`re at it again," he said, referring to an outcry by local residents about the influx of students to their neighbourhoods.

http://newsdurhamregion.com/news/whitby/article/96393

 

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Coyote hunters a danger, residents say

A group of Tiny Township property owners are fired up about coyote-hunting procedures in the rural municipality.

Although considered legal by the Ministry of Natural Resources, local residents - who call themselves Concerned Citizens for Safety County Forests and Private Property - feel the hunting of coyotes and wolves, which is considered a sport, is becoming too dangerous in the populated township.

The group of about 10 people - residential owners, licensed trappers and hunters, and a retired police officer - are not requesting a ban on hunting in the township, but insist there are many safety issues regarding the hunting of coyotes and wolves in the township.

http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/ArticleDi...istina+Bernardo

 

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Local real estate sales go down.

Figures released by the real estate association show a significant drop in property sales last month compared to March 2007.

The figures, provided by the Brantford Regional Real Estate Association, indicate there were 209 sales in March, down from 235 for the same month in 2007.

The volume or overall dollar value of the sales last month also dropped when compared to 2007.

Sales last month topped the $44.4 million mark, well below the $50.5 million in sales in March 2007.

http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/ArticleDi...y.aspx?e=970896

 

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Rare flower grows at proposed condo development site

BRAMPTON - A rare species of flower, an overcrowded elementary school, and limited sewer capacity are some of the issues a multi-highrise development proposed for Heart Lake must overcome, concerned residents have been told.

However, none of it means the development won`t go ahead, either as is or in some modified form, cautions Ken Bokor, co-chair of a task force called Citizens for Managed Development at Loafer`s Lake.

"In our opinion, some sort of development will occur on the site and what the final result is, is still not fully known," Bokor said.

http://www.thebramptonguardian.com/news/article/46263