Ontario Economic Fundamentals

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Community group will manage dock: Town

A community association will manage the Roches Point dock and beachfront on Lake Simcoe, after Georgina council voted unanimously last week to give them the green light.

The move comes after years of complaints of drunken rowdiness, illegal fishing, noise and drug abuse at the town-owned public dock.

http://www.yorkregion.com/News/Georgina/article/72421

 

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Parking, garbage problems draw few merchants

Ideas on how to improve parking behind the downtown businesses on Main Street were put forward at a meeting last week, but very few property owners were there to hear them.

The meeting, which focused on Commercial Street between Church Street and Mill Street and adjacent parking lots, was hosted by the town of Whitchurch-Stouffville.

http://www.yorkregion.com/News/Whitchurch-...e/article/72493

 

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25,000 jobs lost in Ontario in March

OTTAWA–Canada`s red-hot labour market caught a chill from U.S. recessionary winds in March as the spreading economic gloom sliced 47,000 full-time jobs from the payrolls in manufacturing-heavy Ontario and Quebec.

The overall employment picture was mildly positive, with 14,600 net new jobs created nationally and the unemployment rate edging up a fifth of a percentage point to 6 per cent, mostly because more Canadians were looking for work.

http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/410447

 

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Reno contracts should never be taken lightly

A decision of the Ontario Superior Court released late last year provides a useful lesson to homeowners on entering into a contract for the renovation of a house. In May 2004, Peter Polito signed a written agreement with his contractor, William Mandel, for the addition of a sunroom to the Polito home in Cambridge.

Mandel`s company, Tri-Bear Construction, agreed to build the room for $50,000.

http://www.thestar.com/living/article/409332

 

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Piano lessons hit sour note with neighbours

Q : Is a unit owner entitled to give piano lessons in her residential unit if sound transmission is annoying to her neighbours?

http://www.thestar.com/NewsandFeatures/Reg.../article/408935

 

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How to minimize reno pain

Some tips for those of you heading out into the renovation abyss:

Have a Plan: "Before you go anywhere near a contractor, make sure you know what you want," says University of Toronto professor Michael Pharoah. That includes all of the fixtures and fittings that you`re going to need.

Look beyond the price tag: Neither cheap nor expensive guarantees a good job, says Pharoah. He notes of his experience with Abbotsford Group: "They`re probably not the cheapest thing in town but the quality of the work and what Paul Mior (the owner) puts into it is exceptional."

http://www.thestar.com/living/article/409400

 

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$27M down the drain with Manotick pipeline plan

Ottawa - City councillors are set to approve next week a $27-million sewage pipeline that will serve 376 homes and businesses in Manotick. It`s an astoundingly expensive misuse of old technology that`s all but certain to guarantee the big expansion of the village that residents have opposed.

There`s no doubt that residents in Manotick`s Hillside Gardens neighbourhood and the village core need sewers, but the cost per household of a pipeline to the main sewer system has always been prohibitive. It still is, but the city is using some fancy accounting to make the big pipe plan seem reasonable.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/c...72-318dd7d8899b

 

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Rural is the new urban: When the city comes to town

Ottawa - For almost half a century, Bruce Webster has watched with pride as Ottawa grew from a "cow town" into a major city. But now he worries about the survival of the city`s rural communities. As politicians gather for another summit on rural issues, Mr. Webster and other community leaders wonder if anyone at city hall is paying attention to the dangers of creeping urbanization.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/c...88-84977cf1d8bc

 

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Impose conditions before you sign

Q: My son and his wife recently purchased a condo. They did not have it inspected, nor did they place any conditions on the offer to purchase other than it being subject to financing.

After moving in, they did some renovations and discovered that the previous owner made questionable upgrades to the electrical wiring that have obviously never been inspected, nor approved by authorities. Their insurance company has indicated they want to have the house inspected and I suspect they will demand that the wiring be brought up to code. Do they have any recourse against the seller?

R.W.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/h...66-a88d2c70edf9

 

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Hospital reacts to city plan

Hamilton Health Sciences says its decision to locate a new urgent care centre below the Mountain reflects the reality of where the city`s heaviest population growth will be in the next 25 years.

The centre will not go on the southwest Mountain, where hospital planners assumed the city`s greatest growth would be, but below the escarpment where that growth will actually occur.

http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/350133

 

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Ensuring water for the future

UXBRIDGE -- They weren`t drilling for oil, but they found something just as valuable for the future.
The Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority (LSRCA), along with Allan Wright Water Wells Inc. and others came together on Meyers Road near Zephyr on April 3 to test a theory: the LSRCA believed there was an underground source of drinking water there, and it was right.

http://newsdurhamregion.com/news/article/96514

 

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Preparing for Wal-Mart

BOWMANVILLE -- When Rose Turner steps outside her King Street coffee and flower shop, she can`t help but feel saddened by the vacant storefronts that dot historic downtown. "A lot of stores seemed to have closed recently. I want to make sure I don`t," she said.

Over the past few years, some were victims of a lacklustre economy, others closed after retirements, deaths or myriad factors.

With their proximity to Oshawa and its major mall, Oshawa Centre, and box stores like Wal-Mart and Home Depot, Bowmanville merchants have never had an easy time staying afloat.

http://newsdurhamregion.com/news/breaking_news/article/96399

 

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Wasaga beach braces for worst of flooding; Angus residents in clean up mode

Waters that were rising fast and flowing faster are beginning to subside.

While local businesses and homeowners are in cleanup mode, other residents further downstream of the Nottawasaga River are expecting the worst this weekend.

Burt Patriquin, who lives on Don Ross Drive next to the Nottawasaga River, north of Highway 90, couldn`t even get off his property Wednesday the water was so high.

http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/ArticleDi...%3b+IAN+MCINROY

 

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Jumbo store on the horizon; Construction of giant Wal-Mart supercentre could start this month.

Work on a Wal-Mart SuperCentre, the largest big-box store to be constructed in Orillia, could begin later this month.

Site plans for the the $11-million building - it will have a full-sized grocery store in addition to a department store, garden centre and tire and lube operation - are almost finalized, says the city`s chief building official, Kelly Smith.

On April 14, the project will come to council for final zoning approval, after which the developer will be in a position to get a building permit.

http://www.orilliapacket.com/ArticleDispla...uth=Colin+McKim

 

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Conservation plans working, electricity distributor says

York Region`s PowerStream is celebrating in a big way at the news its conservation programs have saved nearly 60 million kilowatt-hours over the past three years.

In a document sent to the Ontario Energy Board Monday, PowerStream reported its conservation demand management programs for residential and business customers in Aurora, Markham, Richmond Hill and Vaughan have saved 59.7 million kWh from 2004 to 2007.

http://www.yorkregion.com/News/Regional%20News/article/72590

 

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York`s resale market fares better than Toronto`s

The suburban real estate industry continues to beat Toronto`s as the 2008 market falls behind 2007`s record-breaking year. Housing sales in Toronto declined by 27 per cent compared to last year`s numbers, but only 18 per cent in the 905 area, according to the latest statistics from the Toronto Real Estate Board.

http://www.yorkregion.com/News/Regional%20News/article/72506

 

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Time, cash key to better transit trends

Politicians are spending big to expand public transit. It`s not getting many of us out of our cars.

In May 2006, in Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge, 10,905 residents rode transit to work, new census counts show. That`s up from 8,030 residents in May 2001.

The commuter increase, 36 per cent, sounds impressive but represents only 2,875 more passengers on Grand River Transit. And it was not cheap to get them on the bus. Politicians almost doubled spending on conventional transit over this period, to $52 million a year in 2006.

http://news.therecord.com/News/Local/article/332464

 

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Home sales cool slightly in March

WATERLOO REGION

Home sales in Kitchener and Waterloo fell for the second month in a row in March, cooling slightly from last year`s record pace.

Across the two cities, 606 homes were sold last month, a decrease of 1.6 per cent from March 2007. The drop follows a modest decline in February.

March statistics from the Real Estate Board of Cambridge have not yet been released.

http://news.therecord.com/Business/article/332525

 

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County looks at 2.9 per cent levy increase

Renfrew County residents can expect an increase in the county portion of their 2008 tax bill.

At Thursday`s full-day budget workshop session, members of county council seemed content to move forward on a budget with a 2.9 per cent increase in the tax levy.

An increase in property assessment translates into a 1.1 per cent residential tax rate increase for 2008.

http://www.thedailyobserver.ca/ArticleDisp...TINA+PEPLINSKIE

 

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Road to a better Niagara; SUMMIT LOOKS AT WAYS TO JUMPSTART REGION`S ECONOMY

The road to recovery in Niagara includes better roads and rail and shipping, all linked together. More transit and less talk. An aggressive new Niagara brand, shouted from the rooftops with a united voice. Partnerships with other Ontario regions to bring in new trade and businesses. A focused strategy to keep young graduates from leaving. On Friday, more than 200 politicians, business people and community leaders put their heads together to brainstorm new ways to salvage and grow Niagara`s shaky economy. The suggestions came fast and furious Friday, to the delight of St. Catharines Mayor Brian McMullan. We need to be pro-active and we need to be aggressive and we need to do it now, said McMullan, who first called for an economic summit in January after a series of local plant closures. Niagara has an economic-growth strategy and it`s a good plan, but weak on specifics. What I believe will come out of this (summit) is a more detailed, action-oriented strategy. We need that to happen. The forum was organized around a review and update of Niagara`s three year-old economic-growth strategy.

http://www.wellandtribune.ca/ArticleDispla...THEW+VAN+DONGEN