Toronto Hydro is giving 75,000 homeowners a "low-tech," energy-saving device -- a free clothesline.
"This is the first time we`re doing the campaign with a clothesline," Toronto Hydro spokeswoman Denise Attallah said.
The 40-foot long indoor/ outdoor retractable clothesline -- retail value about $13 -- will be given away over three weekends, starting on Saturday, April 26, and ending on Sunday, May 11.
Toronto`s resale housing market may be cooling off, but at least one enterprising owner has found a way to get his home noticed.
He put it on the market for $1.
The Canadian Real Estate Association says existing homes sales across the country tumbled 13 per cent for the first three months of the year compared with last year.
Toronto commuters and businesses are bracing for a possible transit strike that could see the city grind to a halt just in time for the Monday morning rush.
Subways, streetcars and buses will stand idle as of 4 a.m. Monday unless the TTC reaches a contract settlement with its largest union by Sunday at 4 p.m. – the firm deadline announced by the union yesterday.
A woman who bilked homeowners of nearly $500,000 was jeered with calls of "Shame on you" as she fled a Brampton courtroom yesterday.
Patricia Brewin, 55, was sentenced to a year of house arrest and another year less a day of overnight curfew for defrauding 19 victims in a sloppy home renovation scam.
Gatineau councillors knew about the unstable clay nearby when they approved a housing project from which six families were forced out this week because of the risk of a landslide, a councillor who voted against the development said yesterday.
Richard Côté, who argued that the clay slope was unsuitable for housing, said a geo-technical report submitted by the developer in August 2005 showed the risk of a landslide on Lafrance Street was "average to elevated."
An Ottawa-area MPP says the city will be holding commuters from his riding "hostage" if council blocks a project to widen Highway 174.
Jean-Marc Lalonde, MPP for Glengarry-Prescott-Russell, is pushing the city to go ahead with the 22-kilometre road expansion project, which would serve commuters from Rockland and other communities east of Orléans. Mr. Lalonde said four-laning the eastern highway, a project first considered more than 20 years ago, is long overdue. He says 70 per cent of the Rockland labour force commutes to Ottawa.
Bridge project fails to get provincial backing
Nepean-Carleton MPP Lisa MacLeod tried, but failed, to get a south end bridge back on the agenda at Queen`s Park yesterday. Ms. MacLeod`s resolution calling on the Liberal government to negotiate a funding arrangement with the City of Ottawa was defeated 39-18.
The Erie Street business improvement Association is pushing for changes to the streetscape that would allow about a dozen new restaurant sidewalk patios.
"They want to change the look and make it more inviting and exciting," said Coun. Fulvio Valentinis, a member of the BIA.
OTTAWA - The Canadian auto industry, including the parts sector that accounts for the lion`s share of its jobs, faces tough times, separate reports released Thursday suggest.
But both express confidence that some firms will survive and even thrive.
Ontario`s struggling manufacturing sector will make this province the weak link in Canada`s economic chain at least for the rest of this year.
Aron Gampel, vice-president and deputy chief economist of Scotiabank, told the Stoney Creek Chamber of Commerce yesterday this province is no longer the centre of Canada`s economy and needs to reshape itself.
Dufferin County will get $1,453,363 from the Ministry of Transportation for roads and bridges, according to a letter from Minister Jim Bradley.
"I will take it when it comes," said Dufferin`s warden John Oosterhof, during an April 9 meeting, when council received the letter. "We`ll see what we can do with it over the next few years. I`m sure we will put it to good use."
Permit parking on clogged streets near Brampton Civic on hold
BRAMPTON - City councillors are not quite ready to give the go-ahead to a permit parking system for beleaguered residents living near Brampton Civic Hospital.
Councillors asked city staff this week to come back with more information on a proposal for a six-month pilot project. A report outlining how a pilot project would work was discussed at length this week at Committee of Council, but politicians made no decisions. Instead, the report was sent back to works and transportation staff to examine how the project could allow for visitors to be covered by the parking permits.
Brant asked to consider sale of hydro service; County looking at ways to lower customer rates.
Brant County Power`s board of directors should consider selling the utility rather than merging it with Brantford Power, the president of a Cambridge-based utility said this week.
During a presentation to county council, John Grotheer, president of Energy+ Cambridge and North Dumfries Hydro, told politicians his company would like to enter exclusive negotiations to purchase Brant County Power and its sister company, Brant County Power Services, both owned by the municipality.
Hydro sale talk jolting; Officials mum about rumors Barrie hydro could be sold
Is Barrie Hydro on the block?
Officials with the city-owned electrical supplier, and two Barrie councillors who sit on its board of directors, won`t comment on rumours that either an offer has been received for the utility, or it could be put on the market.
But officials with these two city groups are not denying the rumours either.
And if city officials were to consider selling Barrie Hydro, this would be the time. Utility companies in Ontario have until Oct. 31 to buy each other out and get a provincial transfer tax holiday, a savings of 33 per cent on the sale price.
Torstar Corp., the owner of Canada`s largest-circulation daily, is cutting 160 jobs in a restructuring prompted by continuing weakness in the newspaper industry.
The parent company of the Toronto Star said yesterday the restructuring involves "a combination of voluntary and involuntary staff reductions.``
The company will take a $21-million charge as part of the process, but expects to save $12 million annually in labour costs.
City saves thousands through co-op power purchases
Buying power in conjunction with other cities has shaved seven per cent from Cambridge`s electricity bill over the last year. City council has approved continuing a contract with Wattsworth, a municipal co-op power company, in hopes of saving a similar amount over the next year.
High-end retail will be a part of Sportsworld Crossing
KITCHENER
Greyhound bus commuter service and high-end retail shops such as Calvin Klein and Rockport will be among the tenants in the first phase of Sportsworld Crossing.
Developers of the huge office and retail complex proposed on the 16-hectare site at the south end of Kitchener released more details about the project yesterday.
Scarborough, Rosedale residents feel earthquake that originated in Illinois
An earthquake that started out in eastern Illinois was felt by residents in Rosedale and Scarborough early yesterday morning. "For us it`s a fairly large event," said Sylvia Hayek, a seismologist with Natural Resources Canada in Ottawa. She said the earthquake, measuring 5.2 on the Richter scale, occurred along the border of the New Madrid Seismic zone, which covers several states and "has certainly seen larger events in the past."
Credit card readers in Toronto`s pay-and-display parking meters were recently upgraded at a cost of $10 million, but the new readers are as easily bilked as the ones they replaced.
An invalid credit card can be used in any of the 2,600 multi-space parking meters on city streets to get a dashboard parking receipt for free.
