People in Barrie still build things for a living, even though fewer elsewhere in the country do.
While manufacturing jobs are dropping off across Canada and Ontario, census data released yesterday shows an increase in the number of Barrie-area residents employed in the manufacturing sector.
"Barrie is actually bucking the trend here for manufacturing," said Mark Frenette, a Statistics Canada spokesperson.
Manufacturing in Ontario fell by 11.5 per cent from 2000 to 2005, nationally it declined by 8.8 per cent. In Barrie, it increased by 2.2 per cent.
Don`t expect to see Hwy. 407 anytime soon, says Durham MPP
SCUGOG -- When it comes to the much-anticipated extension of Hwy. 407, Durham residents will "most likely" have to wait until 2015 before the eastern connection of the toll route is completed, says John O`Toole. Appearing before Scugog councillors on Monday for his annual address, the Durham MPP touched on a wide variety of subjects, from finances and Ontario`s recently announced pesticide ban to the future of the toll road.
Ministers of Revenue to announce corporate tax changes
OSHAWA -- A who`s who of Ontario`s business world, including Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty and Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, will be converging on Oshawa over the next few days as part of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce Annual General Meeting. Mr. Flaherty, also Conservative MP for Whitby-Oshawa and Mr. McGuinty, head of the Liberal government, were scheduled to address the gathering today (Friday). The two have made headlines in recent weeks for finger-pointing in light of a struggling manufacturing sector that some argue needs more government support and policies.
Officials turned the soil yesterday for a health clinic, even though Queen`s Park hasn`t agreed to let it open. Yet.
"I had hoped it would open a year ago," said Bill Davidson, executive director of Lang`s Farm. The neighbourhood association runs a full-fledged medical clinic in Cambridge and is expanding a satellite operation in Ayr, a village of 5,000 south of Kitchener that has only one family doctor.
In an unprecedented move toward ensuring stability in a volatile industry, Ford Motor Company of Canada and 9,000 members of the Canadian Auto Workers Union reached a three-year tentative agreement yesterday, four months ahead of schedule.
CAW president Buzz Hargrove said the agreement covered all local and national issues and should ease the anxiety many of his members have been feeling as the U.S. economy slows and auto sales sag.
"I`m absolutely thrilled,`` Hargrove said in an interview minutes after the deal was finalized.
It was a planning meeting different from any other.
There were two camps -- provincial employees working to turn the Hanlon Expressway into a controlled-access freeway, and those who are really, really angry about it.
The goal is to get both sides to see things the same way. The road is a rocky and emotional one.
True confession time: I am addicted to glossy images on the Internet. I can`t get enough of the dream models, even if they have been "photoshopped" or shot in such a way to enhance the positives.
I`m just looking to get lucky, and live out a fantasy.
Toronto`s pay-and-display parking meters are easily duped by an invalid credit card, but they`re also quick to decline perfectly good credit cards.
As part of our ongoing examination of the Toronto Parking Authority`s $10 million purchase of upgraded credit card readers for its 2,600 on-street meters, we asked people to let us know if they`ve had problems using valid credit cards to obtain a dashboard parking receipt.
True confession time: I am addicted to glossy images on the Internet. I can`t get enough of the dream models, even if they have been "photoshopped" or shot in such a way to enhance the positives.
I`m just looking to get lucky, and live out a fantasy.
The most important question for anyone buying a cottage property is always, "How do I get there from here?" After all, there`s no point spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on a recreational home if the only way to get to it is by helicopter. Access to cottages was the issue in a case heard by the Ontario Court of Appeal last year. A group of cottagers live year-round on the shores of Lake St. John in Ramara township. The cottage sites are on reserve lands of the Mnjikaning First Nation, and the cottagers pay the Crown an annual rent of $1,400 to $1,500 each.
Easy priming system will help cottagers feel pumped
Every spring thousands of Canadian cottage owners struggle unnecessarily to get their water systems primed and running for another season. And that`s too bad, because there`s a technique that takes just 10 minutes of easy work. All you need is $20 worth of plumbing hardware and a small, portable hand pump.
Most cottage water systems need seasonal attention for two reasons. Pumps and pipes typically aren`t protected from frost, so water needs to be completely drained each fall so it won`t freeze, expand and break things during winter.
Wellesley St. east of Yonge has suffered its share of indignities at the hands of architects, developers, not to mention city planners. As a result it`s a bit of a mishmash, albeit a very urban mishmash. In the block between Yonge and Church Sts., there are restaurants, condos, office buildings, park space, a parking lot, a hospital and a subway station. How urban is that?
The Japanese maker of a $10,000 samurai sword could, inadvertently, help Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. land a deal to sell its next-generation nuclear reactor in Ontario.
Sound like a leap of logic?
It turns out that Osaka-based steel-making giant Japan Steel Works Ltd. makes much more than traditional swords of the kind used by noble warriors of the country`s pre-industrial Edo Period. The company is also the world`s only maker of ultra-large forgings, a crucial component in the construction of most new nuclear reactors.
THE CANADIAN PRESS
OTTAWA — A new study says Canadian ports handled record-breaking levels of freight for the fourth straight year in 2005, as international cargo hit another high. Statistics Canada reports overall shipments increased at 14 of the country`s top 20 ports.
Canada`s ports handled a record 470.1 million metric tonnes of cargo in 2005, up 3.7 per cent from the previous record set in 2004.
A family living in a Habitat for Humanity house is caught in an expropriation battle and officials from the city, the housing organization and the family will have to figure out a way to solve a sticky dilemma.
In 1995, the city donated land on Roman Avenue to the organization, Habitat built a house and sold it to a family, who have lived there since.
Utility`s improper wire installation led to fire, Vanier homeowner says
A Vanier woman is fuming after Hydro Ottawa asked her to pay $1,000 in reconnection fees after a fire destroyed the electrical wires outside her home -- an incident she claims was caused by the electric company`s improper installation of the wires.
The fire at Chantal Sigouin`s Coupal Street house happened at about 3:30 p.m. on April 29, while Ms. Sigouin was at work. Ms. Sigouin said the wires were initially installed too close to the house and ended up rubbing against the roof`s ledge.
Nortel Network share prices went on a wild ride yesterday as the communication equipment maker delivered good and bad news to investors.
The good news, which sent the stock initially up as much as eight per cent, is that sales jumped a surprising 11 per cent in the first quarter ending in March on a big $250-million wireless deal in Asia.
Canada`s East-West economic divide has widened, presenting challenges for the industrial heartland and for national policy-makers, while the divide within the West itself is starting to narrow, enhancing the economic and political outlook for the entire region, according to separate analyses of the country`s rapidly changing economic landscape.
The mayors of Ottawa and Gatineau and CEO of the National Capital Commission are discussing how to integrate the transit needs of both cities.
For the first time in two years, a three-party meeting was held at NCC headquarters to begin discussions on how to better shuttle 60,000 commuters across the provincial border every day. Ottawa Mayor Larry O`Brien said the trio discussed his city`s latest transit plan, which could include seeking the NCC`s permission to convert the Ottawa River Parkway corridor into a light-rail route.
Low demand for electricity across Ontario caused the 580-megawatt Brighton Beach natural gas-fired power station in the city`s west end to shut down Friday, according to the province`s Independent Electricity System Operator.
