`Hamilton should be the leading city in Canada." The words seemed to lift a powerhouse crowd, already teeming with enthusiasm, to new levels of aspiration.
Glen Murray, former mayor of Winnipeg and now president of the Canadian Urban Institute, was the final speaker at the first-ever Hamilton Economic Summit this week.
After about seven hours of listening to speakers and engaging in group discussions, a crowd of 125 civic leaders literally crammed into a meeting room at the Ancaster Old Mill was hooked on his every word.
Super-recycler Dave Bartolotta is happy to see Hamilton adding spiral cardboard cans to the list of things that go into blue boxes.
The retired father of two grown children says he`s motivated by thinking of his grandchildren.
"You keep hearing that we`re not going to have any landfill sites left -- are they going to be surrounded by garbage? Recycling is something you have to give time to. You`ve got to be strong and insistent."
The emphasis was on "luxury services" when Lufthansa launched its new six-times daily flights from Pearson International Airport to Dusseldorf yesterday.
"Lufthansa`s new Toronto-to-Dusseldorf flights were launched in response to clear customer demand for high quality service," the German airline said in a press release it issued at the launch event at Pearson.
The 3,500-strong fleet of Purolator couriers, headquartered on Avebury Ave. in Mississauga, will continue to roll now that the company has reached a tentative agreement with its Teamsters Union.
After a relatively short period of negotiations the company and union announced yesterday that they had reached a deal, the terms of which will not be disclosed until ratification takes place over the next several weeks.
A seasonal series about the waterway that defines us.
One river rushes in from the north and another river rushes in from the south, heading to the heart of the city with the promise of rising.
In late March along the southern river in Meadowlily Woods, the debris of last fall and the winter remain -- old dirty leaves, pine needles and starchy snow on the forest path.
This place needs a good spring cleaning. Cardinals voice their mating song, but it will take a deeper music to move the seasons.
When John and Amelia Harris built Eldon House in 1834, they chose a site with a commanding view of the forks of the Thames.
Now, nearly 175 years later, London developers are growing to appreciate the wisdom of their choice. "We`ve turned our back on the Thames for too many years. It`s time to embrace it," says Joe Carapella, president of Tricar Group.
Looking beyond CanGro; Vineland centre`s research won`t be wasted
Turn the clock back a year and there`s a good chance you may have found Ken Slingerland raising a spoonful of canned peaches in celebration.
It was early May 2007 when the extension specialist at the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre got news that one of the fruits of his labour was garnering accolades in national agriculture circles.
Slingerland was one of the researchers who spent nearly 25 years creating and perfecting the Venture peach, a new processing variety that was nominated for Seed of the Year last year.
Businesses and pedestrians in St. Catharines` core reacted with dismay Friday to news of the pending layoff of more than 400 people at TRG Customer Solutions.
"Everything has an impact on downtown," said Heather Fasulo, owner of Dom`s Downtown restaurant on Academy Street, which is a short walk from the Garden City Tower on St. Paul Street where TRG is located.
"When a business leaves, it`s just another negative for the downtown people ... 400 is a lot of people," said Fasulo, who added the city must take more concrete action like beautification projects to revitalize the core.
Slightly more than a month after Thorold council voted to allow ReliaClear Canada Inc. to turn the neighbourhood into a WiFi hub, residents are able to log onto the Internet, no wires attached. "We`re 95 per cent of the way there," said Mike Somerville, ReliaClear president.
All that`s needed is the addition of a few more nodes in the neighbourhood to ensure there are no kinks in coverage or access speed and ReliaClear`s work in Confederation Heights will be done, likely by next week, he said.
Council voted in March to enter into a one-year agreement with the Thorold company to pilot a wireless broadband network in the neighbourhood.
Deal or no deal? City-county boundary talks bogged down
A former Brant County councillor says failure to complete a long-discussed boundary adjustment agreement with Brantford will be "the beginning of the end" for the rural municipality.
A city councillor says it`s unlikely the two governments will ever strike a deal.
The mayors of both municipalities won`t predict where stalled talks are heading.
Interested developers await a resolution.
Welcome to the complex world of land-transfer negotiations between Brantford and Brant County.
Preserving farmland should be Brant County`s focus in the Cainsville area, not encouraging new development, local environmentalists say.
Members of an organization called Sustainable Brant, which works to preserve farmland and natural areas in the county, say the completion of a city-county boundary adjustment deal will lead to the loss of prime agricultural land.
"Sustainable Brant is opposed the deal," said Ella Haley, a member of the organization and a Cainsville-area resident. "If we have the (deal), it creates a domino affect and the land south of the 403, east of Garden Avenue over to Fairchild`s Creek and down Highway 54 loses its agricultural zoning. That`s a terrible loss."
Cottage costs don`t end with purchase; Deep pockets needed to buy a vacation property, say experts
Getting away from it all by purchasing a little cottage on a lake could turn out to be an expensive proposition these days, say real estate experts.
"A lot of people... think that purchasing a vacation property is the same as buying a residential property," said mortgage broker Ted Wiggins of Century 21 United Realty Inc. in Peterborough. "They come in with five per cent down."
But, for prospective buyers looking at a $400,000 property, the average price for a waterfront vacation home in many holiday areas, "you want to have 25 per cent minimum... before you even talk to a bank," he said.
And that, said Wiggins, is just the tip of the iceberg.
RVH partners with U of T; More doctors anticipated for the Barrie area
If you build it, they will come and learn, and hopefully stay.
A partnership between Royal Victoria Hospital and the University of Toronto announced Friday could be the beginning of the end of the area`s doctor shortage.
RVH plans to develop a family medicine residency program in affiliation with University of Toronto`s faculty of medicine. Beginning in June 2009, RVH will become an official teaching site of the U of T`s accredited program, which is the last stop for medical residents training to become family doctors.
Warren Kirkness knows big changes are coming to the Yonge Street and Steeles Avenue neighbourhood where he has lived for 45 years. The only question is when.
"I`m just observing to see how far it`s going to go. I imagine it will end up like North York," said the Meadowview Drive resident, one of several area residents appearing at an Ontario Municipal Board pre-hearing about a huge development proposal in Thornhill.
Town, region hope to recover cleanup costs from owner
The boat that leaked oil into Musselman`s Lake on Earth Day weekend is now high and dry.
While the oil spill has been cleaned up and the barge is safely in storage, there`s more to come for owner Neil Swanson.
Last week he was issued with a Ministry of the Environment order to clean up the spill immediately. When that didn`t happen, a professional oil spill clean-up company was called in. It finished the job Wednesday.
CLARINGTON -- The Region on Friday officially unveiled the new Courtice Water Pollution Control Plant (WPCP), the largest project Durham has undertaken to date.
The $163-million plant can handle 68 million litres of wastewater per day. Currently it`s operating at 60 per cent capacity and handling sewage from Oshawa, where it replaces Plant No. 1 at the Harmony Creek WPCP. That plant was built in the 1950s and is "showing its age," said Regional Chairman Roger Anderson.
WHITBY -- Downtown will get the cash for the beautification of its main corner, but Mayor Pat Perkins said she is hoping next time a project like this comes forward it will include partnerships with the business community. "As much as I want to see investment in our downtown, I was hoping what would come before us would do more than just one corner," the mayor said during Monday`s council meeting.
Waterloo is getting its first affordable housing project geared to homeless people.
"This is unique for the city of Waterloo," said Tricia Siemens, chair of the board for Supportive Housing of Waterloo, a coalition of church representatives guiding development of the project.
The cities of Kitchener and Cambridge already have housing with support services for needy people. Now it is "time for the city of Waterloo to step up to the plate," Siemens said in an interview.
After 10 years of planning, ARTEN Development Group, in partnership with Maren Group, is gearing up for the preview opening of Nouveau Town Manors of Richmond Hill. Set in the town`s historic downtown core at Yonge Street and Benson Avenue, this exclusive neighbourhood of only 18 townhomes is a one-of-a-kind residence. Beginning May 3, interested purchasers can pre-register for a private showing of these three-storey freehold townhomes that are close to the vibrant activity of Yonge Street and the tranquil green space of Mill Pond.
