VIENNA, Austria -- Twenty-five years after the last potash mine was built, Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. chief executive William Doyle says there is no justification to build a new one, despite soaring prices for the potassium-based plant food.
"Believe it or not, the economics don`t justify it, not yet," Doyle said in an interview at the International Fertilizer Industry Association in Vienna, Austria.
Saskatchewan had the highest year-over-year increase in retail sales of any province in Canada in March, according to Statistics Canada figures released Thursday.
Retail sales totaled $1.1 billion, up by 10.7 per cent from March 2007, marking the first time retail sales surpassed the $1-billion mark for the month.
The next largest year-over-year sales increase was Manitoba at 5.7 per cent followed by Nova Scotia at 2.1 per cent. Alberta sales were flat at zero per cent while B.C. sales rose by 0.8 per cent.
SASKATOON -- The current price for oil and the effect it is having on the economy is not a temporary blip, says Patricia Mohr, an economist with Scotiabank who produces a monthly commodity report.
Forecasters in the provincial Finance Ministry say Saskatchewan could net another $800 million in revenue if oil stays at $130 to $140 a barrel. Mohr predicts oil could average $140 in the second half of 2008 and be in the range of $135 to $140 US in 2009.
A pedway linking Agriculture Place and Conexus Plaza on the 1800 block of Hamilton Street is expected to be in operation by November, Harvard Developments announced Thursday.
"Connecting the two office buildings will make it easier for head offices, like Farm Credit Canada, to conduct business and keep their people downtown,`` said Roseanne Hill Blaisdell, vice-president of leasing for Harvard Developments.
Gov`t campaign aims to lure workers from other provinces
Building on the influx of Albertans moving into Saskatchewan, Premier Brad Wall is now looking to lure people from Ontario and Manitoba.
The provincial government unveiled on Thursday a $400,000 marketing campaign that will run in those three provinces, touting career opportunities in Saskatchewan.
PRINCE ALBERT -- A diamond mine in Saskatchewan would have big benefits, but would come at a cost, too.
"With increased spending to the tune of $223 million in the region on an annual basis, there will definitely be opportunities for every man, woman and child in the region," said Prince Albert Mayor Jim Scarrow, responding to a report by the Diamond Consultants of Canada.
Some people were astounded to learn this week that Saskatchewan could earn another $800 million in royalty revenues on top of the projected $1.1 billion in oil revenues, thanks to skyrocketing oil prices.
They think it should be a lot higher.
Instead of celebrating the fact the province stands to potentially reap another windfall in resource royalties -- equivalent to more than 75 per cent of the original budget estimate -- they`re demanding that royalty rates should be even higher.
An agreement was signed in Regina on Friday for a major Japanese company to invest $9 million in uranium exploration in northern Saskatchewan.
The letter of agreement calls for a partnership between the Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation and Titan Uranium Inc., in its Virgin Trend project in the Athabasca basin.
While the money is just for exploration, the agreement signed Friday could set the stage for development of another uranium mine in Saskatchewan, depending on what is found in the exploration stages.
The Canadian Pacific rail line helped make Saskatoon a boomtown 100 years ago, but now its presence in the core may be stifling downtown growth, says Mayor Don Atchison.
"I know they were here first, but we need to get them out of the city," Atchison said in an interview.
One of the reasons Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan, Inc. is firing on all cylinders is that all three of the fertilizer nutrients it produces and sells are at record numbers, including phosphate produced by PotashCorp in Florida.
The high price for phosphate has a Saskatoon junior mining company thinking its rare earth oxides at Hoidas Lake aren`t the only thing that might make the remote mineral deposit more financially feasible.
Buildings being demolished to make way for hotel/shopping district
On ground level, shops will line either side of the zero block of River Street West. One story above, a 74-100 room hotel, complete with a coffee shop and steakhouse, will connect across the street with skywalks. Tourists can park in the underground parking at the north end of the street. How much will this venture cost? "Many millions of dollars," said Moose Jaw`s Neil Montgomery, who along with his son Todd and some Calgary investors are redeveloping River Street. To make way for the major project, the team bought the Brunswick Hotel, Royal Hotel and Nevada Nickels, which should all be demolished by the end of this year. Construction on the major hotel/shopping district project should begin in early 2009, with plans for completion by 2011.
City council`s 2008 budget duties are finally and officially over, leaving the only remaining burden with the local property owners — to actually pay the taxes.
During a special council meeting on Wednesday afternoon, council passed the mill rate bylaw, officially setting city tax increases at 2.02 per cent.
Overall, when combined with school division taxes that make up approximately 59 per cent of the local tax bill, Moose Jaw residents should see about a six per cent increase on their bills compared to 2007.
The town of Nipawin council members approved the 2008 budget.
The final figures after the previous meeting instructions added $30,000 to the budget for fuel. The waste disposal contract was reduced to the amount of $109,000, five months on the old contract and seven months on the new contract.
The budget was balanced with an increase to taxes of 2% which amounts to $45,000 and a withdrawal from reserves of $55,000.
A permanent all-weather connector between La Loche and Fort McMurray is still a reality, but at this point it is a distant one.
Last fall, the government at the time announced that they would be putting a large portion of dollars into improving the road and building a connector between La Loche`s Highway 155, through route 956, and Cheecham, Alberta.
According to Statistics Canada, from February to March retail sales in the province jumped 2.1 per cent to $1.21 billion from $1.18 billion and are 10.7 per cent higher than last year — it is the first time they exceeded $1 billion in March.
Derryl Hudye of Rally Motors said the report of increased sales does not surprise him at all.
He said their quad sales have nearly doubled, car sales are up 30-40 per cent and boat sales are very strong as well.
If the province`s nurses accept the latest contract offer from the Saskatchewan Association of Health Organizations (SAHO), they would achieve parity with Alberta nurses, less cost-of-living adjustments, in less than a year.
On Sunday after six days at the bargaining table, SAHO tabled what it is classifying as a historic document that is responsive to the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses (SUN) demands for wage parity and language to address critical retention and recruitment issues.
SASKATOON -- One of the reasons Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan, Inc. is firing on all cylinders is that all three of the fertilizer nutrients it produces and sells are at record numbers, including phosphate produced by PotashCorp in Florida.
The high price for phosphate now has a Saskatoon junior mining company thinking that rare earth oxides aren`t the only thing that might make a remote mineral deposit more financially feasible.
The City of Saskatoon is considering purchasing and relocating McNab Park residences to the Fairhaven area to clear the way for the development of a business park.
A report to be discussed at a planning and operations committee meeting Tuesday morning requests the city spend $300,000 from the affordable housing reserve on a "demonstration project" that would involve moving and renovating a two-unit dwelling as a trial.
