MB Economic Fundamentals 2008-10

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What`s Behind the Curtain? Manitoba
2008-10
Daily Online Edition
MB Economic Fundamentals 2008-10

The following codes will be at the top of each post using an eight sequence alphanumeric description of the month, year and area:

MMYYAREA


1008MTBA = Oct 08 Manitoba

1008WNPG = Oct 08 Winnipeg

1008PORT = Oct 08 Portage La Prairie


If you wish to view only one area, you can use the advanced search mode and select the "Result Type" > "Show results as posts".

I have also color coded each area along with the caption to make it easier for you to simply scroll through the posts and locate the ones you are interested in.

All the small towns that have online newspapers are covered on Sundays.

 

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10008PORT
Townhouse upgrades behind schedule

The large-scale renovation project underway at Chelsea Terrace has fallen behind schedule, and both developers and tenants are watching the progress closely and planning their next move.

For some of the residents, this delay means extra time to find another home, and some plan to leave the city altogether.

Patrick Penner, of Hudson Ventures Inc. in Winnipeg, acknowledged progress on the renovations has been slow. He previously told The Daily Graphic he wanted the first seven units to be ready by Oct. 1, but acknowledged Monday construction is delayed.

http://www.portagedailygraphic.com/Article....aspx?e=1225798

 

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1008WNPG
Mansion`s price tag sets Winnipeg record

It appears to be the mother of all Winnipeg mansions, with an equally hefty price.

The 9,000-square-foot home at 761 Wellington Cres. is up for sale, priced at $3.25 million -- a record high for Winnipeg. "For the Winnipeg market, it`s a good price. In Toronto, Vancouver, or Oakville, Ont., that house would cost $12 million to $15 million. It`s an amazing deal," said realtor Gary Bachman.

http://www.winnipegsun.com/News/Winnipeg/2...936501-sun.html

 

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1008WNPG
Tories want changes in plan for renewal tax

Tory Opposition Leader Hugh McFadyen demanded Wednesday the Doer government put the brakes on a bill designed to spruce up neglected parts of the city, saying it could evolve into a cash pot for NDP pet projects.

McFadyen said he wants the pending Tax Increment Financing (TIF) bill re-jigged so that it can only be used only for specific urban renewal projects -- not for every whim and fancy of the New Democrats.

"What we don`t want to do is give them a blank cheque," McFadyen said. "If you start to apply it to every project that comes down the path, you open it up to potential abuse."

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/sto...p-4875193c.html

 

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1008WNPG
Lakeview plans hotel near centre

IT only took a matter of minutes for the first spin-off from the $200-million expansion of the Winnipeg Convention Centre to go on record.

Lakeview Management will build a seven-storey, 80-room hotel on the southwest corner of Edmonton Street and St. Mary Avenue across from the convention centre, its CEO, Jack Levit, said after attending the press conference announcing the expansion.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/sto...p-4875797c.html

 

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1008MTBA
Manitoba sees productivity gains

Manitoba racked up the biggest labour productivity gain of any province west of Quebec in 2007, according to a new report released Thursday by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Manitoba. The ICAM said labour productivity, which measures the efficiency of the province`s workforce, grew by 1.6 per cent last year. Not only was that best performance among the four western provinces and Ontario, but it was more than double Canada`s average growth rate of 0.7 per cent.

The strong showing also gave Manitoba the best labour productivity growth rate for the five-year period between 2002 and 2007, at 8.0 per cent.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/subscribe...p-4875779c.html

 

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1008MTBA
Retailers are still optimistic

MANITOBA retailers are forecasting continued sales growth in the coming months -- but not at quite the same heady pace as in the past two years, according to the Retail Council of Canada.

A slowing Canadian economy and worries about the spillover effect here of the U.S. financial crisis has hit store owners just as they`re gearing up for their busiest season of the year.

All the bad news can`t be good for consumer confidence in Manitoba. The question is, how will it affect sales in the coming months?

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/subscribe...p-4876312c.html

 

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1008MTBA
Toews makes $15-M promise to Manitoba

MANITOBA`S federal cabinet minister, Vic Toews, made a $15-million economic promise Saturday in St. Boniface riding, a constituency his Conservative party hopes to wrest away from the Liberals in the quest for a majority in the general election less than two weeks away.

Recent poll results suggest the Tories may have stalled short of the 155 seats necessary for a majority and the last 10 days of the campaign will see a push for a breakthrough.

Toews, with St. Boniface Tory candidate Shelley Glover standing nearby, promised that if his Conservative Party is re-elected it will reinstate $15 million he says was cut in Manitoba by an earlier Liberal government.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/sto...p-4876817c.html

 

[joeiannuzzi]

Manitoba Small Town Updates: 2008-10-05

 

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1008MTBA
Population milestone

WINNIPEG — It has taken Manitoba 20 years to gain 100,000 more citizens, but the province`s chief statistician predicts it will likely only take eight more years to gain another 100,000.

Statistics Canada figures released Monday revealed Manitoba`s population as of July 1 is estimated at 1,207,959 people, and the province is growing at a rate — 0.4 per cent in the latest quarter — not seen since the early 1980s.

Manitoba reached the 1 million mark in March 1972, and had 1.1 million people in January 1988.

http://www.portagedailygraphic.com/Article....aspx?e=1226465

 

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1008WNPG
COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE Industrial developers worried

Winnipeg industrial developers are casting a nervous eye south of the border as they consider their construction options for 2009.

The developers are worried about what kind of impact the U.S. financial crisis and credit crunch will have on the Canadian and U.S. economies in the coming months.

"If the economy slows down, then our tenants likely aren`t going to need to expand, so they`ll be less likely to make the jump (to new quarters)," Darcy Payne, general manager of the Winnipeg office of Bentall Real Estate Services -- the city`s largest industrial landlord -- said in an interview.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/subscribe...p-4877860c.html

 

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1008PORT
Downtown biz not bothered by parking meter hike

A plan by city council to hike the price of parking at downtown meters does not bother the Portage and District Chamber of Commerce or some downtown businesses.

Chamber president Chris Tompkins said the city`s proposed new rate for parking meters — 25 cents for a half hour of parking — will not be high enough to deter downtown shoppers, and he added the meters are needed to make sure the shoppers have a space to park their cars when they go downtown.

http://www.portagedailygraphic.com/Article....aspx?e=1234660

 

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1008WNPG
City eyes $90-million loan to finance bus corridor

Winnipeg plans to borrow almost $90 million to pay for the first phase of the city`s new bus corridor -- and doesn`t expect to pay off the loan until 2039.

Winnipeg Transit is preparing to take out a 30-year loan to finance all but $48 million of the $138-million cost of a 3.6-kilometre bus corridor that will run between The Forks and Jubilee Avenue, according to a report released on Monday.

In September, when Mayor Sam Katz and Premier Gary Doer announced the $138-million bus rapid-transit plan, details about the financing were unclear.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/sto...p-4878336c.html

 

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1008WNPG
House prices continue to increase

THE owners of two-storey homes in Westwood and bungalows in northwest Winnipeg are some of the biggest winners as Winnipeg`s resale-homes market continues to rack up record-breaking numbers.

Westwood was the Winnipeg neighbourhood that saw the biggest year-over-year increase in average selling prices for two-storey homes during the third quarter of this year -- up 22.6 per cent, according to the latest national house prices survey from Royal LePage Real Estate Serices.

And northwest Winnipeg saw the biggest increase in selling prices for a standard bungalow, at 15.8 per cent.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/subscribe...p-4878345c.html

 

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1008MTBA
Labour dispute may slow grain exports

WINNIPEG (Reuters) -- A labour dispute on the St. Lawrence Seaway could slow grain exports headed east from Canada`s main Prairie growing region and pressure prices, the Canadian Wheat Board said on Tuesday.

The CWB, one of the world`s largest wheat exporters, said it wants the federal government to legislate continued grain movement if contract talks break down between St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp. and 445 workers belonging to the Canadian Auto Workers union. The union has a mandate to strike with 72 hours` notice at any time after Friday.

http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix...67-92e0b1575641

 

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1008MTBA
Manitoba`s doing OK, at least for now

It`s hard to imagine Manitoba`s economy may be outperforming the experts` forecasts, what with stock markets collapsing and national banks around the world making $1 trillion available to prop up financial markets.

But that`s exactly the take the Royal Bank of Canada has on the province.

The bank has revised its forecast of 2.7 per cent growth in Manitoba for 2008 to 3.1 per cent because of stronger than anticipated data for the first six months of the year.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/subscribe...p-4879424c.html

 

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1008WNPG
Winnipeg feels the pull from East and West

The National Post continues its series on the resonant issues and interesting races in regions across the country. Today, Winnipeg.

Fresh blue welcome signs recently have been placed along the highways that cut through Manitoba`s golden-brown fields on the way to Winnipeg, proclaiming the city the "Heart of the Continent."

http://www.nationalpost.com/todays_paper/s....html?id=868907

 

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1008MTBA
Avoid phone renewal scam, MPI warning consumers

Manitoba Public Insurance is warning the public not to give out any personal information to an automated voice-messaging system that is offering to renew members` Autopac policies or driver`s licences over the phone.

Several people in the Dauphin, Virden and Erickson areas were contacted recently under this apparent scam, MPI said.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/sto...p-4879935c.html

 

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1008WNPG
Controversial deck in Wildwood Park gets city hall OK

CITY hall granted permission Friday for a deck to be built on a house in Wildwood Park -- but in doing so may have set the stage for radical change in the leafy neighbourhood, say people on both sides of a debate over public green space.

Members of the city`s appeal committee denied an effort by a handful of Wildwood residents to halt plans by a resident to build a 300-square-foot deck on the front of a house in the 51-year-old Fort Garry neighbourhood known for its communal green space and absence of front roads.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/sto...p-4880554c.html

 

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MB Small Town Updates: 2008-10-12