ON Economic Fundamentals 2008-11

[joeiannuzzi]

1108BAOR
Rec centre opening in sight

What was once a dream is now reality.

After the groundbreaking in the summer of 2006, the much anticipated official opening of the Innisfil Recreational Complex (IRC) is just around the corner.

Finishing touches are being applied, equipment is being brought in, staff are being trained and plans are being made for the party on Friday, Nov. 21.

"I`m excited like the rest of the residents of Innisfil," Mayor Brian Jackson said recently.

http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/ArticleDi....aspx?e=1282937

 

[joeiannuzzi]

1108WIND
Border jobs on agenda for province, industry

Infrastructure Ontario officials will be in Windsor today for the first of a series of meetings with local construction, trade and labour leaders to discuss hiring for the planned $1.6-billion border feeder highway project in Windsor.

The ministry is scheduled to sit down with Jim Lyons, executive director of the Windsor Construction Association, as well as other local industry leaders, said Steve Dyck, spokesman for Infrastructure Ontario.

http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/news/sto...a1-61ecee3eb542

 

[joeiannuzzi]

1108OTWA
Small step forward for wide Jockvale Road

While the City of Ottawa struggles to pay the cost of maintaining its roads, bridges and buildings, it is under intense pressure to build more in growing communities that were approved for development years ago.

One such project is Jockvale Road in south Nepean, a former country road around which subdivisions such as Stonebridge have been built. The city has a $39-million widening and reconstruction project planned for the road, which runs from the Jock River four kilometres to Prince of Wales Drive. Last night, council`s transportation committee decided to push ahead to the next steps on the project, including property acquisitions.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/c...77-b7d5fbdba11f

 

[joeiannuzzi]

1108OTWA
Chelsea developer may yet face vote as petition hits snag

A developer looking to build a housing subdivision in Chelsea Creek could still face a referendum on the project, after the municipality declared this week that the developer`s counter-petition contained insufficient names to block the vote.

The InHarmony development group had said it had enough signatures to block a proposed referendum over its controversial project.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/c...25-8903b9d862d9

 

[joeiannuzzi]

1108OTWA
Montfort urges rejection of Kettle Island Bridge

The National Capital Commission should reconsider the site of a proposed east-side bridge across Kettle Island because it would jeopardize care at the Montfort Hospital, hospital executives said yesterday.

The site came out the favourite in a consultant`s technical study of prospects for a new span across the Ottawa River, meant to move interprovincial truck traffic off Rideau Street and King Edward Avenue downtown.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/c...ca-7fa85ba2e46b

 

[joeiannuzzi]

1108HAMN
Local real estate market softens

It`s officially a buyers` real estate market.

For the first time in more than five years, the average price paid for a home fell month over month in October.

Total sales in Hamilton and Burlington dropped 27.3 per cent last month over the same month a year ago, according to figures released yesterday by the Realtors Association of Hamilton-Burlington.

http://www.thespec.com/News/Business/article/461908

 

[joeiannuzzi]

1108KWCG
Mayor hopes medical centre will attract families

ROCKWOOD

A Guelph development firm will build and own a new $1.2-million medical complex in Rockwood before the municipality gains ownership in a quarter century.

The Rockwood Medical Centre is being developed by Coldpoint Holdings Ltd. The centre will bring additional doctors to the community, and Guelph-Eramosa Mayor Chris White is hopeful the medical centre will also attract new families and business to the community just east of Guelph.

http://news.guelphmercury.com/News/article/400838

 

[joeiannuzzi]

1108KWCG
City eyes tract of land to host new energy site

GUELPH

The city has identified three large publicly owned tracts of land as potential solar energy sites, but is also open to proposals from private companies to help meet its Community Energy Plan targets.

City council gave staff the green light to pursue the initiatives during yesterday`s finance committee meeting.

http://news.guelphmercury.com/News/article/400827

 

[joeiannuzzi]

1108KWCG
October batters local housing market

WATERLOO REGION

A month of economic and political distractions led to a steep drop in demand for homes in Waterloo Region last month, two new reports show.

Homebuyers across the region held off making decisions in October, leading to a 21.5-per-cent decline in sales in Kitchener, Waterloo and the surrounding areas. Sales in the Cambridge area fell nearly 32 per cent.

Karen Shartun, president of the Kitchener-Waterloo Real Estate Board, said the collapse of stock markets weighed heavily in the minds of homebuyers, not to mention the federal election campaigns in Canada and the United States. "It was not a priority for people to be getting into real estate," she said. "I think the average person was a little distracted."

http://news.therecord.com/Business/article/440058

 

[joeiannuzzi]

1108KWCG
Manufacturer says it`s `the best time to invest`

CAMBRIDGE

Bucking the trend of manufacturing closures, German luggage-making company Rimowa has opened a plant and begun producing suitcases here.

The Rimowa North America Inc. plant on Maple Grove Road in Cambridge will officially open tomorrow as Rimowa chief executive Dieter Morszeck of Cologne, Germany, puts a "Made in Canada" tag on the first polycarbonate suitcase to come off the production line here.

http://news.therecord.com/Business/article/440062

 

[joeiannuzzi]

1108YGEO
Grossi frustrated by Wal-Mart delays

Georgina Mayor Rob Grossi is fed up with the continued construction delays on a new retail centre expected to include a Wal-Mart and Home Depot at the corner of Glenwoods and Woodbine avenues.

"We are totally frustrated," he said. "The town has worked with every agency, the conservation authority, all of our departments to meet all of their concerns.

"We`ve given them site plan approval, we`ve done everything we can. We`ve expedited the process to help assist them and for whatever reason, it is them, not the Town of Georgina that`s causing delays."

http://www.yorkregion.com/News/Georgina/article/83941

 

[joeiannuzzi]

1108YMAR
Water bills could be hiked $100

Your water bill is likely going to be almost $100 pricier come 2009.

Markham council will soon consider a 12.66-per-cent increase to water/wastewater rates.

"The total average increase...will mean the average annual water bill will increase about $94 a year," said Dennis Flaherty, the town`s communications manager.

http://www.yorkregion.com/News/Markham/article/83986

 

[joeiannuzzi]

1108YNEW
New tax irks businesses

Local business owners don`t like the idea of being forced to pay Workplace Safety and Insurance Board premiums through a new tax.

The province has limited discussion on a proposed bill that would give business owners no choice when it comes to workplace safety insurance premiums.

If passed, Bill 119 would cost small businesses $11,000 a year, on average, according to Newmarket-Aurora MP Frank Klees.

http://www.yorkregion.com/News/Newmarket/article/83962

 

[joeiannuzzi]

1108YRHL

Hill lands preserved for us all

York Region is getting a little greener, thanks to people such as Ethel Perryman.

Last week, she sold 83 acres of her Richmond Hill farm to the region and the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, ensuring it will be preserved as greenspace.

"I know my husband would have loved it because he loved the land," she said.

Mrs. Perryman and her husband, Lloyd, bought the land on Leslie Street, south of Stouffville Road, in 1971, on which they began growing canola.

http://www.yorkregion.com/News/Regional%20News/article/83999

 

[joeiannuzzi]

1108DAJX
Big development planned for north Ajax

AJAX -- A 1,500-unit condominium and seniors` housing project in north Ajax has been given the go-ahead. The project would be built at the southwest corner of Taunton and Ravenscroft roads on about 3.44 hectares (8.5 acres) of land. The plan is for seven high-rise buildings that would be between 10 and 24 storeys.

http://newsdurhamregion.com/news/ajax/article/112199

 

[joeiannuzzi]

1108DBRK
Region rejects re-balancing council

Regional council rejected a bid from Ajax`s mayor to look at re-balancing the composition of council to account for population growth in some areas.
In an 8-18 vote, councillors rejected Mayor Steve Parish`s call for a review that would have looked at reducing, redistributing or increasing Durham council.
In Ajax, each of the three regional councillors represent about 30,000 residents, which is the highest rate in the Region. Brock`s regional representatives -- Mayor Larry O`Connor and regional councillor John Grant -- serve roughly 6,000 residents.

http://newsdurhamregion.com/news/brock/article/112260

 

[joeiannuzzi]

1108DCLR
Clarington has some questions about how Region plans to grow Durham

CLARINGTON -- The Region`s growth plan would grow Clarington in a way that is in opposition to what the Municipality`s residents say they want, says a councillor. The Region sees Clarington growing from the 81,400 people who lived here in 2006, to 140,000 in 2031. Not only is the growth huge, but the way the Region sees it happening in Clarington is "totally opposite to the comments from our citizens," who were asked how they`d like to see the municipality grow as part of public consultation into the ongoing Official Plan Review, said Local Councillor Gord Robinson.

http://newsdurhamregion.com/news/clarington/article/112270

 

[joeiannuzzi]

1108TNTO
9% hike is water under the bridge

The 9% water rate increase for 2009 is official.

Councillors passed the fee hike -- the fourth such increase in as many years -- at a special meeting of council yesterday.

For the average home, the 2009 water rate will rise by $50 to $590. In 2004, the average Toronto homeowner paid $352 for water.

Other 9% increases for Toronto`s water rate are planned until 2012 to raise funds to pay for replacing Toronto`s aging water and sewer infrastructure.

http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandg...333316-sun.html

 

[joeiannuzzi]

1108ONTR
Ford posts loss, warns of job cuts

DEARBORN, Mich–Ford Motor Co. said Friday it lost $129 million (U.S.) in the third quarter as the struggling automaker burned through $7.7 billion in cash.

The automaker also said it will cut about 2,260 more white-collar employees in North America as it tries to weather the worst economic downturn in decades.

Ford says it lost 6 cents per share for the quarter, compared with a loss of $380 million, or 19 cents per share, a year ago.

http://www.wheels.ca/reviews/article/461223

 

[joeiannuzzi]

1108CATH
Falls Hilton goes skyline high

It dwarfs everything in the city. And proponents claim it`s the tallest of its kind in Canada.

Standing at nearly 60 storeys (about 550 feet), the latest addition to the Hilton Hotel even looks down on the Skylon Tower.

The first of a two-phase redevelopment of the Fallsview Boulevard complex began in January 2007 and is slated for completion in April 2009.

It includes about 500 new guest rooms on 43 stories, says senior project manager Chris Hawkswell.

The tower is attached to the existing 36-storey Hilton structure opposite the Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort. A 15-storey hotel in the centre connects the two towers.

http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/Article....aspx?e=1285900