ON Economic Fundamentals 2008-11

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1108CATH
Proposed zoning rules could scrap composting plans

A report recommending zoning changes that will make it more difficult for a compost facility to set up shop in rural Thorold is set to come before council after sitting on the back burner for seven months.

If the recommendation is approved, the former Compost Niagara site on Turner Road will revert back to a parcel of land meant strictly for agricultural use, doing away with the special provision that allowed property owner Gerald Nieuwesteeg to run an ancillary compost operation to his nursery.

It could also close any loopholes that might otherwise help AIM CCF, a Hamilton composting company interested in the site, in its bid to build a commercial facility that would process 400 tonnes of organic matter each day -- twice the size of Nieuwesteeg`s operation.

http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/Article....aspx?e=1285921

 

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1108BTFD
Vacant land becoming a parking lot

A downtown property owner will pave over old conflicts with city hall and put up a parking lot.

A construction crew was busy Thursday pouring concrete borders for a 22-space parking lot that businessman Costantinos Coutsis has decided to open on a vacant patch of land beside the Sanderson Centre.

The paved lot is strategically located to serve patrons of the Sanderson, businesses in Harmony Square across the street and meet general demand for downtown parking spots.

Coutsis said in an interview he expects construction to be completed in time for the lot to open in about two weeks. It will operate 24 hours a day with a coin and card machine, with monitoring to be provided by the owner.

http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/ArticleDi....aspx?e=1284920

 

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1108BAOR
Landmark water tower coming down

The aliens have landed.

At least that`s what comes to mind when Charmaine Skinner looks up at the old Benner Street water tower which rises 86 feet above her house.

"To me it`s what a UFO would look like landing," says Skinner, who has lived beside the 55-year-old tower for more than a decade.

"I can just see little green men climbing out of the top and coming down the ladder."

Built in 1953 out of structured steel, the 250,000-gallon tower has not been used since 1986.

http://www.orilliapacket.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1285527

 

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1108BAOR
Innisfil to keep growth in check

Innisfil`s population is more likely to double than triple during the next 23 years.

While town officials want growth to almost 105,000 people from the current 32,500 population by 2031, provincial and Simcoe County plans are pointing to an Innisfil of 65,000 residents then.

Proposed new settlements of 27,000 people at Innisfil Heights, at Highway 400 and Innisfil Beach Road, 5,000 people in Alcona North and 7,500 in Alcona South could be nixed.

http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/ArticleDi....aspx?e=1284838

 

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1108WIND
Costs soar for road projects in county

ESSEX - The cost of fixing the congestion caused by rapid residential and industrial growth along the north shore between Belle River and Windsor has ballooned to about $200 million, county council has been told.

The county is seeking funding for the biggest road project in its history from the $300-million federal-provincial border infrastructure fund.

County Road 22 -- the eastern extension of E.C. Row Expressway -- would be widened to six lanes from Windsor at Banwell to Lakeshore Boulevard just east of Manning Road.

http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/news/sto...ac-c97e12ad4556

 

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1108WIND
Building permit values plunge dramatically

With two months remaining in the year, the value of building permits issued by the City of Windsor is on track to be the lowest in the past dozen years by more than $100 million.

So far this year, only $106,637,600 in permits have been issued, compared to $154,933,005 at this time a year ago.

Last year, $231 million in permits were issued, which was the lowest total since 1996 when $274 million in permits were issued.

http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/news/sto...2a-ab4fa771005f

 

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1108WIND
Buyers coming to town

More than 30 potential buyers from across the world and two dozen Windsor mould shops are expected to attend a reverse trade mission at Caesars Windsor, designed to help match Windsor suppliers with customers in a diverse group of global industries.

Scheduled for Nov. 18-19, the two-day meeting will consist of seminars, presentations and exhibit booths as well as shop tours and one-on-one meetings between buyers and sellers.

http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/news/bus...0f-b210ef8c605e

 

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1108OTWA
LRT changing tracks

The city`s latest light-rail transit plan might be moving in a different direction.

Based on feedback from a series of public consultations that began in September, city staff are expected to alter the plan, which takes light rail from Riverside South to the Blair Rd. transit station. About 5,000 people participated in public meetings, wrote to the city or visited the city`s website, offering alternatives and suggestions on how to proceed with rapid transit. Many said taking light rail east-west should be the priority.

http://www.ottawasun.com/News/OttawaAndReg...331921-sun.html

 

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1108OTWA
Bridge won`t affect Montfort, expert says

The proposed east-side bridge at Kettle Island would not affect operations inside the Montfort Hospital, the project manager for the study recommending the bridge said yesterday.

At a press conference at the hospital Wednesday, Pierre Lefebvre, chairman of the hospital`s board of trustees, chief of staff Dr. Bernard Leduc and the chairman of the Montfort`s expansion project, Denis Chartrand, said they are opposed to the National Capital Commission`s locating a new bridge at Kettle Island because the resulting increase in traffic would limit patient and ambulance access to the hospital, create noise that would disrupt the tranquility patients need to recover and harm the hospital`s sensitive diagnostic equipment.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/c...4f-15fbef26ddfc

 

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1108HAMN
Quarry foes take battle to Queen`s Park

Hamilton Centre MPP Andrea Horwath brought the debate about a proposed quarry to Queen`s Park yesterday — and she brought backup.
About 40 Hamilton, Burlington, and Milton residents attended question period as Horwath asked Environment Minister John Gerretsen to stop the development of a limestone quarry in the Flamborough area.

http://www.thespec.com/News/BreakingNews/article/462706

 

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1108KWCG
Region a front-runner in innovation

WATERLOO REGION

The region ranks among North America`s hotbeds for inventions, according to numbers released yesterday by Canada`s Technology Triangle Inc.

In 2006, 302 U.S. patents were granted to inventors in Waterloo Region, for a rate of 631 patents per million people. Among provinces and U.S. states, only California, Massachusetts and Minnesota received more patents per capita than Waterloo Region, according to data compiled by Community Benchmarks Inc.

http://news.therecord.com/Business/article/440517

 

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1108DWTB
Whitby GO station patrons see no happy ending to parking nightmare

WHITBY -- After years of patrons butting heads over parking at Whitby GO station, officials are working to create a less hostile future for the popular site.

Capacity issues have long haunted the Brock Street station, but despite expansions and sharing of parking spaces with nearby sites like Iroquois Park Sports Centre (IPSC), the tug-of-war continues. There are 2,458 spaces at the station, with an additional 900 to be added with the construction of a new three-level parking structure next year.

http://newsdurhamregion.com/news/article/112363

 

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1108LNDN
Listings rise, sales fall

After a strong September, real estate sales in the London area dropped by 15 per cent in October, compared to the same month last year. The London St. Thomas Association of Realtors (LSTAR) said 581 properties sold last month.

Overall the number of sales so far in 2008 is down 7.9 per cent compared to 2007, which was a record year.

The average year-to-date price of a resale home is $212,034, up five per cent from the same period last year.

http://lfpress.ca/perl-bin/publish.cgi?x=a...178&s=homes

 

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1108BTFD
City water treatment plant getting overhaul

After nearly five years of planning, the city is ready to go ahead with a sweeping, $46-million upgrade of the Holmedale water treatment plant.

Bennett Contracting Millgrove Ltd. of Millgrove has begun working this week on a two-year contract to upgrade the plant to a state-of-the-art facility to meet new provincial regulations in the Ontario Clean Water Act

http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/ArticleDi....aspx?e=1287030

 

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1108DOSH
Oshawa got off easy, union honcho says

OSHAWA -- A top union official said yesterday`s money-losing announcement by General Motors will not hit workers here as hard as feared even though up to 500 more workers face layoffs.

And staff at the Park Rd. S. plant, where the Chev Impala is assembled, expressed relief its three-shift lines will remain after a predicted slowdown starting Jan. 12.

"It`s not good news, but it`s a lot better than what we were thinking," Canadian Auto Workers Local 222 financial secretary Charlie Peel told the Sun.

http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandg...344781-sun.html

 

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1108TNTO
Outlook still good for GTA

The Greater Toronto Area resale housing market has moderated in recent months, leaving many homeowners wondering about the future of real estate in our city.

In response, the Toronto Real Estate Board recently invited senior executives from eight of Canada`s largest real estate companies to share their views on what`s next. The panellists – from such well-known brands as Century 21, Coldwell Banker, Prudential, Right at Home, Royal LePage, Living Realty, Re/Max and HomeLife – all agree that the future is bright for the GTA housing market. They say media coverage of the global financial crisis has undermined consumer confidence, and this has caused the recent dip in real estate. Pointing to healthy indicators like strong employment, stable immigration and low interest rates, panellists are confident that economic fundamentals in Canada to support a healthy housing market will remain in place.

http://www.torontosun.com/resalehomes/2008...07/7340726.html

 

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1108ONTR
Ontario braces for a grey wave

Aging – it`s better than the alternative. And the older we get, it seems, the longer we want to live – and, indeed, are living.

"There`s a demographic tsunami headed our way," says the University of Toronto`s Dr. Alejandro Jadad, a physician with a special interest in public health. Like almost every other developed country, Canada is greying, big-time, as the population bulge known as baby boomers closes in on senior status, with the first wave turning 65 in 2011. They will live longer than their forebears; not only has Canadian life expectancy doubled in the past century, to 82 for men and 85 for women, but many more of us will live to be 100.

By 2050, a quarter of Canada`s population will be 65 or older.

http://www.thestar.com/atkinson2008/article/532921

 

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1108TNTO
City closer to tougher toxin bylaws

The city of Toronto is moving ahead with new sweeping disclosure rules for businesses, both large and small, that emit 25 toxic chemicals into the air.

The bylaw, known as "community right to know," if approved, would go into effect on Jan. 1, 2010, with a phase-in period for businesses. The collected data would be put on the Internet where residents would be able search for the presence of pollutants in their neighbourhoods.

Toronto`s bylaw, which will be considered later this month by the board of health, would be more stringent than existing federal rules and proposed provincial legislation.

http://www.healthzone.ca/health/article/533205

 

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1108TNTO
The good and the bad on Parliament

Given a choice, most Torontonians would probably rather avoid Parliament St. Despite its august-sounding name, it tends to be rundown and neglected. Some stretches are better than others; these days it`s the bottom end, south of King St., that has taken on new life. The reason, at least partially, is the advent of the Distillery District, which although it`s still evolving, has revitalized this remarkable industrial site. It`s also because of the development happening along King, which is now residential from Jarvis St. all the way east past Parliament to the Don.

http://www.yourhome.ca/homes/article/530756

 

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1108TNTO
The rebirth of a Depression-era dream

College Park is on the upswing of a roller-coaster ride of boom, bust and boom all over again.

A revitalized Eaton`s College Park building, with its iconic, five-star Carlu Hall, has reignited an economic fascination for one of downtown Toronto`s most prestigious and historic blocks, bounded by College, Gerrard, Bay and Yonge Sts.

http://www.yourhome.ca/homes/article/530778