ON Economic Fundamentals 2008-12

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1208TNTO
T.O. lays out welcome mat for Pan-Ams

Toronto has laid out the welcome mat for the 2015 Pan-Am games.

City Council voted 33-1 last night in favour of serving as the host city for the Pan-Am Games bid.

"I think we should be proud to put Toronto on the world stage," Mayor David Miller said. "But if we commit to this, we need to win." Miller said this bid has the support of both the federal and provincial governments.

Premier Dalton McGuinty personally asked the mayor to ensure that Toronto participates in the bid with enthusiasm, something other bidding cities will be watching.

http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandg...614366-sun.html

 

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1208TNTO
City dumps on lousy landlords

Toronto`s year-long inspection blitz of multi-residential apartment buildings got off to a serious start with one apartment building owner nailed with 100 violations.

A 15-member Municipal Licensing and Standards building audit team is undertaking the inspections, looking for property standard bylaw violations at 176 public and private apartment buildings by Dec. 1, 2009. The audit will focus on common areas within the buildings, parking garages, balconies, elevators, exterior grounds, roofs, electrical, hot water and heating systems.

http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandg...614376-sun.html

 

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1208ONTR
Turn to auto sector bailout, McGuinty urges Ottawa

The need to help the struggling auto industry and preserve 400,000 Ontario jobs has Premier Dalton McGuinty calling for a resolution "sooner rather than later" to the political crisis in Ottawa.

"We`re looking for as much certainty as soon as we can possibly get it," said Dalton McGuinty, who has been working closely with Prime Minister Stephen Harper on a proposed aid package for the Big Three auto makers.

http://www.wheels.ca/reviews/article/480165

 

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1208BTFD
City urged to invest in sports facilities

Sports organizations and recreational users are raising the alarm about the need for city hall to carry out a dramatic overhaul of Brantford`s aging and increasingly obsolete facilities.

Representatives made the need for major reinvestment their common theme in presentations Tuesday to councillors crafting the 2009 budget.

Backed by about 40 people in sports team jackets who filled the council chamber, the presenters pointed out numerous instances of arenas and other facilities in desperate need of expansion, repair or outright renewal.

http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/ArticleDi....aspx?e=1326747

 

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1208WIND
Landlords win licensing tiff

Hundreds of landlords crowded into city council chambers Tuesday night erupted into applause when the Windsor Licensing Commission accepted a report that no further regulations be imposed on their sector.

The group was worried that the commission would follow the lead of other cities like Oshawa in imposing limits on the number of bedrooms for student housing, written tenancy agreements for each tenant and other regulations.

http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/news/sto...93-57a776ce34db

 

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1208HAMN
Transit plan a `net winner` - economist

An economist says Hamilton and Toronto will see the least per capita benefit among area municipalities in the $50-billion, 25-year Metrolinx transportation plan.

But David Lewis, chief economist for consulting firm HDR, found the benefits of the plan to boost transit easily outweigh the costs of congestion in this region.

http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/475890

 

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1208KWCG
City halts plan for 1,900 new homes

CAMBRIDGE

Plans for a 1,900-home urban development in the countryside north of Preston were unanimously rejected by city councillors this week.

Hunt Club Valley wanted official plan and zoning changes for 72 hectares on both sides of Briardean Road, land now mined for sand to feed the Arriscraft man-made stone factory.

http://news.therecord.com/News/Local/article/453089

 

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1208KWCG
City council directs staff to shrink tax increase

GUELPH

The current version of the city`s 2009 budget will see a 5.3 per cent tax increase, which works out to about a $12 increase per month for the average taxpayer.

But with the state of the economy top of everyone`s minds, Councillor Ian Findlay set forward a motion last night for staff to examine how they might whittle the budget down to a 3.75 per cent increase.

http://news.guelphmercury.com/News/article/411438

 

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1208TNTO
Roach motels under fire

One protester hoisted a sign that read "Cockroaches Don`t Pay Rent."

Another directed TV cameras to a roach climbing down a wall in the front lobby.

In the filthy, cramped elevator, another said the cops call the place the "Dawes Rd. zoo".

The dilapidated highrise at 500 Dawes Rd. is nothing to write home about. But for hundreds of low-income tenants, it is home.

http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandg...625116-sun.html

 

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1208LNDN
Cargo program OK`d for airport

Cargo will now be allowed to move duty-free through London`s airport from one country to another, a move that could create more jobs.

Federal Transport Minister John Baird yesterday said the London International Airport has been approved to take part in Ottawa`s so-called cargo trans-shipment program. The approval means freight carriers will now be able to fly goods into London from another country, store them temporarily and transport them to a third country without paying duty or taxes.

http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/News/Local/200...627271-sun.html

 

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1208CATH
Deal close on getting CanGro site active again: developer

The owner of the former CanGro Food Inc. fruit-canning plant in St. Davids says the closed factory could soon house another food company and be surrounded by a major residential development.

Developer Rainer Hummel said he`s in the final stages of securing a deal with a food company from Western Canada to move into the building at 329 Four Mile Creek Rd.

Hummel would not reveal any details because the two sides are still in negotiations, but said it is not another cannery.

http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/Article....aspx?e=1329515

 

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1208CATH
Port potential seen in Welland Canal system

If it looks like a port and acts like a port, then a port the Welland Canal should be.

Such is the sentiment of the Welland Canals Foundation and mayors in Niagara`s canal cities.

Problem is, no one has ever deemed the channel as such.

"The Welland Canal and all the assets that surround the Welland Canal have all the characteristics of a port but ... we aren`t actually seen as a port," said John Armstrong of OEB Enterprise, the canal foundation`s secretariat. "We`re seen as a dock here or some marine services along the canal."

http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/Article....aspx?e=1329524

 

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1208BAOR
City taxes top norm: study

Barrie homeowners, businesses and industries were collectively taxed 41 per cent more than the Ontario average last year, says a recent think-tank study.

And the reason is this city spends 76 per cent more on basic municipal services -- such as water, sewer and roads -- than the average local government in this province.

"Barrie is a municipality that is focused on the core role of government," said David Seymour of the Frontier Centre for Public Policy, which released its second annual local government performance index yesterday.

http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/ArticleDi....aspx?e=1328690

 

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1208WIND
Building permit values continue to slide

Despite an increase in two of four categories, the value of building permits issued by the City of Windsor appears certain to fall well behind the numbers recorded a year ago and will likely sink to the lowest level in the past dozen years.

Minor increases in industrial and commercial permits have been more than offset by large decreases in residential and government and institutional.

http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/news/sto...bf-2d45e10b2401

 

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1208OTWA
Closing of pulp mill, 11.3% unemployment have residents focused on one thing -- jobs

It will be at least two years before the Pontiac can dig itself out of the economic crisis triggered by the closing of the Smurfit-Stone pulp mill in Portage-du-Fort in early November, says the riding`s Liberal MNA, Charlotte L`Ecuyer.

The closing cost 218 jobs, forced the last Pontiac sawmills producing wood chips to close and meant the loss of hundreds of other forestry jobs and possibly the end of what has been a way of life in the region for the past 175 years.

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/todays-p...0059/story.html

 

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1208OTWA
Don`t count on parkway for rail, city told

The National Capital Commission yesterday reminded the City of Ottawa that it cannot bank on using the Ottawa River Parkway for a key part of its $7.2-billion transit plan, and urged a serious consideration of other options.

Marie Lemay, the CEO of the NCC, told a commission board meeting that the parkway belongs to the NCC, which has given no guarantee it would be given up for commuter rail.

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/todays-p...0055/story.html

 

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1208OTWA
Ottawa housing resale market finally starting to cool: RE/MAX

Ottawa`s skyrocketing market for resale homes has finally started to cool, according to a new report from RE/MAX.

The real estate company`s annual Housing Market Outlook shows Ottawa will this year see its first dip in the number of resale home sales since 2005 as the sluggish economy continues to play havoc with the nerves of home buyers.

RE/MAX forecasts a total of 13,900 resale homes will be sold in Ottawa by the end of 2008, a decrease of five per cent compared to the 14,579 resale homes sold in 2007.

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/Homes/Ottawa+...0065/story.html

 

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1208OTWA
City stacks up poorly on tax front

City residents pay higher taxes than most Ontarians, but City Hall spends less on recreation, culture and services than their municipal partners.

The Frontier Centre for Public Policy released its annual report card for Canadian cities, ranking the relative financial position of 79 municipalities across the country. The think tank released numbers ranking each municipality`s financial position, revenue and expenditures, comparing statistics with the provincial average.

http://www.ottawasun.com/News/OttawaAndReg...625616-sun.html

 

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1208HAMN
I.T. jobs scarcer in Hamilton: report

Hamilton is lagging behind slightly in I.T. jobs, a new report suggests.

The Hamilton Training and Advisory Board (HTAB) says information technology jobs in Canada reached a record high in 2007, with half of the jobs located in the GTA.

However, HTAB found that Hamilton has not quite kept pace. The number of I.T. jobs is a bit smaller in the Hamilton area than expected.

http://www.thespec.com/News/Business/article/476582

 

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1208HAMN
House sales down; prices holding

Sure, real estate sales are down, house prices are expected to dip and properties are taking longer to sell.

Local realtors acknowledge all that. But they are also quick to point out that 2007 was a record year.

They say 2008 was shaping up to be pretty good too, until an overheated housing market boiled over in the U.S., sending stock markets tumbling and slamming credit markets shut.

http://www.thespec.com/News/Business/article/476674