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Mayor Bronco issues a wake-up call to the asleep-at-the-wheel provincial government. The Rip van Winkles in Edmonton must cough up cash for places growing like gangbusters, such as Calgary, or face a big battle over bucks. The areas most in need are Alberta's Growth Five, the G-5: Calgary, Edmonton, Red Deer, Fort McMurray and Grande Prairie. The G-5 civic leaders are talking tough. They want the Tories to cut some substantial cheques. One idea on the table, favoured by Bronco, is for the province to give back the half of every Calgarian's city tax bill now scooped up by the province. By the way, the average Calgary household pays out $8,000 more to the province in all taxes than it gets back in services. "There will be a day of reckoning -- soon. This is not hype. This is reality.
Minnesota's forest products industries are in a slump. Companies that produce lumber, oriented-strand board and other building materials are particularly hard hit by the sharp decline in new-home construction nationwide. Many have cut back production, and some are closing, at least temporarily, and letting workers go. Some people, including elected officials, suggest cutting the cost of trees from state-owned forests as a measure to help these companies and prevent layoffs. Others object to selling public resources to private companies for less than market value. This debate has a long history at the national level and sheds light on issues in Minnesota. Across the nation, the federal government owns large acreages used for logging or mining. It also owns petroleum deposits in the Gulf of Mexico and natural gas deposits across the West.
TORONTO (CP) - Ontario's manufacturing-based economy, reeling from widespread layoffs in the forestry and industrial sectors, has been sharply downgraded to rank last in economic growth among the provinces, according to an economic outlook by Royal Bank (TSX:RY). The report released Friday said Ontario's economic woes stand in marked contrast to Alberta, whose booming oilsands economy is poised to be Canada's top performer this year with the strongest growth rate in a decade at 6.3 per cent. "Ontario's economic growth forecast has weakened and is facing further downside risks," said Craig Wright, the bank's vice-president and chief economist. "The economy isn't far from being at a standstill, despite the drop in natural gas and oil prices, which should both serve to stimulate growth." Ontario, which contributes about 40 per cent of Canada's total employment, is forecast to grow at a sluggish rate of just 1.5 per cent in 2006 and two per cent next year.
Holy Cross Hospital has awarded Miller Construction Co. a $6 million contract to expand the facility's outpatient imaging department. Miller, which disclosed the news, said a key component of the 14,000-square-foot expansion will be guiding an 18,000-pound MRI machine into place within the department, which is at the core of the Fort Lauderdale hospital. .
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