Monthly Archives: May 2010

Katz vows to fight province on sewage treatment

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Winnipeg’s mayor says he is prepared to shout from the corner of Portage Avenue and Main Street in the New Year to change the province’s stance on sewage treatment requirements.

Sam Katz says the province’s position on sewage treatment is not only bad science but also a waste of money.

The city is overhauling its sewage treatment facilities and the Manitoba government is ordering the removal of both nitrogen and phosphorous from effluent.

The cost to the city to install the equipment would cost an estimated $350 million, he said.

“I’m not letting go of the nitrogen one. This is just the beginning — just the beginning,” he said. “I’m not going to sit around and let someone flush [that money] down the toilet. That’s not going to happen.”

Dwight Williamson, director of the Water Science and Management Branch for Manitoba Water Stewardship, agreed that scientists are not unanimous on whether nitrogen removal is necessary. Some believe removing only phosphorous is good enough, he said.

“[But] we don’t hold that view. There will be environmental benefits from the removal of nitrogen,” he insisted.

The dispute is expected in the New Year as budget time approaches in March. Katz wants to continue Winnipeg’s property tax freeze in 2010, which would make it the 13th consecutive year.

Saving millions of dollars on sewage treatment would make that a much easier goal, Katz has said.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2009/12/21/mb-sewage-treatment-dispute-katz-winnipeg.html#ixzz0pMrEo7eo

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Canada inflation up more than expected in November

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OTTAWA — Canadian consumer prices rose 1.0 percent November versus the same month a year before, a greater rise than economists had expected amid higher gasoline prices, Statistics Canada said Thursday.

Economists had forecast a rise of 0.8 percent in inflation, following an increase in October of 0.1 percent year over year.

“Prices at the pump are now exerting upward pressure on the Consumer Price Index after an extended period in which they were the main contributors to year-over-year declines in overall consumer prices,” said Statistics Canada.

In November, gasoline prices were 14.1 percent higher than they were in November 2008, following a 13.1 percent decline between October 2008 and October 2009, said the government agency.

Overall, energy prices rose 1.3 percent between November 2008 and November 2009, following a 12.7 percent decline the month before.
Except for shelter, all major components of the Consumer Price Index recorded price increases in November, lead by hikes in transportation costs, food and furniture prices, and the cost of household operations.
Consumers paid 7.8 percent more for car insurance, 2.1 percent more for milk and eggs, 5.4 percent more for fish and seafood and 2.7 percent more to dine out at a restaurant.

Books and tuition cost 1.8 percent more.

Home prices fell 2.1 percent while the interest portion of payments on outstanding mortgage debt fell 4.0 percent, following a 3.1 percent decrease in October.

However, homeowners paid 4.3 percent more in November for maintenance and repairs costs and property taxes.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hx-CQH6T5mj-ivSGwqTyn1J-RjKw

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Healthy businesses are essential to sustainability

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Kudos to Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson and city council for continuing the one-per-cent tax shift in the 2010 operating budget. It takes strong leadership and political courage to do the right thing for the city’s residents and employers.

It’s a myth that the one per cent tax shift is a tax break for businesses. The tax shift is a gradual correction of a long-standing inequity — it is not a handout to our city’s businesses. In fact, many businesses will see their property taxes increase in 2010.

Businesses — big and small — support paying their fair share of taxes, just as long as it’s an equitable share. Commercial property owners and their tenants already pay an increasingly disproportional share of taxes. In Vancouver, we have reached the point where eight per cent of the properties pay more than 50 per cent of the property taxes. This is not sustainable.

Annual budget increases have become the norm without evaluation of the city services being delivered. The Vancouver Fair Tax Coalition has long advocated the city stop increasing its budget without an examination and a justification of how it is spending money. Every family and employer in Vancouver reviews their own priorities for spending, and it would be imprudent if the city didn’t do the same.

Each year, residents assume a budget increase is needed to retain services, programs and amenities. But on closer examination, some programs might be out of date or no longer a priority, while others might be deserving of more support. Rationalizing programs and expenditures in every budget will lead to better use of our tax dollars, and benefit both residential and business taxpayers.

City Manager Penny Ballem and her staff deserve praise for using the Vancouver Services Review to ensure we get the most for our tax dollars. Ever increasing budgets and taxes cannot continue, and the Vancouver Services Review is an important first step in the right direction.

Vancouverites support the idea that our city should be livable, green and sustainable. But it is important to remember that sustainability is a balance of social, economic, and environment elements in our city. All three are important and need to be balanced.

The economic element is taken for granted all too often, and it is a key driver of sustainability. Social and environmental factors cannot be maintained without jobs, employers, and commercial enterprises.

Vancouver city council seems to understand healthy businesses are essential to economic sustainability and job creation. Neighbourhoods flourish because residents are drawn to the shops, restaurants and stores in the area. Local offices and businesses provide jobs and allow citizens to live, work and shop in one community.

A lack of jobs and economic vitality means people commuting outside the city and that impacts both the environment and the social aspects of our neighbourhoods.

As taxpayers, we have to accept that the city can’t increase its spending every year nor can it be responsible for all our service wants and needs. Tightening the city’s financial belt is a responsible and necessary step toward ensuring Vancouver’s sustainability.

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Healthy+businesses+essential+sustainability/2351284/story.html#ixzz0oNTWwmGD

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Carney dismisses issue on housing bubble

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In a question-and-answer session following his speech, Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank of Canada was quick to dismiss talk of housing bubble in Canada or in Winnipeg’s stable market. Here are some of his dropped statements:

“Canada’s corporate sector begins with a number of advantages. Domestic demand is expected to be relatively strong, providing a base of support for some sectors. Corporate balance sheets are in outstanding shape, and margins have help up very well for this stage in the economic cycle. ”

“Canada’s overall financial conditions are now contributing to, rather than retarding the recovery. While net financing needs would be expected to be limited, given the stage in the economic cycle, business credit has started to grown again. In fact due to monetary stimulus, overall borrowing costs for Canadian business remain very low.”

“Taken together, results from the bank’s latest Senior Loan Officer Survey and the Business Outlook Survey suggest that, following a period of substantial tightening, credit conditions for businesses eased slightly in the fourth quarter of 2009, for the first time since the financial crisis began. The improvement in credit conditions mainly affected large firms, as some small and medium sized entities continued to experience tightened conditions.”

“It is in this environment that the first signs of thaw corporate attitudes have begun to emerge. In our latest Business Outlook Survey, more firms said they are now planning to increase investment sending and employment than did either last summer or fall. With the improvement in financial conditions, economic activity, commodity prices and growing confidence, business fixed investment should pick up in 2010. This recovery will be relatively modest; it is not until 2011 that we anticipate an acceleration of investment sending, as the excess supply in the economy is taken up.”

“However, given the external environment, the question is whether this pickup will be sufficient. The significant drop in investment that occurred during the recession included spending on new technology, which could have helped firms address coming economic challenges. The relatively slow recovery expected in our most important trading artner, along with ongoing sectoral adjustments, means that firms have to find new markets. In doing so, they will face increased competition. For example, due to exchange rate moves and stellar productivity performance, the competitiveness of the U.S. corporate sector has improved significantly. The need for capital investment by Canadian businesses to meet these challenges is clear.”

“In short, Canadian companies are emerging from the recession to an altered world— one that may require deeper restructuring and bolder strategic initiatives than currently contemplated. New suppliers need to be sourced; new markets opened; a new approach to managing for a more volatile environment developed. To recognize this reality is also to recognize the opportunities available to corporate Canada.”

“To conclude, recent events were a watershed. The global economy that emerges from the recession will be different than the one that led into the crisis. A powerful and sustained restructuring of the global economy has begun. Canadian business will need to develop new markets as the traditional advantage of relatively open access to U.S. market becomes less valuable. To seize new opportunities our productivity levels must improve.”

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Upper Fort Garry as a Heritage Park

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The proposed Upper Fort Garry Heritage Provincial Park Act is aimed at preserving the cultural and historic significance of the site, according to Conservation Minister Bill Blaikie.

“This downtown Winnipeg site will have the status of a protected area as Upper Fort Garry Heritage Park, ensuring the restorative and interpretative work of the Friends of Upper Fort Garry can continue,” said Blaikie.

“The historic significance of the fort will be recreated and interpreted, adding a prime destination to this area of the province and building on the success of The Forks, the Manitoba Museum and the Canadian Museum of Human Rights.”

The province will invest $2.5 million in the Upper Fort Garry site towards land acquisition, site preparation and other expenses to help secure the area as a provincial heritage park.

Aboriginal people met near this location at the junction of the Red and Assiniboine rivers for the trade, social exchange and political discourse. There is archaeological evidence of First Nations occupying the area; campsites over 1,000 years old have been discovered near the proposed park site.

All that remains of the original fort is the Governor’s Gate, which has been preserved on a small piece of heritage property.

The Friends of Upper Fort Garry have raised over $10 million for the creation of the interpretative centre and heritage park in a stretch of land along Main Street from Broadway to Assiniboine Avenue.

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Land registry changes fall short, natives say

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While new legislation makes it easier to start development, band also wants right to collect property transfer tax

The federal government moved yesterday to make it easier for native bands to undertake large-scale commercial development on reserves by permitting the establishment of land registry systems that give comfort to investors.

But the Squamish Nation in British Columbia, which wants to develop prime real estate at the foot of Vancouver’s Lion’s Gate Bridge, says the changes do not go far enough. The band also wants the right to collect a property transfer tax, a levy that would be harmonized with the tax currently imposed by the province on the sale of lands that are not part of an aboriginal reserve.

“If we are to be truly self-sufficient, we will need all the modern tools of governance and public finance to ensure fair value for our lands,” Squamish Chief Gibby Jacob told a news conference in Ottawa.

“As a people struggling to survive in a competitive and value-driven society, it is becoming increasingly important for us to weigh the costs of using a scarce resource – land – with the benefits we would get from development.”

The federal government said late yesterday that it will talk further with native bands about potentially allowing them to levy the property transfer tax.

Meanwhile, Squamish officials said they are pleased with the new legislation. The changes, which would be instated only at the request of individual bands, amend the First Nations Commercial and Industrial Development Act to permit a land title and registry system to operate on reserve lands, essentially letting the bands transfer property rights to non-aboriginals.

Without that ability, the value of reserve lands has remained low.

The Squamish have several large developments planned for their reserves on the Burrard Inlet directly across from downtown Vancouver, a city which has arguably the hottest real estate market in Canada.

The first project will be condominium towers in Capilano. Developers will be given a 99-year lease to build on reserve land and, with the new law, they would be able to sell the condos along with the normal deeds and titles that apply to off-reserve properties.

But the Squamish also want to be able to collect a property transfer tax on the sale of those units at the current British Columbia rate, which is 1 per cent on the first $100,000 and 2 per cent on everything above that amount.

“The amendments introduced today take us only halfway to realizing our vision,” Chief Gibby said. “It still denies us a revenue stream to support this regulatory regime.”

The chief said the Burrard Inlet development will be “one of the most significant urban renewal projects in the world, providing oceanfront land for housing in a highly desirable neighbourhood.” Most important, he said, the money from the project will be used to provide housing and services for the Squamish people.

Tom Flanagan, a political science professor and expert in aboriginal affairs with close ties to the federal Conservative government, accompanied Chief Gibby at the news conference.

Allowing native communities to collect property transfer taxes, he said, “is “a logical step in [the] progression towards giving first nations the ability to raise governmental revenues for themselves, thereby becoming less dependent on transfers from the federal government.”

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/land-registry-changes-fall-short-natives-say/article1396607/

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Manitoba’s market performance in the early quarter of 2010

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As is typical each year in most commercial real estate circles, the past three months have generally been characterized by the conclusion of 2009 business while preparing for 2010 initiatives. The latter part of January and most of February are often called “white board weeks” as landlords, tenants, property managers, brokers and investor plan for 2010 acquisitions, dispositions, new stores, upcoming renewals, and the like. But before doing that look at  some of the  market observations in the early quarter of 2010.

  • Several larger investors have suggested they are back in “buy” mode and are sitting on uncommitted capital. This signifies that the current supply of good-quality offerings is unlikely to keep pace with overall demand moving forward into 2010, which should intensify competition and pricing even further in Manitoba and across Canada.
  • Apartments remain the most sought-after asset class in Winnipeg, as overall vacancy rates remain near one per cent and condominium conversion opportunities are being capitalized on by local specialists. A combination of TIF announcements by both local and provincial governments as well as a move by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) to increase minimum down payment on new home and condo purchases would influence this sector in 2010.
  • Moving into 2010 it is expected that new investors and existing landlords will step up their focus on the “quality” of a property’s rental income as opposed to the “quantity” of same.
  • Buying respectable investment real estate remains a very competitive business in Winnipeg, suggesting buyers should work diligently to understand the fundamentals of the property they are considering by using professional advisors and high-quality underwriting information.
  • With the yield in 10 year government of Canada bonds hovering around 3.4 per cent, the allure to real estate is obvious after the impact of taxes and inflation on fixed income investments. Typical investments in commercial real estate can comfortably generate levered yields of upwards of nine per cent.
  • Leasing fundamentals in Winnipeg appear to be holding across the office, retail and industrial sectors, but the market will be monitoring potential tenant failures to ascertain those business that have exhausted all sources of case waiting for the economy to rebound. While economic growth in Winnipeg was among the strongest in the country last year, this market is by no means immune to the global impact of the 2008 and 2009 recession.

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