Ottawa plans military unit for Calgary
Troops to deliver crisis response in 14 major cities
David Pugliese, Sarah McGinnis, CanWest News Service; Calgary Herald
Published: Thursday, February 01, 2007
The Harper government plans to boost military presence across the country with new units in 14 cities -- including Calgary -- as well as to shift 5,000 regular-force personnel to training and front-line missions, from support and desk jobs.
Before 2016, the army would establish "territorial response battalions" in Victoria, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Regina, Winnipeg, Niagara-Windsor, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City, Saint John, N.B., Halifax and St. John's, N.L. The units would react to domestic emergencies such as natural disasters or a terrorist attack.
The details are outlined in the Conservative government's Canada First Defence Strategy, which was leaked to the Ottawa Citizen. No date has been set for the strategy to be released publicly. The report outlines the direction the military would follow over the next 15 years.
During the election, the Conservatives promised to create territorial battalions -- each unit to be 100 regular troops and 400 or more reservists -- but the strategy paper does not contain details on the size of the units.
Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute president Bob Millar is intrigued by the idea that could see a battalion of full-time soldiers posted in Calgary again.
"It means (the government is) taking seriously the idea of both man-made and natural threats that are going to be present in the near future in Canada. It could be ice storms or terrorist opportunities. They're obviously getting ready for that kind of untoward event," Millar said.
CFB Calgary was once a major base for the Canadian Armed Forces, housing military personnel and offices, and acting as a staging area for troop deployments.
But in 1998, Calgary fell victim to military reorganization. The base was officially decommissioned and full-time personnel were transferred to CFB Edmonton, leaving mostly reservists in the city.
Restoring some full-time troops to Calgary would mean that armed forces personnel are on hand to respond immediately to local natural disasters or terrorist threats, said Millar.
"It only bodes well with (the military) connecting with Canadians by letting taxpayers see where their money is going," he said.
But the plan could fail if there isn't enough work for full-time soldiers or if they aren't equipped properly, Millar said.
Canadians for Military Preparedness spokeswoman Corrie Adolph was thrilled by the proposal.
"There's a lot at stake with global affairs and with terrorism," said Adolph, who is the mother of a Calgary Highlander. "This is an opportunity for every Canadian to have a sense there is a military presence here to protect us."
In addition to territorial battalions, Harper's defence strategy calls for the regular force "footprint" to be increased across the country.
The plan calls for the regular forces to increase to 70,000 by 2011 and then to 75,000 by 2016. The reserves would be increased in size to 30,000 over the next five years and then to 35,000 "over the long-term."
But there would also be shifts in military personnel to better support training of new recruits, as well as bolster front-line units.
The regular force currently has about 63,800 members. The reserve force is around 24,000, according to Defence Department figures.
According to the strategy, the army reserves would undergo a fundamental transformation to be able to respond more effectively to domestic emergencies in both rural and urban areas.
Liberal Senator Colin Kenny, chairman of the Senate's national security and defence committee, said the Conservative plan falls short because it takes too long to increase the size of the regular and reserve forces. "If they said last year that their increase would take until 2016, they would have been laughed out of" Parliament, Kenny said.
University of Calgary defence analyst Rob Huebert said the government has no choice but to stretch out the increase in numbers of Canadian Forces personnel over a nine-year period. That's because previous cuts to the military and the ongoing war in Afghanistan are limiting the number of skilled personnel available to train new recruits.
"There's no shortage of volunteers," he said. "It's just that the system is not set up to deal with them."
smcginnis@theherald.canwest.com
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Towns delay decision on amalgamation
A decision about whether the towns of Turner Valley and Black Diamond will move toward amalgamation has been put off.
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^(could use the rest of this story *winK wink*)
City studying ways to improve tax system
Calgarians log on to check house values
As homeowners flood the city's website to check out the value of their properties in a booming economy, a city council advisory group continues to study whether market value assessment is the best system for Calgary.
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^(this one too)
Calgary's airport straining to expand
Transborder travel shows fastest gain
Tamara Gignac, Calgary Herald
Published: Thursday, February 01, 2007
More than eleven million passengers passed through Calgary International Airport in 2006 -- and the traffic is putting the squeeze on the facility's already straining infrastructure.
A combination of booming economic times, a healthy airline industry and higher overall demand saw a record number of business and leisure travellers flying in and out of Canada's fastest-growing airport. The terminal has doubled in size since 1992 but still faces a crunch during peak periods, especially when it comes to customs, security and parking.
And with a number of new carriers adding Calgary to their list of destinations -- British Airways and U.S. low-cost carrier Frontier Airlines among them -- the airport is gearing up for renovations it says will help ease congestion.
For a second straight year, the rate of growth in transborder traffic outpaced domestic numbers as the airport recorded 2.2 million passengers going to and from the U.S. -- an increase of about 15 per cent. Air Canada launched several new U.S. destinations in 2006, while WestJet and other carriers have added transborder links from the city.
Domestic travel rose about 10 per cent to 8.1 million passengers, while international traffic was up eight per cent for a total of 897,540 travellers.
If the airport's rapid growth continues at the same pace -- 43 per cent in four years -- by next year it is expected to eclipse Montreal's Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport in size to be the country's third largest aviation facility.
"Our growth has not only exceeded our wildest forecasts, it shows no sign of slowing down or going into the negative," said Garth Atkinson, chief executive of the Calgary Airport Authority.
"It means we're going to keep on building and adding capacity where we need to. Our approach is to make incremental, sequential, cost-effective additions to the facility, which it was designed to accommodate."
Unlike airports in Toronto, Ottawa and Winnipeg -- forced to gut existing infrastructure and rebuild from scratch -- the Calgary airport plans to "add pieces as it needs to, a more convenient and ultimately less expensive option for passengers, said Atkinson.
Construction is to begin in the next three years on a multi-floor extension to concourse B/C, used to connect passengers to U.S. cities, Europe, Mexico and Caribbean holiday destinations.
It is the largest single project ever undertaken inside the terminal, and is part of a 10-year plan to overhaul the airport. Future upgrades include a $300-million north-south runway, thousands of extra parking stalls and an expansion of the airport's air cargo and freight facilities.
"Going forward, our international transborder activity is probably going to grow faster than domestic. It's already constrained at certain times of the day so it will be our biggest push in the next five to seven years," said Atkinson.
The airport said it has no immediate plans to cover the costs of upgrades and renovations by way of increased terminal and landing fees -- an expense typically passed on to consumers through higher fares.
"We're maintaining our low fee status and for the second year in a row there will be no increase to the airlines," Atkinson said.
Since assuming responsibility for the facility in 1992, the Calgary Airport Authority estimates it has spent $800 million on expansion projects.
tgignac@theherald.canwest.com
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Alberta housing hotter than ever
Mario Toneguzzi, Calgary Herald
Published: Thursday, February 01, 2007
Alberta led the country in 2006 in the rate of growth for sales in the resale housing market, average sale price and total dollar volume of sales through MLS, says a national report released on Wednesday.
The Alberta numbers were staggering.
The Canadian Real Estate Association report said total dollar volume of sales in the province rose by 47.3 per cent from the previous year to $21.2 billion compared with $14.4 billion in 2005. The number of sales increased by 12.6 per cent to 74,189 units compared with 65,866 the previous year. And the average sale price jumped by 30.8 per cent to $285,497 from the $218,266 in 2005.
All were Alberta records.
"I'm not surprised. This is just one additional indicator of inventory of many that confirm that Alberta is the strongest economy in the entire country," said Richard Corriveau, regional economist for the Prairies and Territories for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation in Calgary.
"We have never seen that level of price growth at 30 per cent. It's more than doubled the highest rate of price growth ever in Alberta's history . . . So at 30 per cent we've blown that out of the water."
Corrieveau said the previous record for price growth was established in 2005 at 12 per cent.
On a national level, the overall dollar volume rose by 11.1 per cent to $133.9 billion from the previous year. Total sales dropped slightly -- 483,609 in 2006 compared with 483,789 in 2005. The average sale price increased by 11.1 per cent as well to $276,974 from $249,201 the year before.
"The housing market is forecast to remain tighter in Western Canada than for other areas in Canada," said CREA's chief economist Gregory Klump. "Price increases this year are forecast to be smaller on a national basis, but will remain biggest in western markets."
Corriveau said the CMHC is forecasting sales in the province to dip slightly this year to 69,000, but the average price will increase by about 12 per cent to $320,000 "with some upside."
"We're still quite bullish on price growth. If buyers are waiting for prices to decline, I think they'll be shooting themselves in the foot because we expect them to continue to rise and quite strongly," he said.
Nationally, the number of sales fell shy of setting a fifth consecutive annual record, according to CREA.
Activity surpassed all previous annual records in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Quebec, New Brunswick and Newfoundland.
"Seasonally adjusted sales activity in the fourth quarter of 2006 rose by 1.3 per cent compared with the previous quarter to reach 199,769 units -- the sixth highest level on record," said the report. "The quarterly increase was driven by a rise in activity in Alberta and Ontario. Gains in those provinces more than offset fewer transactions in British Columbia.
"Actual activity in the fourth quarter of 2006 surpassed all previous quarterly records in Manitoba and New Brunswick. It also posted the highest level for the fourth quarter period nationally and in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Quebec."
MLS residential new listings also set a record, posting an increase of 5.8 per cent over the previous record set in 2005. New listings eclipsed previous annual records in Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Newfoundland.
"The resale housing market became more balanced in 2006 due to an increase in new listings, but it was still a seller's market -- particularly in western provinces," said CREA's report.
"In keeping with that trend, prices rose fastest in all provinces west of Ontario."
mtoneguzzi@theherald.canwest.com