Economic News Affecting St. John's

[AllBlack]

Originally Posted by jeddy1989

watch our Europe they want us to steal all your people

Solution to Labour Shortage is in Ireland


http://www.vocm.com/newsarticle.asp?...31939&latest=1

It's funny when you think about it because typically cities in the developed world that are booming, go after workers from the developing world and poor countries .. not us , we wanna make a mini Europe I think it would be cool and they would have and easier transition and more ease when adapting to our surroundings

I mentioned a few weeks ago that there are already a number of skilled Irish workers in the province, mostly in local commercial construction as industrial mega-projects in Nfld and Alberta continue to lure the local workforce away. As Hebron and Lower Churchill ramp up, we'll see more of this.

[SignalHillHiker]

I hope they stay permanently.

[BigRedSpecial]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

I hope they stay permanently.

I agree... we've become a lot more "North Americanized" than we traditionally were; it'll be good to inject some more Old World into the ranks

[jeddy1989]

Hibernia donates $2.1 million for trades education

Choices for Youth received a $2.1-million donation from Hibernia on Wednesday. The money will go towards the Train for Trades program, which helps at-risk youth get career skills. NTV’s Heather Gillis reports.

http://ntv.ca/hibernia-donates-2-1-m...des-education/

[jeddy1989]

Mining in Lab West Booming: Altius Minerals

The CEO of Altius Minerals Corporation says it's a great time to be in the mining industry. At Memorial University's 48th annual business day today, Brian Dalton said despite concerns that the mining industry faces an uncertain future, he takes the opposite stance. VOCM's Lacy O'Connell reports.


Dalton's presentation focused on the opportunities for expansion in mining in Labrador West. That's despite recent reports that mining giant Rio Tinto has started the process of selling its majority stake in the Iron Ore Company of Canada, and that another company, Cliffs, has scaled back in the area. Dalton says iron ore production is largely expanding in the world right now, and he sees nothing but tremendous opportunity in the region, mainly due to Chinese investors looking towards Labrador. Dalton says mining is all about infrastructure, and most of that has already come together. He says with rail and port infrastructure ready, and access to power mostly complete, there's nothing holding Labrador West back.


He says mining will eventually be a bigger economic development for the province than oil and gas.

http://www.vocm.com/newsarticle.asp?...32073&latest=1

[statbass]

VOCM
March 19, 2013
Author: Unknown

The role of immigration in building a dynamic workforce was the topic of a symposium in St. John's today. VOCM's Zaren Healey White reports live from the Clovelly Golf Club.

The Association for New Canadians has been hosting an annual diversity symposium for five years now. It's an opportunity to promote the importance of diversity training and the benefits of diverse communities and workplaces. Keynote speaker Cathy Bennett, CEO of Bennett Group of Companies, spoke to the value of diversity in the workplace and the importance of diversity training for employees. Bennett spoke to how much the workforce in the province has changed and will continue to change.
...

http://www.vocm.com/newsarticle.asp?...32186&latest=1

[jeddy1989]

Busy Years Ahead for Hebron

The next several years will be busy ones for those working on the Hebron project. Over 1,600 people in this province are currently working on the $6.5-billion oil development. Hebron Senior Project Manager Geoff Parker says labour projections have been released to show an estimate of what jobs are available and how many positions they will need to fill in order to complete the project before it gets towed to the offshore. The jobs range from painters and bricklayers to heavy equipment operators and electricians. According to Hebron's labour projections, there will be a major demand for ironworkers, labourers, and carpenters over the next few years. The amount of hours required for each position, Parker says depends on the time of the year.



Parker says the peak work periods will be this coming summer and next summer, when construction of the GBS will ramp up most.

In an effort to mitigate labour shortages, Hebron project operator, Exxon Mobil Canada, has offered rebar training and tower crane training.

http://www.vocm.com/newsarticle.asp?mn=2&id=32294

[statbass]

Some positive news on top of an otherwise dismal couple of days.

CBC NL
March 28, 2013
Author: Unknown

An announcement is expected Thursday on one of the largest mining developments in Canada.

CBC News has learned that Vale and the Newfoundland and Labrador government have reached a deal on underground mining at the Voisey's Bay site.

Such an agreement would significantly extend the commercial life of the Voisey's Bay mine, which is considered one of the world's largest nickel finds.

Former owner Inco shipped its first concentrate from the Voisey's Bay mine in 2005. Two freelance prospectors working for Vancouver-based Diamond Fields Resources discovered the massive deposit of nickel, cobalt and copper in 1993.
...

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfou...-mine-328.html

[jeddy1989]

Move underground extends Voisey's Bay mine life to 2035
Vale will be permitted to ship out ore for 3 additional years; 100s of new jobs expected

Vale has committed to going underground at its Voisey’s Bay site in Labrador, a move that will create hundreds of new jobs and extend the mine’s lifespan to 2035.

In return, the Newfoundland and Labrador government agreed to let Vale continue shipping ore out of the province for another three years.

The agreement is a “win-win event,” Jeff McLaughlin, vice-president of Vale’s Newfoundland and Labrador operations, told reporters at Confederation Building Thursday.

“That’s win-win for the province, for the communities that we’re part of, for our employees, and for Vale.”

Premier Kathy Dunderdale called the announcement “another example of this government’s continued commitment to ensuring that Newfoundlanders and Labradorians benefit from the development of our natural resources.”

Existing royalty arrangements unchanged
The deal has a number of components.

The deadline to finish Vale’s Long Harbour processing facility has been extended, to the end of July. That work was supposed to be completed last month.

The Voisey's Bay mine in northern Labrador has until now focused entirely on surface production. (CBC )
There is no public money involved in the deal, and existing royalty arrangements won't be touched.

Vale will also pay the province $100 million for the right to ship out the extra ore. The same amount of ore will have to be shipped back in later.

Going underground at Voisey's Bay is expected to extend the life of the mine by a dozen years or more.

Construction work on the underground mine is expected to begin in late 2015.

According to Vale’s McLaughlin, roughly 800 new jobs will be created at peak during the construction phase.

That number will stabilize at about 400 additional workers when the underground mine starts producing in 2019.

The Voisey’s Bay site currently employs 475.

Vale confident in plan
McLaughlin says Vale is confident the underground mining plan will proceed, even with a current “trough” in nickel prices.

“Newfoundland and Labrador is an important part of Vale’s long-term strategy,” McLaughlin said.

“The finalization of this agreement speaks to the way we value our work and our partnerships here in the province.”

'Newfoundland and Labrador is an important part of Vale’s long-term strategy. The finalization of this agreement speaks to the way we value our work and our partnerships here in the province.'
—Jeff McLaughlin, vice-president of Vale’s Newfoundland and Labrador operations
Processing work will begin at the Long Harbour facility later this year.

Vale will start with ore imported from Indonesia.

Indonesian ore is much more pure than Labrador product, according to McLaughlin — 78 per cent nickel, compared to 20 per cent. Vale will use the imported ore to get Long Harbour up and running.

“What we want to do is get into production as early as possible, to test out the equipment, and to train our new operators,” McLaughlin said.

Tories criticized original Voisey's Bay deal
The governing Tories sharply criticized the Voisey’s Bay deal signed by the then-Liberal government in 2002, calling it a “giveaway.”

Fast forward a decade, and the Progressive Conservatives are taking credit for making it a success.

Dunderdale says the Tory administration made amendments to the agreement in 2009 that “strengthened” the language around employment, guaranteeing 8.9 million person hours in the province.

'One of the big holes that you could drive a Mack truck through was closed up in 2009.'
—Premier Kathy Dunderdale
“One of the big holes that you could drive a Mack truck through was closed up in 2009,” the premier said.

According to Dunderdale, the most recent amendment improves industrial and employment benefits.

It also permits Vale to export 84,000 net tonnes more nickel-in-concentrate outside the province over the next three years, in exchange for the underground mining commitment.

That’s on top of 440,000 tonnes already approved over the life of the deal for shipment elsewhere.

Dunderdale says there are “significant” penalties if the company abandons the underground expansion plan, but would not get into specifics.

“If timelines aren’t met, damages will accrue to the province.”

Voisey's Bay produces 30% of nation's nickel
The Labrador mine is a major player in nickel production.

According to Patricia Mohr, vice-president and commodity market specialist with Scotibank, Voisey's Bay produced 30 per cent of Canada's nickel last year.

About 60 per cent of nickel is used in stainless steel. Nickel is also found in high alloy steel, such as the kind used in aircraft manufacturing.

Canada currently produces 2.7 per cent of the world's nickel total. Mohr says that may seem small, but it's actually a significant amount for one country.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfou...-mine-328.html

[SignalHillHiker]

B'ys... you know, I don't think there's much going on up in Labrador these days. Sure it's never in the news.

Congratulations, all! I hope these announcements all pile in now that the Lower Churchill is approved.

[statbass]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

B'ys... you know, I don't think there's much going on up in Labrador these days. Sure it's never in the news.

Congratulations, all! I hope these announcements all pile in now that the Lower Churchill is approved.

And just imagine, NL was on the brink of selling Labrador to Quebec back in the day for next to nothing to try and manage it's enormous debt. Phew, dodged a big bullet there!

[SignalHillHiker]

OMG... I'd fight the war to get it back myself if I had to do.

[Trevor3]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

B'ys... you know, I don't think there's much going on up in Labrador these days. Sure it's never in the news.

Congratulations, all! I hope these announcements all pile in now that the Lower Churchill is approved.

The more I read and think about Lower Churchill/Muskrat Falls, the more I just can't support it.

The government has spent $1.1 billion on the project between this year and last year and have yet to provide any evidence of an idea about how they will recover that investment, aside from allowing Nalcor to reap a 10% profit margin on investment via utility bills. We're essentially giving 20% of the power to be generated to Nova Scotia in order to gain access to markets that have not shown any desire to purchase the power. The U.S. is aiming for energy self-sufficiency by 2020 thanks to enormous shale gas deposits. If they do decide to buy from Canada, Quebec is sitting on an enormous power surplus that we are subsidizing, which allows Quebec to undercut Muskrat power at will.

What it amounts to is Newfoundland using just 40% of the product and right now, we're on the hook for 100% of the cost with no hint of a buyer for the remaining 40% of the power. Additionally, legislation has been passed which prevents any sort of power generation on the island to compete with Nalcor and Muskrat. We're locked into a very short-sighted plan for a very long time.

I seriously fear that we're building ourselves into a coffin. We will likely see skyrocketing electricity rates that will prevent the development of large scale industry and make the island, and our cities/towns, unappealing for the development of high-tech industry.

Now, I concede that if we were to stop constrution of such a large project we could devastate our economy, seriously slowing GDP growth and halting job growth prospects. However, I fear that in the long run we could be headed down this road anyway.

[mrjanejacobs]

There is also a large amount of unclean power flowing through this country. Muskrat power will be 'clean', as far as the word is concerned (and perhaps for lack of a better word).

That is where I think your argument might need reassessing. There is a difference between 'energy' and 'clean energy' - Canadians will not sit on a surplus of clean energy as long as unclean energy is still powering industries in provinces across the country. I'm not that worried about the market, personally, considering the amount of unclean energy that will need to be decommissioned in the next 20 years - it will make a nice opening for us. Isn't that part of the reason we are working towards muskrat falls? To close the plant in Holyrood? Isn't that why all federal political parties promised funding for the project? Isn't that exactly why Nova Scotia signed on (to close their unclean energy sources)?

[PoscStudent]

Originally Posted by Trevor3

The more I read and think about Lower Churchill/Muskrat Falls, the more I just can't support it.

The government has spent $1.1 billion on the project between this year and last year and have yet to provide any evidence of an idea about how they will recover that investment, aside from allowing Nalcor to reap a 10% profit margin on investment via utility bills. We're essentially giving 20% of the power to be generated to Nova Scotia in order to gain access to markets that have not shown any desire to purchase the power. The U.S. is aiming for energy self-sufficiency by 2020 thanks to enormous shale gas deposits. If they do decide to buy from Canada, Quebec is sitting on an enormous power surplus that we are subsidizing, which allows Quebec to undercut Muskrat power at will.

What it amounts to is Newfoundland using just 40% of the product and right now, we're on the hook for 100% of the cost with no hint of a buyer for the remaining 40% of the power. Additionally, legislation has been passed which prevents any sort of power generation on the island to compete with Nalcor and Muskrat. We're locked into a very short-sighted plan for a very long time.

I seriously fear that we're building ourselves into a coffin. We will likely see skyrocketing electricity rates that will prevent the development of large scale industry and make the island, and our cities/towns, unappealing for the development of high-tech industry.

Now, I concede that if we were to stop constrution of such a large project we could devastate our economy, seriously slowing GDP growth and halting job growth prospects. However, I fear that in the long run we could be headed down this road anyway.

Nalcor will sell excess power into spot markets so that it can be recalled to use in Labrador. The announcement by Vale seems to suggest they will purchase power from MF. It was also mentioned before that NB and PEI might purchase power, NS could also purchase more, but I'm not sure if Nalcor is looking for long term deals for excess power or not now.

In the end though it's cheaper for Newfoundland and Labrador to have power from Muskrat Falls then elsewhere.

[statbass]

Not sure if I should post this here or on the main thread page. Here does seem to be a better fit though.

VOCM
April 1, 2013
Author: Unknown

Building of the expansion to the St. John's Convention Centre will cost the city over 52 million dollars. The capital city's engineering department is recommending the city award the tender for the construction work to Pomerleau, who came in with the lowest bid at just under 52 million 7 hundred thousand dollars. Three other bids were received, all of which were between 59 and 61 million dollars.

The 52 million is in addition to the cost of the expropriation last year of properties on Waldegrave and New Gower streets and their subsequent demolition.

http://www.vocm1.com/newsarticle.asp...32584&latest=1

[Copes]

Originally Posted by statbass

Not sure if I should post this here or on the main thread page. Here does seem to be a better fit though.

VOCM
April 1, 2013
Author: Unknown



http://www.vocm1.com/newsarticle.asp...32584&latest=1

When in doubt, double post.

[jeddy1989]

St. John’s forced to delay capital projects

Changes to the Municipal Operating Grants (MOG) system have forced the City of St. John’s to delay several capital projects, according to the chair of its finance committee.
“In our 2013 budget, we estimated a $5 to $7 million surplus from 2012,” said Coun. Danny Breen at Monday’s council meeting. “Our intention was to invest that surplus strategically into capital projects within our city and retain a small contingency for unexpected problems that may arise.”
As a result of last week’s provincial budget, the city is set to lose the $3.4 million it received annually through MOGs. That system will from now on only apply to municipalities with 11,000 residents or less.
Municipalities that exceed that number — of which there are seven in the province — will instead receive a one-time commitment of funds from the provincial government to use for capital projects. The city previously stated it will receive $8.5 million.
Among the capital projects the city intends to delay is the automated garbage collection initiative. That service is already offered in Mount Pearl. The City of St. John’s made its interest in automated garbage collection known last month during a council meeting.
The estimated cost of outfitting collection trucks and purchasing garbage carts in Phase 1 is $1.24 million. A further $3.67 million would be needed in Phase 2 for the purchase of the remaining carts required to serve residents.
By delaying capital projects, the city can transfer $3.4 million to its operating budget to make up for the loss of revenue related to MOGs.
Breen said the city still needs more details about the one-time payment from the province before it can take another look at projects that have now been delayed.
Coun. Tom Hann was blunt in offering his assessment of the provincial budget.
“With regard to the provincial budget ... I was disappointed,” he said.
“I’m not sure if the provincial government knew what kind of impact this budget would have, but I’m disappointed because sometimes the attitude of government and people in the Confederation Building is that we have lots of money. Well, we don’t.”
Immediately after Hann finished speaking, Mayor Dennis O’Keefe instructed council members to restrict their comments to the MOG formula. The mayor later added he has spoken with Municipal Affairs Minister Kevin O’Brien several times over the course of the last week about the province’s intentions of creating a new fiscal relationship with the city.
“That will proceed immediately,” said O’Keefe. “There’ll be full consultation on that issue.”

http://www.thetelegram.com/Business/...tal-projects/1

[jeddy1989]

Changes Coming to City Development Fees

Changes are coming to the cost of development fees within the capital city. The subdivision application fee is slated to go up $200 from $100, and the development fee will to $2000 from $1000. According to the development regulations amendment, a fee of $20 per square metre will be introduced for non-residential development, and for mixed-use development it will cost $2000 per residential unit plus $20 per square metre. These are just two of six planning application fees that are under review. The new fee schedule would also remove the dollar value so that a new schedule can be adopted each year.

The Chair of the Planning Committee, Tom Hann, says the increase is necessary. Hann says the fee schedule hasn't been reviewed in ten years. He says the price changes reflect the cost the city incurs. Hann says these changes will be advertised before council considers adopting them.

http://www.vocm1.com/newsarticle.asp...32631&latest=1

[statbass]

Looks like the city of Mount Pearl will continue to hold onto this title.

VOCM
April 2, 2013
Author: Unknown

The City of St. John's has come up with a solution to a problem that began after the provincial budget was handed down last week. The capital city, along with six other large municipalities, was informed on budget day that they will no longer be receiving the municipal operating grant. For St. John's, that meant a loss of $3.4 million. VOCM's Ariana Kelland reports.

The Chair of the Finance Committee, Danny Breen, understands that many municipalties in the province aren't in the same financial situation as the capital city, but that doesn't make restructuring the finished budget any easier. Breen announced at city council last evening that the committee has made changes to the way money is allocated in order to deal with the $3.4 million cut to the operating budget. Several capital projects, such as the automated garbage disposal, has been put on hold, and $3.4 million from the capital budget will be given to the operating budget in order to fill the gap.

...

http://www.vocm1.com/newsarticle.asp?mn=2&ID=32621