Tuesday September 30, 2014 – 10am
Posted Sep 30, 2014 02:52:41 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
10:00- LRT spurs development
Rob Horne, Commissioner of Planning, Housing and Community Services at Region of Waterloo
An update on the progress of ION construction and related development along the Central Transit Corridor, is before Regional Council. In June 2011, Regional Council approved Light Rail Transit (LRT) from Waterloo to Cambridge as the preferred rapid transit solution for the Region. The ION route falls within the Central Transit Corridor which also continues to attract significant private investment. In 2013 alone: 55% of residential units and 52% of non-residential square footage (industrial, commercial and institutional) was constructed inside the built boundary; 30% of residential units and 32% of non-residential square footage was constructed within the Central Transit Corridor; 22% of residential units and 25% of non-residential floor area was constructed within 800 m of an ION stop; $253 million in construction value took place within the CTC, representing approximately 33% of the value of all construction within the Region; and Up to $2.17 million could be generated in annual future Regional tax revenue as a result of construction activity within the CTC. Over $1 billion in residential units and non-residential square footage was constructed from 2011-2013 along the Central Transit Corridor (CTC). It is anticipated that land values and assessment within 800 m of an ION stop will increase.
10:30- Harper gives EU leaders “free” plane ride
Cormac MacSweeney, 570 News and 1310 News Parliament Hill Reporter
The Prime Minister’s Office is defending a decision to give a European Union delegation a free plane flight home last week at a cost that one media report estimated at more than $300,000. Jason MacDonald says a Canadian Forces Airbus was offered as a courtesy to ensure “that no elements” of Friday’s Canada-EU summit were cut short. Two top European Union leaders, Herman Van Rompuy and Jose Manuel Barroso, were in Ottawa where they signed a Canada-EU free-trade agreement. The CBC is reporting that adding a Toronto reception to the visit would have made it impossible for the EU delegation to catch a commercial flight from Ottawa and make it to a Saturday meeting in Brussels. The CBC says Prime Minister Stephen Harper authorized the use of the Airbus that he normally uses on foreign trips. Sunday’s CBC report estimated the cost of the flight to be in the neighbourhood of $338,055, basing its calculations on government figures from 2012 on the estimated hourly cost to operate the aircraft.
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