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AUGUST 2011 Newsletter

Flaherty, Carney to offer clues on economy

By David Ljunggren and Randall Palmer, REUTERS

OTTAWA – Policymakers could provide important clues about spending plans and interest rates Friday when a rare midsummer parliamentary committee meeting examines market instability and foreign debt crises.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty and Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney will testify to the House of Commons finance committee, which is looking into the impact on Canada of foreign economic turmoil.

Parliament only returns from its summer break on Sept 19, but opposition legislators — particularly the left-leaning New Democrats — said they could not wait till then.

Flaherty said in a radio interview over the weekend that he would consider more stimulus measures if the economy slips into recession, a change from a previous promise to stick to plans to eliminate its budget deficit by 2014-15.

“I welcomed any kind of flexibility on behalf of the government. We had not heard that before,” said Peggy Nash, finance spokeswoman for the New Democrats, urging Flaherty to explore the idea of fresh infrastructure investments.

Flaherty’s office was not immediately available for comment.

Doug Porter, deputy chief economist at BMO Capital Markets, said Flaherty and Carney would most likely use the appearance “to soothe concerns on the outlook and play up Canada’s relative strengths.”

But the session also gives Carney, who had not been publicly scheduled to speak until late October, a chance to update central bank thinking on interest rates.

The bank signaled on July 19 it was closer to raising rates, although only if the economy continued to advance.

Since then a ream of gloomy data has shown that the economy most likely stalled in the second quarter, and markets no longer expect a rate hike in the foreseeable future.

For the entire article click here

For a region with a one-strip airport, the idea of a three-hour air show with 30 aircraft sounds a little improbable, but to Deryl Kartz, it’s all in a day’s fun.

Kartz, a director of the Edmonton Radio Control Society, is co-ordinating the organization’s air show that will be held at Bremner Field on Aug. 13.

“We take the outlook that having an air show like this is only one way of having the public realize what radio aviation is all about,” he said.

“It’s a way for us to raise the credibility of model aviation as more of a sport, and we get to do something for the food bank as well.”

The society’s air show starts with a fun fly where people who have insured model aircraft can fly their airplanes in the society’s facility near Highway 21 whether or not they are a society member.

The focus will shift at 1 p.m. to the society’s aerial demonstration, which will feature 30 model aircraft doing stunts, playing out World War II scenarios and may include a candy bombing run by one

aircraft.

Admission to the show is one nonperishable donation to the Strathcona Food Bank, which will be on hand to collect the

donations.

For this entire ad, click here.

Click below to read my monthly newsletter:

JULY 2011

By Iris Evans MLA’s Report

Alberta’ economy continues to improve and workers from other provinces are demonstrating their confidence in Alberta by moving here.

In the first three months of 2011, Alberta attracted 5,275 net migrants from other provinces. That means the number of people who moved here from another province exceeded the number moving in the opposite direction by 5,275.

Alberta’s economy grew by 3.8 per cent in 2010, but even more impressive are the job numbers released earlier this month.

In June alone, Alberta added 22,000 new jobs — more than were created in the entire United States during the same month. While this is a one-month snapshot, the number of jobs gained in June is undeniably good news.

There are many other positive economic

indicators:

• New business start-ups: over the January-to-May 2011 period, the number of business incorporations increased by 13.9 per cent from the same period last year.

• Business bankruptcies in January to April 2011 are down 33.1 per cent from the same period last year. Consumer bankruptcies fell 10.8 per cent.

• Retail sales were 7.4 per cent higher in April 2011 than in April 2010.

• Construction activity in the non-residential sector is picking up — the value of non-residential building permits in May rose 52.8 per cent compared to the same month one year ago.

• Drilling activity: the average number of drilling rigs working in Alberta over the first six months of 2011 was 252, up 40 per cent over the first half of 2010.

While Alberta is heading in the right direction, there is still a lot of uncertainty in the global economy, especially in Europe and the United States. Given Alberta is a major exporter, we must temper our optimism with a healthy dose of prudence.

The Alberta government will stick to its plan, watching our spending, investing in infrastructure, keeping taxes low and improving Alberta’s

competitiveness.

At the same time, we’ll continue to support priorities important to Albertans.

For all the latest information on Alberta’s economy, visit www.finance.alberta.ca and click on the Alberta Economy tab.

This column is submitted by the office of Sherwood Park MLA Iris Evans. I feel privileged to represent the constituents of Sherwood Park and will continue to work on your behalf. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions you wish to share regarding this or any other issue, please do not hesitate to contact my constituency office. Telephone: 780-417-4747 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting            780-417-4747      end_of_the_skype_highlighting, fax: 780-417-4748, e-mail: sherwood.park@assembly.ab.ca, office: 116B – 937 Fir St., Sherwood Park, AB T8A 4N6.

I wanted to share this with you as it represents Dad’s like me, in a very humorous way.  Enjoy the “Dad’s Life” video, and remember if you can relate to this, I can likely relate to the type of home you need for your family…lol…enjoy.

I’m at 129 Hyndman Crescent, and this house has been decked out with some high quality renovations.  When you compare it to the rest of what’s on the market in this area, nothing comes close to the price of $308,900 for what you get.  This is a great 1st time home buyers home in NE Edmonton.  Needing more info, let me know.

I went to Kal Tire today in Sherwood Park to get a couple flats taken care of with my car.  I heard before that if you take your car to Kal Tire, they will fix any tire leaks free of charge.  So after going in with a great book to read while I wait… they called my name, the car tires were fixed, and there was no charge!!!

Just like Kal Tire, I want to make sure my cleints are well treated and feel they get high quality customer service.

Have you thought about buying that nice getaway in the US, perhaps a foreclosure? Here are some stats on the housing market comparing the Q1 of 2010 and the Q1 of 2011. Some “signs of hope” in places like Charlotte NC at an increase of 12.1%, but others not so great as they dropped over 20%. View the USA REAL ESTATE MARKET you’re interested in, and let me hear where you think that market will go… up or down.