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Affichage des résultats pour les étiquettes 'ottawa'.
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Un fil pour les projets à Ottawa sent via Tapatalk
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https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/chateau-laurier-redesign-denounced-as-heritage-vandalism-1.3961277 Chateau Laurier redesign denounced as 'heritage vandalism' An image of the proposed seven-storey addition at the rear of the Chateau Laurier. 25 25 The Canadian Press Published Wednesday, June 6, 2018 7:34AM EDT OTTAWA -- A preservation society is blasting the redesign of an addition to Ottawa's stately Chateau Laurier hotel as "heritage vandalism," but the lead architect on the project says a contemporary approach is the best way to protect the property's history. Heritage Ottawa fired yet another salvo this week in its ongoing campaign to prevent the proposed glass and metal structure from moving forward at the national historic site. "Heritage Ottawa remains unimpressed -- and is gravely concerned that the City of Ottawa may be on track to approve what would be the most disgraceful act of heritage vandalism of our generation," the organization said in a statement Sunday. PHOTOS A rendering of the original 2016 proposed Chateau Laurier addition. Leslie Maitland, who co-chairs the organization, welcomed some of the modifications in the latest revision of modernist design, which has faced intense backlash since it was first unveiled in late 2016. The most recent iteration reduces the addition's height to seven stories in order to preserve views of the hotel, according to the City of Ottawa's website, and has also added limestone accents. But Maitland said the changes aren't enough to overcome the structure's fundamental clash with the chateau's "picturesque" sensibility. "They come up with several iterations, but they're basically all versions of a glass box stuck onto this magnificent, Edwardian chateau," she said in an interview Tuesday. "They can't even think outside the box." Peter Clewes of Toronto-based firm architectsAlliance, who is the lead architect on the project, said he shares Heritage Ottawa's admiration for the hotel's whimsical style, but they starkly diverge in their views of the most effective strategy to preserve the property's heritage. "We're trying to do a building of our time, and we don't want to confuse the cultural history of Ottawa," Clewes said. "We certainly don't want to demean the hotel in any way." Clewes said designing a structure in the same style of the hotel would likely amount to ahistorical mimickry, and could create confusion about what elements of the property are new, and what has been there for more than a century. "When you're dealing with a building of national historic significance, you don't want to confuse history," he said. "Our focus has been trying to create a building that's deferential to the hotel, and allows it a clear legibility of the hotel itself -- what is historic and what is new." The architect said the public criticism of the project has at times been hurtful, but the process of consulting with stakeholders, government officials and citizens has ultimately influenced his team's designs for the better. Ottawa City Council is slated to discuss the project later this month. -- By Adina Bresge in Toronto
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Le gouvernement fédéral vient à la rescousse du chantier maritime situé à Lévis avec des prêts et des garanties de prêt totalisant 380 M$ afin de permettre à l'entreprise de poursuivre la construction de cinq navires. Pour en lire plus...
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Très bonne nouvelle, cet immeuble sera rénové et converti en copropriétés. https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=404+st-jacques+ouest,+montreal&hl=fr&ie=UTF8&ll=45.501819,-73.559862&spn=0.006377,0.016512&sll=45.50386,-73.558217&sspn=0.001602,0.004128&t=h&hnear=404+Rue+Saint-Jacques,+Montr%C3%A9al,+Qu%C3%A9bec+H2Y+3X1&z=17&layer=c&cbll=45.501819,-73.559862&panoid=KGNkPcI_GCZg9HEPxOHMDA&cbp=12,149.77,,0,-26.96 http://www.projeteuropa.com/ -
http://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/montreal/201507/22/01-4887514-ottawa-ne-veut-pas-ceder-le-vieux-port-a-montreal.php sent via Tapatalk
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It isn't really my "vision". I was speaking to my mother this morning and she said the canal is never used. She would love to see people using it to kayak or turn it into another larger version of what they are doing to one of the Quai's in Old Montreal. It would be more than 6 km of fun during the summer and in the winter, it could be used to skate on (similar to the Rideau Canal in Ottawa).
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Andrew Duffy, Ottawa Citizen, Ottawa Citizen 03.17.2015 Ottawa’s share of new immigrants continues to decline as newcomers increasingly opt for the economic opportunities of Western Canada or the cultural diversity of Montreal. A Statistics Canada study released Wednesday reveals that the percentage of immigrants who cited Ottawa as their intended destination has dropped to 2.4 per cent in 2012 from 3.4 per cent in 2000. It means that the actual number of immigrants settling in Ottawa has gone down even as Canada welcomed more newcomers. Annual immigration to Canada rose to 280,700 in 2012 from 227,500 in 2000. “The recession hit Ontario pretty hard and it’s normal that immigrants don’t want to go to someplace where economic conditions are not as good,” said Gilles Grenier, a University of Ottawa economics professor who specializes in labour market and immigration issues. The Statistics Canada research paper, Changes in the Regional Distribution of New Immigrants to Canada, examines the country’s evolving settlement pattern. It shows that new immigrants have started to look beyond Toronto and Vancouver to destinations such as Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Saskatchewan, where — at least until the recent crash in oil prices — economies have been booming. Montreal, already a major destination, has also seen its share of newcomers increase substantially to 18.1 per cent in 2012. Meanwhile, Toronto, which attracted almost half (48.4 per cent) of all new immigrants in 2000, saw its share of newcomers fall to 30 per cent in 2012. Still, that city remains the country’s biggest magnet for immigrants. StatsCan analysts suggested that the new settlement pattern reflects changes in regional economic activity and employment. “In short, labour market conditions were better in Western Canada than they were in the rest of the country,” the report concluded. That more newcomers were settling outside of Toronto and Vancouver was also a reflection of Canada’s revised immigration system. Provincial nominee programs (PNPs) allow provinces to select and nominate immigrants to meet their own economic goals and growth targets. “Over the 2000s, the PNPs considerably increased the number of immigrants going to destinations that previously received few immigrants,” the study found. The percentage of immigrants arriving in Canada as provincial nominees increased to 13 per cent in 2010 from one per cent in 2000. The program has been particularly successful at attracting immigrants to Manitoba, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. StatsCan analysts said the distribution of newcomers within Canada has also been affected by shifts in the country’s immigration sources. In the late 1990s, most of Canada’s immigrants came from China and India, and they tended to settle in Toronto and Vancouver. By 2010, however, the Philippines was the biggest source of Canadian immigrants, and they have settled in cities across the country, the report said. Montreal’s growth as a destination city was driven by increased immigration from Africa, South America, Central America and the Caribbean. Gilles Grenier said the study shows that Canada’s immigration system is maturing. “It’s a good thing that immigrants disperse in Canada,” he said. “Because Ontario, for many years, was the main destination for immigrants in Canada, especially Toronto, where almost half the population is foreign-born.” The recent drop in oil prices, however, could cause immigration patterns to shift again, Grenier warned, as immigrants chase new job opportunities. BY THE NUMBERS 48.4: Percentage of new immigrants who wanted to settle in Toronto in 2000 30: Percentage of new immigrants who wanted to settle in Toronto in 2012 5.5: Average unemployment rate in Toronto in 2000 9.2: Average unemployment rate in Toronto in 2010 21.3: Percentage of Canadian immigrants that came from China in 2000 12.8: Percentage of Canadian immigrants that came from China in 2010 14: Percentage of Canadian immigrants that arrived from the Philippines in 2010 Source: http://www.montrealgazette.com/News/ottawa/Ottawa+share+immigrants+decline+newcomers+look+Montreal/10902540/story.html -
Péréquation : l'Ontario reçoit maintenant plus que le Québec
un sujet a posté monctezuma dans L'actualité
Incroyable, c'est une première de mon vécu. *** Transferts fédéraux: l'Ontario recevra plus que le Québec 15-12-2014 | 10h38 Dernière mise à jour: 15-12-2014 | 12h12 AGENCE QMI OTTAWA - C'est la province de l'Ontario qui bénéficiera le plus des largesses du gouvernement fédéral dans la prochaine année fiscale. Le ministère fédéral des Finances, Joe Oliver, a rendu publics les chiffres des transferts fédéraux aux provinces et aux territoires qui sont prévus en 2015-2016 en matière de santé et de programmes sociaux, ainsi que pour la péréquation. Le soutien financier du gouvernement fédéral au Québec atteindra 20,36 milliards $ en 2015-2016, mais l'Ontario recevra la part du lion avec 20,44 milliards $. Au total, en 2015-2016, Ottawa versera aux 10 provinces et aux trois territoires canadiens un montant de 67,9 milliards $, ce qui représente une somme de 1890 $ par habitant. Selon le ministre des Finances fédéral, Joe Oliver, ces transferts du gouvernement fédéral donnent aux provinces et aux territoires la capacité de fournir des services publics de «grande qualité». Le ministre Oliver a par ailleurs fortement suggéré aux provinces de s'inspirer de son gouvernement est de faire les efforts nécessaires pour diminuer les impôts et les dépenses. Le ministre Leitao en veut davantage Même si la province recevra du fédéral une somme record de 9,5 milliards $ en paiement de péréquation pour 2015-2016, Québec estime qu'Ottawa peut en faire plus en matière de santé et d'infrastructure. C'est ce qu'a indiqué le ministre des Finances du Québec, Carlos Leitão, à l'entrée d'une rencontre réunissant ses homologues provinciaux et fédéral à Ottawa lundi. «Pour la péréquation c'est un montant record, mais il y en a d'autres transferts fédéraux et en infrastructure, par exemple, nous pensons qu'il y a de la place pour augmenter ces transferts-là. Et il y a toute la question des transferts en santé», a mentionné le ministre Leitao. Le dossier des infrastructures constitue une des priorités que M. Leitão souhaite amener à la table des discussions. Il a indiqué que le Québec dépensera 90 milliards $ sur dix ans dans ses infrastructures, alors que le fédéral prévoit investir 70 milliards $ à l'échelle du pays au cours de cette période. Il invite Ottawa à délier davantage les cordons de la bourse dans ce domaine, faisant valoir que dans le cycle économique actuel, les dépenses en infrastructure constituent «le meilleur moyen d'accélérer la croissance». -Avec Dominique La Haye -
Salut Il a eu beaucoup de déconstruction qui se passe dans ce bloc récemment. Ce soir, je ai vu la photo ci-jointe. Avez-vous plus d'info? http://ville.montreal.qc.ca/pls/portal/docs/PAGE/ARROND_SOU_FR/MEDIA/DOCUMENTS/ANNEXE%20-%20PLAN%20D'ENSEMBLE.PDF
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http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-29724907 Ottawa 3 tireurs impliqués, dont 2 au Parlement. (on avait rehaussé la sécurité à mon bureau - Gvt fédéral) Plus de détails à la radio/télévision.
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Montréal: Canada’s innovation epicenter Posted on November 21st, 2007 by Mitch Brisebois Where do Canada’s innovators live? Mostly Montréal. Followed by Ottawa. A quick database search of The US Patent and Trademark Office reveals that 4,931 granted patents are held by inventors living in Montreal. Ottawa-based inventors offer up 3,402 patents. Here’s a coast to coast breakdown of the top 10 major centers: Montréal - 4,931 Ottawa - 3,402 Toronto - 3,187 Vancouver - 2,407 Calgary - 1,598 Edmonton - 1,293 Quebec City - 702 Winnipeg - 696 Saskatoon - 470 St. John’s - 117 These are respectable enough numbers. But… consider New York City: 22,571 patents.
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Understanding the urban landscape Blog, Magazine, Photos, etc... Radio / Atlantic / Ottawa / Vancouver / Montreal / Toronto / Français & English http://spacingmontreal.ca/
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Dear all, I have been a member of MtUrb since day 1, less active with posts now than I was a few years back, but always an avid reader. So, new developments in Montreal are really surprises when I go back "home" every few years. For you see, I have been living in Hong Kong for the past 5 years, enjoying life in the most transit-efficient city in the world. But this post is not about Hong Kong, it is about re-discovering Montreal... Last time my wife and I came back to Canada was 3 years ago. As usual, we enjoyed our time and visited our friends and family in Montreal, Quebec City, Ottawa (where we lived and worked for over 12 years) and Toronto. I remember thinking back then that while Montreal was cooler, Toronto was the boom town, and Ottawa was the sleepy, quaint, moneyed high tech capital. How things changed in 3 years. Ottawa seemed to us like it went down the drain; unbearable traffic, no high-tech rumble anymore (loss of Nortel?), a feeling as it somewhat had lost its soul somewhere in suburbia... Not quite sure how to pin it down but it felt empty. Quebec City didn't change much; we never cared for it much as we always thought the old Quebec to be an island of pretty in a sea of bland. Toronto is still booming, but still looking for its heart... As I said, none of the real-estate development in Montreal should have surprised me since I was aware of every single one of them, thanks to you guys, but they did, in a big way. I could feel the vibrancy. In the new buildings, parks, squares, sure. But also in the attitude; I felt positivism and renewed joie-de-vivre. Food trucks that hasn't been allowed for decades are now back in full force, Ste-Catherine no longer felt like an unfortunate and sometimes decrepit metaphor for the two solitudes. Yeah, coming from Ottawa on the Metropolitain, or crossing the bridges made a Hong-Konger think that North-America hasn't quite gotten out of the stone-age of transportation. But I saw more people in the city of Montreal than ever before; people working, living and playing within urbanity. I also, for the first time, really saw the concept of urban villages materialize before my eyes, be it downtown in the condo environments, in NDG with its eclectic combination of tree-hugging concepts such as urban-gardens, and the sense that people truly understood that in order for sustainability to exist, it needs to be financially viable (overheard of discussion of a green entrepreneur planning how he was going to make his rooftop gardens profitable). Like it or not, one also cannot deny that Ferrandez has changed the face of the Plateau; I thought the density of people biking was a sight to behold. Maybe I was dreaming and under the influence of so much amazing food (and ok, a good amount of red wine too...) that I partially lost my mind but beyond all of the impressive public money investments (CHUM, parks, new Metro trains, etc, etc), I thought, talking to people and "feeling" the city-beat, that I could feel a paradigm-shift or the beginning of one: the private sector investing in Montreal, believing in it (naysayers just have to spend 5 minutes at the corner of René-Levesque and De La Montagne to be convinced), and residents that seem to have moved on from the rut, looking forward instead of back... I hope that continues when, hopefully, one day, I decide to move back to Canada and, maybe, settle down in Montreal. We thoroughly enjoyed our time. I leave you with 2 pictures. Hard to say that Montreal is at a standstill. The old 'Carriere Miron' is becoming one of the largest park in Montreal, here's what I would do with it. Picture was taken from the north-west corner. I'm not an artist but, you get the idea... Have a great rest of this wonderful summer! JC
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Ottawa: capitale indigne Un billet de Jean-Benoît Nadeau On parle beaucoup de bilinguisme depuis un petit moment dans la presse et cela m’inspire quelques réflexions sur Ottawa. Depuis des années, je recherche la bonne formule pour résumer l’impression qu’elle produit. Ça m’est venu l’autre jour sur la 417, en revenant d’un weekend de patin en famille au canal Rideau : Ottawa est une capitale indigne. Pas plate, pas niaiseuse : juste indigne. Oh! Elle a ses mounties, ses soldats, son gouverneur général, son parlement, sa cour suprême et juste ce qu’il faut de musées, de restaurants. Mais en soi, elle pourrait bien être la capitale de l’Australie, de la Nouvelle-Zélande, de l’Irlande, ou de n’importe quel pays du Commonwealth. Mais elle ne représente pas le Canada parce qu’elle tourne le dos au fait français, qu’elle ignore de son mieux. Ce qui ressort d’Ottawa, c’est son vieux fond orangiste anticatholique et antifrançais, un vieux fond assimilationniste sur fond de guerres de religion européennes dont ils ne sont absolument pas revenus. Un vrai Canadien devrait être bilingue et Ottawa n’est pas une ville canadienne. C’est une ville enfantée par un empire, mais foncièrement étroite. Même si elle comptait dix millions d’habitants, cela resterait une moitié de capitale. Ou, plus exactement, la capitale d’un pays qu’elle ne veut pas. Il y a bien eu quelques changements depuis l’arrivée de Dalton McGuinty comme premier ministre de l’Ontario en 2003. Mais McGuinty n’a pas réussi à casser Ottawa. Je ne comprends d’ailleurs pas les fédéralistes québécois de ne pas attaquer ce symbole avec acharnement. Par exemple, en exigeant le transfert immédiat de la capitale à Montréal. Car Montréal demeure la seule grande ville du Canada qui soit réellement canadienne.
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http://www.lespecialisteduterrain.com/fr/terrains-a-vendre-le-sud-ouest-montreal-montreal-10138406
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Didn't know where to put this: http://metronews.ca/sports/642253/olympics-montreal-presence-gets-boost/
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J'ai lu ça dans le Globe ce matin, mais rien nulle part ailleurs?? Si c'est vrai, ce serait alors un des plus gros projet d'infrastructure au Québec dans les prochaines années. OTTAWA — Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. is fighting for its survival, as industry supporters say the federal government is preparing to pull the plug on the heavily subsidized Crown corporation if it loses a bid to build two nuclear reactors in Ontario. If the nuclear agency loses the multi-billion-dollar contract to one of two global players, Ottawa would blame the McGuinty government for the nuclear agency's demise, according to sources. The two governments - which have battled on several fronts - are engaged in a quiet game of chicken over Canada's flagship nuclear vendor and its network of Candu suppliers. The Ontario government wants to be assured that Ottawa has a long-term commitment to the nuclear supplier before selecting its ACR1000 reactor, which is still under development. Ottawa, meanwhile, is considering selling the company, and the result of the highly competitive Ontario bid will be an important factor in its decision. "The [Ontario] competition has accelerated for the feds the whole question of what they are going to do with AECL and the ACR1000 reactor," said Bryne Purchase, a former deputy energy minister in Ontario and now director of the energy and environment program at Queen's University. "This is not just about selling a reactor in Canada, it's critical to AECL's plans to compete in the world." AECL is competing with two much-larger foreign vendors, France's Areva Group, and U.S.-based Westinghouse Electric Co. LLC. Both those companies have access to commercial-type financing from their export credit agencies, and both have more prospects for sales than AECL, meaning they can spread development costs among more projects. As a result, AECL and its partners, led by SNC-Lavalin Group Inc., have asked Ottawa to provide financing and risk-sharing in order to keep its costs competitive. Last week, Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn said the federal government stands behind AECL. In its most recent budget, the Harper government allocated $300-million to the Crown corporation to continue work on the ACR, and to refurbish its Chalk River research site. But some of AECL's Team Candu industry backers, which include Babcock & Wilcox Canada and GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Canada, along with SNC-Lavalin Nuclear, worry that the Harper government is injecting just enough money into the company to prepare it for a sale, and to make a plausible - but not necessarily successful - run at the Ontario bid. They fear Ottawa will balk at providing the required billions of dollars in loan guarantees, nor will it wish, as AECL's lone shareholder, to assume the financial risk for potential cost overruns the province will almost certainly demand. AECL and its partners have acknowledged the critical nature of the Ontario decision for Team Candu. In a letter to Mr. Lunn obtained by The Globe and Mail, SNC-Lavalin Nuclear president Patrick Lamarre said an Ontario deal would be a "springboard to support our futures sales worldwide." Based on AECL's past share of the global nuclear market, Mr. Lamarre said the consortium could generate $100-billion for the Canadian economy. However, few people expect AECL to maintain its past market success, or match the heady prediction contained in its recently approved, five-year business plan that it will sell 25 reactors during the next 25 years, and four (including two in Ontario) during the next five years. In 1996, AECL forecast that it would sell 10 reactors over 10 years. It sold three - two to China and one to Romania, in a deal that was resuscitated from one that had begun under former dictator NicolaeCeausescu, and then was halted when his government collapsed. AECL got some good news yesterday for its booming business of refurbishing aged Candus. Hydro-Québec announced a $1.5-billion rebuild of its Gentilly-2 nuclear reactor, which will be completed by the federal corporation. Shawn-Patrick Stensil, an anti-nuclear campaigner for Greenpeace, said both levels of government appear to be looking to "outsource the blame" if AECL fails in Ontario and Ottawa decides to get out of the nuclear business. "The feds will blame the province and the province will say, 'We heeded the advice of outside experts,' " he said. (Ontario has set up an evaluation committee that includes its two nuclear operators, Ontario Power Generation and privately owned Bruce Power.) Since the Chinese and Romanian deals, AECL has been shut out of most promising markets, including the United States, which is itself heavily subsidizing the first few new reactors to be built in that country. Both Areva and General Electric Co. have expressed interest in buying AECL, which is prized for its existing reactor technology for smaller markets, its highly skilled work force, and its lucrative work in servicing Candu reactors around the world. Despite its challenges, however, AECL isn't out of the game in Ontario. While the province has said cost and on-time deliverability are key factors, a third one is the promise of industrial benefits for the province, and the Crown corporation has a deep supplier base in the province to give it an advantage on that score. At the same time, the province and the federal nuclear regulator have invested heavily in Candu know-how, and it will be costly to operate and regulate two
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Le poids des ans commence à se faire sentir sur le sympathique stade Uniprix et Tennis Canada projette des rénovations de l'ordre de 11,8 millions qui le rendront conforme aux normes des grands tournois internationaux, a appris Le Journal de Montréal. Cela fait déjà 13 ans (1996) que les installations avaient été complètement remodelées au coût de 25 millions. Depuis ce temps, la popularité de l'événement a connu une croissance phénoménale et en plus, le site sert maintenant de base au Centre national d'entraînement. Sans compter la pratique récréative du sport au stade, qui compte pour 45% des plages horaires sur les courts, dont l'occupation d'octobre à avril est de 100%. Avec tout cet achalandage, les travaux sont rendus nécessaires afin «d'assurer la pérennité et la croissance des Internationaux de tennis du Canada à Montréal, l'un des neuf tournois majeurs des circuits professionnels de l'ATP et la WTA», a souligné Tennis Canada dans un document présenté récemment à la Ville de Montréal. Fonds publics Tennis Canada investira 1,6 million, le reste provenant des trois paliers de gouvernement : 1,6 million de Montréal, et une somme de 8,6 millions divisée à part égale entre Québec (programme d'infrastructures) et Ottawa (Chantiers Canada) à même les enveloppes budgétaires déjà en place. On prévoit l'ajout de quatre nouveaux courts sur terre battue, de nouveaux salons aériens, des vestiaires remodelés, une galerie de presse moderne et une aire d'accueil améliorée au stade secondaire. Le projet a été très bien reçu par la Ville de Montréal, reste à négocier les modalités de financement avec Québec et Ottawa. Dans le meilleur des scénarios, les travaux débuteraient au printemps 2010. # Les Internationaux de tennis du Canada existent depuis 1881; c'est le 3e plus vieux tournoi du monde après Wimbledon et le US Open. # De 2001 à 2007, selon une étude de la firme CFM Stratégies, les retombées économiques du tournoi sont passées de 15 à 28 millions, une augmentation de 9% par année. # Le tournoi fait l'objet de plus de 2000 heures de diffusion dans 150 pays. # Près de 50% des revenus générés par les deux Coupe Rogers sont réinvestis au Québec pour le développement du tennis. source: http://www.canoe.com/sports/nouvelles/archives/2009/05/20090515-062700.html
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Via ajoute des départs supplémentaires vers Toronto et Ottawa, au départ de Montréal. http://www.montrealitesurbaines.com/ Plus de départs égalent plus de flexibilité pour les voyageurs, qui pourront désormais revenir d'Ottawa en fin de soirée. Les dix départs quotidiens vers Toronto permettront aussi à Via de mieux compétitionner avec les compagnie aériennes, dont Air Canada qui offre des départs aux 30 minutes aux heures de pointes et aux heures le reste de la journée. Via prévoit ajouter davantage de départs quand les améliorations des voies seront complétées.
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http://www.mercer.com/qualityoflivingpr#city-rankings 1 Vienna Austria 2 Zurich Switzerland 3 Auckland New Zealand 4 Munich Germany 5 Düsseldorf Germany 5 Vancouver Canada 7 Frankfurt Germany 8 Geneva Switzerland 9 Bern Switzerland 9 Copenhagen Denmark 11 Sydney Australia 12 Amsterdam Netherlands 13 Wellington New Zealand 14 Ottawa Canada 15 Toronto Canada 16 Hamburg Germany 17 Berlin Germany 18 Melbourne Australia 19 Luxembourg Luxembourg 20 Stockholm Sweden 21 Perth Australia 22 Brussels Belgium 22 Montreal Canada
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1. Mont Tremblant-Mirabel-Montreal-Boston-New York 2. Quebec-Montreal-Ottawa-Toronto-Windsor-Detroit-Chicago 3. Toronto-Hamilton-Buffalo-New York-Washington Honestly not sure how many different ways I can have it work out. Would be interesting to see this as a maglev project, would cost a fortune, but would be nice having all these cities finally connected by rail. For sure certain cities would still be faster by plane. Life Ottawa to Washington, probably better by plane.
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Serais-ce une petite récompense pour avoir envoyé une majorité de fédéralistes à Ottawa ? Nouvelle distribution des sièges aux Communes Des députés fédéraux de plus pour le Québec Agence QMI 18/10/2011 19h47 OTTAWA — Pour détendre l’atmosphère et éviter les contestations judiciaires, Ottawa envisage un nouveau scénario dans le dossier de la redistribution des sièges aux Communes. Selon des sources gouvernementales sûres, le Québec (75 sièges) pourrait finalement hériter de deux sièges de plus alors que l’Ontario et la Colombie-Britannique devraient se contenter de moins de sièges que prévu. C’est ce qui ressort d’une rencontre entre le premier ministre canadien Stephen Harper et le premier ministre ontarien Dalton McGuinty vendredi dernier. On ne parlerait donc plus de 30 sièges supplémentaires aux Communes, mais plutôt de 26. L’Ontario devrait gagner 13 sièges de plus, l’Alberta, six, et la Colombie-Britannique, cinq. Le nombre total de députés aux Communes passerait de 308 à 334 et non plus à 338. La dernière version du projet de loi C-12, mort au feuilleton lors de la dissolution des chambres, prévoyait 18 sièges pour l’Ontario, sept pour la Colombie-Britannique et cinq pour l’Alberta. Le premier ministre McGuinty a reconnu que sa province devrait peut-être se contenter de moins de sièges. Le calcul final dépend des résultats du recensement de 2011, attendus en janvier ou février prochain. Entre-temps, le NPD a proposé mardi que le poids politique du Québec aux Communes ne tombe jamais sous la barre de 24,35 % des sièges. Un projet de loi a été déposé à cet effet. Dans cette configuration, le Québec gagnerait environ quatre sièges. Le député néo-démocrate Thomas Mulcair, candidat à la course à la succession de Jack Layton, a estimé que c’est la meilleure façon de donner «un contenu réel» à cette idée de «nation québécoise au sein d’un Canada uni» proposée par le gouvernement conservateur de Stephen Harper et adoptée à l’unanimité aux Communes en 2006.
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Dana FlavelleBusiness Reporter Dana Flavelle Business Reporter There’s a bill before the U.S. Congress that would allow Americans to bring back $1,000 worth of Canadian goods duty-free after just a few hours of shopping across our border. Meanwhile, Canadians can’t bring back anything from the U.S. duty-free until they’ve been away for 24 hours. Even then the limit is $50. This protectionism is one of the reasons U.S. retailers who open up shop in Canada can charge higher prices here than in their home market, an economics professor says. “There are two reasons prices are higher in Canada,” said Ambarish Chandra, a professor with the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management. “It is more expensive. Retailers here have to pay higher taxes and have somewhat higher costs. But a larger part of it is because they can get away with it.” Canadians can complain all they like but unless they do more cross-border shopping, retailers here will charge whatever the market will bear, Chandra said. The same barriers exist online: Canadians are charged duty on items shipped across the border. The Consumers Association of Canada says it has lobbied Ottawa to raise the limits, noting the maximum exemption - $750 after a week-long stay - hasn’t changed in more than 15 years. But the consumer group says its efforts are always opposed by Canadian retailers. The Retail Council of Canada denies it has lobbied the government on this issue. “In an age when you can shop around the world, travellers’ exemptions would be the least of our concerns,” said council president and chief executive Diane Brisebois. “We have not had any conversations with the government about exemptions.” Ottawa doubled the exemption for 48-hour trips outside the country to $400 from $200 in 2007, but has no plans to make further changes at this time, said a spokesperson for federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty. “We continually monitor the adequacies of the travellers’ exemption for Canadians. This includes taking into consideration the impact of any further modifications on the government’s budgetary balance and the impact on Canadian retailers,” the minister’s office said in a written statement. The U.S. currently allows $200 for same-day shopping. The issue of retail price parity arose again this week after some Canadian customers complained U.S. retailer J. Crew is charging higher prices in its new Canadian store and on its Canadian website than in its U.S. stores and on its U.S. website. The difference in the stores averages 15 per cent; the difference online is up to 40 per cent, once taxes and shipping are included. Canadians have been railing about price differences between the two countries ever since the Canadian dollar rose to parity with the U.S. greenback in 2007 after years in the doldrums. “It’s come to the fore again because the Canadian dollar is so strong and so many U.S. retailers are coming here,” said Lynn Bevan, a partner with the consulting firm RSM Richter in Toronto. Bevan said retailers who bring their operations north of the border face a slew of higher costs, from duty and freight to real estate and labour. Overhead costs in Canada are spread across fewer stores, and in some cases the Canadian business is separately owned and must pay royalty and other fees to the U.S. parent. “It’s not like Canadian retailers are making out like bandits,” she said. Prices were on average 20 per cent higher in Canada than in the U.S. on a broad range of goods from DVDs to luxury cars to golf balls, according to a survey last April by Doug Porter, deputy chief economist at BMO Capital Markets. The only times the price gap has closed in the past four years are when the Canadian dollar has dropped below the U.S. greenback, Porter said. http://www.thestar.com/business/article/1043928--canadians-need-higher-duty-free-limits-prof-says
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There are an article in The Gazette (which I shall put after this post) that speaks about Montreal embracing open data. Also, anybody every been to Ottawa, Quebec? lol How Open Data Initiatives Can Improve City Life by Aliza Sherman Major city governments across North America are looking for ways to share civic data — which normally resides behind secure firewalls — with private developers who can leverage it to serve city residents via web and mobile apps. Cities can spend on average between $20,000 and $50,000 — even as much as $100,000 — to cover the costs of opening data, but that’s a small price to pay when you consider how much is needed to develop a custom application that might not be nearly as useful. Here are a few examples of initiatives that are striving to make city governments more efficient and transparent through open data. 1. Apps4Ottawa – Ottawa, Quebec Careful to adhere to security and privacy regulations for their open data program, the City of Ottawa started sharing data in several areas: geo-spatial (roadways, parks, runways, rivers, and ward boundaries); recreation facilities; event planning; civic elections data; and transit, including schedules. Other data the city is pursuing includes tree inventory, collections schedules for garbage, recycling and compost, and bike and foot paths. Ottawa aligned their first open data contest, Apps4Ottawa, with the school year (September 2010 to January 2011 ) to involve colleges and universities as well as residents and local industry. Categories for the contest included “Having Fun in Ottawa,” “Getting Around,” “Green Environment/Sustainability,” “Community Building,” and “Economic Development.” The winner is scheduled to be announced later this evening. Guy Michaud, chief information officer for the City of Ottawa, said their open data efforts have already spurred economic development and is meant to be good for local entrepreneurs. The city receives no revenue through the apps, and the developers can sell what they create. In turn, Ottawa residents get improved services from applications that are created, with better access to city data and more user-friendly formats and platforms. 2. CivicApps.org – Portland, Oregon After tracking Vivek Kundra’s efforts at the federal level with data.gov, Portland, Oregon launched CivicApps.org, a project initiated out of the mayor’s office to bring a more localized approach to the open data movement. Skip Newberry, economic policy advisor to the mayor, say that the project’s main objective is to improve connections and the flow of information between local government and its constituents, as well as between city bureaus. To call attention to the release of public data, they also launched an app design contest, highlighting the tech talent in Portland’s software community. According to Rick Nixon, program manager for the Bureau of Technology’s Open Data Initiative for the city of Portland, CivicApps.org took a more regional approach to cover the multiple layers of local government: County, Metro, TriMet, and the City of Portland, all of which collect and maintain various kinds of public data. Data sets released include regional crime, transit, infrastructure (i.e. public works), and economic development programs. Additional projects, such as the PDX API, have been launched in order to make the raw data from CivicApps more useful to developers. In addition to developer-specific apps, a number of transit related apps — bike, train, bus, mixed modes — were also developed. A very popular and established transit app, PDXBus, was re-released as open source under the rules of the CivicApps contest. Other popular apps helped provide residents greater awareness of their surroundings such as where to find heritage trees, where to find urban edibles, and where to locate each other during disaster relief efforts. 3. CityWide Data Warehouse – Washington, DC For years, the District of Columbia provided public access to city operational data via the Internet. In keeping with the mayor’s promise to be transparent, the program CityWide Data Warehouse was launched, and provides citizens with access to over 450 datasets from multiple agencies. The first two datasets released were service requests from the mayor’s call center, including trash pickup, pot hole repair, street light repair, snow removal, parking meter issues and crime data. According to David Stirgel, program manager for Citywide Data Warehouse, the project looks for data that be of interest to the widest possible audience and which will remain reusable over time. Some of the applications that have come out of the program include Track DC, which tracks the performance of individual District agencies, and summary reports that provide public access to city operational data. Some of the applications built by companies and individuals using the data include Crime Reports and Every Block. In 2008, the District Mayor’s office, the District of Columbia’s Office of the Chief Technology Officer, and digital agency iStrategyLabs launched Apps for Democracy, an open code app development contest tapping into District data that cost $50,000 and generated 47 apps. The contest was repeated in 2009. Over 200 ideas and applications were submitted, and the winner was an iPhone and Facebook app called Social DC 311. It could be used to submit service requests, such as reporting potholes and trash problems. An honorable mention was given to FixMyCityDC. Unfortunately, neither app is maintained today. 4. NYC Data Mine – New York, NY NYC BigApps 2.0 is part of an initiative to improve the accessibility, transparency, and accountability of city government. According to Brandon Kessler, CEO of ChallengePost, the company and technology powering the NYC BigApps 2.0 Software Challenge, Mayor Bloomberg challenged software developers to use city data from the NYC.gov Data Mine to create apps to improve NYC, offering a $20,000 in cash awards to the winners. The second annual challenge closed its call for submissions at the end of January 2011 and opened the vote to the public. Voting ends on March 9. Requirements included that the software applications be original and solely owned by the entrants, that they use at least one of the datasets from the NYC.gov Data Mine, and be free to the public throughout the competition and for at least one year after the challenge. The panel of judges reads like a “who’s who” of New York tech luminaries, and includes Esther Dyson of EDVenture, Fred Wilson of Union Square Ventures, Jack Dorsey of Square and Twitter, and Kara Swisher of All Things Digital. One of the first year’s winning apps was WayFinder, an augmented reality Android app which allows users to point their phone in a direction and see which subways and Path trains are in front of them. 5. DataSF – San Francisco, California Like other city governments, San Francisco’s goal for their DataSF program was to improve transparency and community engagement as well as accountability. Ron Vinson, director of media for the city’s Department of Technology also stated potential for innovation in how residents interact with government and their community. With an emphasis on adhering to privacy and security policies, the city can stimulate the creation of useful civic tools at no cost to the government. Before launching, they reached out to Washington, DC to identify the most popular datasets, and learned that 20% of the datasets represented over 80% of the downloads. With this information, they went out first with crime, 311, and GIS data. They also allowed the public to request data through a submissions mechanism on the website where others could vote on their suggestions. This input is now required reading for the city administrator thanks to an executive directive and open data legislation. Since launching in August 2009, DataSF has accumulated over 60 applications in its showcase. According to Vinson, the city stays engaged with their tech community by participating in local unconferences and meetups. http://mashable.com/2011/02/15/how-open-data-initiatives-can-improve-city-life/ -
http://www2.macleans.ca/2010/09/06/whos-the-smartest/ Comment? Le gouvernement Harper ferait-il ce genre de coupes? Nooooooooooooonnnnn............
