Tie Rent Hikes to Consumer Price Index in Ontario

Ontario's housing minister has introduced a bill to limit annual rent increases to no more than the Consumer Price Index in an effort to protect tenants from exorbitant rental hikes.

Housing Minister John Gerretsen says the proposed legislation protects the province's 1.35 million rental households.

Last year, the consumer price index was at 2.2 per cent. It was 1.9 per cent in 2004.

Under previous rules, landlords were allowed to raise rents by two per cent each year. However, rents were allowed to go higher if landlords could show they incurred higher operating costs.

Gerretsen says the proposed legislation would not hurt landlords and would keep the rental market strong.

CBC

Building Permits Up in March

Building permits issued in Ottawa jumped by a stronger than expected 5.3% in March.

Analysts had expected building permits to rise 2.0 % in March.

Non-residential permits surged 15.1 % after an already-strong 15.3 % climb in February.

Non-residential permits were 16.1 % higher than the average monthly rate in 2005, considered a great 2006 year for builders.

The Ottawa housing sector fell 0.1 percent in March as demand for single-family units dropped even though permits for multi-family dwellings rose for the third straight month.

Zero-Energy Home Plans

New homes in Canada should produce more electrical energy than they use.

We don't expect to see this happen for another 25 years, but we do think a dozen such homes could be built next year, with 1,500 more added over the next four years.

That was the challenge the CMHC threw out to the eco home-building industry at the recent National Green Building Conference in Ottawa.

Two days before Ontario residents were told their electricity costs are about to shoot up, some 300 architects, engineers, builders, environmentalists and municipal planners gathered to discuss, display and dream about designing and building homes and other buildings that will improve the health of both the human occupants and the surrounding environment.

At the conference, the CMHC unveiled its Zero-Energy Healthy Housing campaign. Thomas Green, senior researcher in housing technology for the CMHC, said his agency has to come up with a catchier name for its energy program because it won't work unless consumers jump on the bandwagon to support and demand it.

Green said the CMHC will give $50,000 grants to help a dozen multi-disciplinary teams design and build zero-energy demonstration homes, which must be standing by June 2007. He said builders must team up with architects, engineers and even municipal officials to qualify for the grants.

The zero-energy program is aimed at creating homes that will have no impact on air, land and water. The homes will have passive heating and cooling, they'll be flooded with natural daylight, will have on-site energy-generating systems and must preserve water, land and the natural habitat.

Green said there are already zero-energy demonstration houses in the United States. Natural Resources Canada estimates that each Canadian annually contributes 6 tonnes of greenhouse gas to the atmosphere, he said. Half that gas load comes from homes. The rest is mostly from transportation.

Bruce Nicol, president of Tartan Urban, an Ottawa-based, award-winning environmental builder of infill housing, says saving money by reducing energy consumption is not catching the interest of homebuyers. "There's no passion in that. Buying a home is mostly an emotional thing and if we are going to get the Energy Star story told it is going to have to be a lot more emotional," Nicol said.

Energy Star is a measuring system of energy consumption by all appliances, plus homes in general.

He agreed with Green that the CMHC needs a "sexier" name for its program. "The first thing CMHC should do is hire a private marketing firm to sell the program to builders and eventually to homebuyers."

Nicol said governments also need to push the concept by reducing property taxes for zero-energy homes, cutting development charges for builders using the program and slicing through the red tape to get the homes built.

"There's a clash of cultures between builders and various levels of government. Builders want to get the homes built and occupied. Governments want to go slow to ensure all the Ts are crossed and that rules and regulations are followed before anything happens."

That's why it is a good idea for the CMHC to give grant money only to demonstration homes that will be built by teams that include municipal officials, builders, designers and engineers, he said.

Lawyer Rodney Wilts, an official with BioRegional Development Group and http://www.oneplanetliving.org, told the conference that if everybody in the world lived like Canadians, it would require the resources of five Earths to support their needs.

By the mid-1980s the world had exceeded its carrying capacity, he noted. If you divide the world's known arable land by the global population, everybody would get two hectares — but Wilts said Canadians are using more than 10 hectares per person in natural resources.

In 1992, Toronto builder Rolf Paloheimo, president of Creative Communities Research, built a CMHC-sponsored healthy home in the Riverdale neighbourhood. The semi-detached house, designed by Toronto architect Martin Liefhebber, relied on sunshine and rainwater for much of its energy consumption. It was not hooked in to the city's electrical, water or sewage grids. Paloheimo and his family still live in the house.

History of the Great US House Bubble

We are still not sure that the great bull market in US residential real estate has come to an end. What we are sure of, on the other hand, is that it isn't at the beginning.

The great US housing bubble may be dead, but it already has a certain corpse-like stink to it. The relatives are gathered in the parlour. The silver has already been packed up. The local priest is already on the scene, administering last rites.

True, we still don't know exactly how the story will turn out. But it is time to begin preparing the obituary.

We begin, like all good requiems, in the middle of it. Or at least at one of its many comic high points.

The history of the great US house price bubble: Expensive houses

In the fall of 2006, the news appeared that Donald Trump had put his Palm Beach mansion on the market for $120 million. He had bought the place less than 10 years before for less than $50 million. If he were to get his price, the profit would be about $7 million for every year he held it. Which is good work if you can get it – earning more than half a million dollars per month – just for owning one of America's greatest beach houses.

But pity the poor next owner. He'd have carrying costs of $6 million per year ($120 million @ 5% interest), plus property taxes, plus upkeep, plus staff costs and other expenses. Instead of earning money, he'll probably be out of pocket more than a million dollars per month. And here, we let the fellow in on a little secret: houses don't go up every year, especially those that rose $70 million in the last decade.

We thought The Donald had set the pace for extravagantly-priced houses when, only a few weeks later, came news that Saudi Arabia's former ambassador to the US, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, put his ranch near Aspen, Colorado, on the market for $135 million – making it the most expensive private house ever offered for sale in America; perhaps in the whole world. But that was the charm of the housing bubble; one absurdity always seems to lead to an even bigger one later on.

And all over the world, the rich were on a spending spree. They bought ranches in South America; even the Bush family bought one – a 98,000 acre estancia in Paraguay. (In the interest of full disclosure, and a confession of partial insanity, your editor admits that he, too, bought a little spread south of the Rio Plata. He is pleased that the Bushes have chosen to locate north of the river; he was concerned for property values in his area.)

The history of the great US house price bubble: Rising prices

Rich people pulled out their fat wallets and bought diamonds...art...apartments in Mayfair...on the Place Vendome...and at the Puerto del Sol. Prices soared, as the cost of living it up headed for the moon.

But down at the other end of the income spectrum, the lower and middle classes were having a rough time. In the 10 years leading up to 2006, they had added $5.2 trillion to their debts most of it on house loans. This was nothing to worry about, said the experts. Because their net worth also had gone up. The price of the average house in America rose approximately 60% in the period. Compared to the type of gains the rich were getting in Malibu, Manhattan and Miami, a 60% gain was peanuts. But it was enough to lift the spirits of millions of ordinary people.

Besides, in the preceding 100 years nothing like it had ever happened. Normally, house prices merely followed income and GDP gains, like a good hooker, walking 10 paces behind so no one notices. But in last 10 years of Alan Greenspan's reign, they took off at a sprint and were soon racing past everyone.

A rich man can watch his property go up in price with a calm detachment, as though he were watching a beer truck overturn. But a poor man can barely contain himself. He feels he much seize the opportunity. Before you know it he is feeling a little loose and reckless. And after a while, he becomes light in the head.

Rising property prices were caused by a lie – that the feds could increase the world's purchasing power by introducing additional 'money' into the economy. Then, the lie led to a humbug after which followed a delusion trailed by a hallucination.

The history of the great US house price bubble: The idea that houses go up in value

At the centre of all these swindles was the idea that houses actually can go up in value. Readers may be taken aback. Everybody in America now knows that houses always go up in value. But it is not true. For 100 years, from 1896 to 1996, houses went nowhere at all – merely keeping up with GDP, inflation and income growth. Then, in the following 10 years – they rose remarkably.

The homeowner didn't know what to think. Predictably, he made the wrong thing of it. He came to believe that his pile of blocks, bricks, 2 x 4s and faded paint had somehow grown in real worth – like a fine wine that had aged or a bond that had matured.

This sentiment was extraordinary for two reasons. First, it was completely at odds with the evidence before his very eyes. He had only to open them to realize that his house was not, in fact, becoming a better thing. Instead, with each passing day it became a worse thing. He knew damned well that the wooden floor joists rotted and warped. The concrete foundation cracked. The aluminum windows corroded. The shingles on the roof wore away. The gutters clogged. The pipes rusted. The carpet matted down and stained. Every item - big and small – about the house actually lost value as it aged. How was it possible that the ensemble of them went up?

As the years passed, he turned the front door knob; it squeaked. He turned on the hot water in the bathroom; the faucet leaked. He turned on the air-conditioning and it sputtered and creaked. How was it possible that the aggregated collection of all these corroding, deteriorating things put together actually became more valuable? It seemed to defy reason and good sense.

But out came the theorists, the economists, and the real estate salesmen. Property was rising, he was told, because there were so many new people coming in. But how could it be that houses in the US were rising everywhere – throughout the 50 states? Where were all these new people coming from? And it was rising, they said, because the country was running out of buildable land and building codes were more restrictive. New houses were actually becoming rare; that's why older houses were so sought after.

The history of the great US house price bubble: The US building boom

But here too, he opened his eyes and saw it wasn't so. That was the second reason he might have been sceptical. Everywhere he looked, houses were going up. There was clearly a US house building boom, not merely a house price boom. In some areas, every available lot was under construction. Single family homes went up in former cow-fields and old auto lots. In other areas, single family homes were knocked down to make room for condominiums. Acres - no square miles - of previously empty land was being converted to housing.

How was it possible – with all this new supply – that prices would go up? The very idea of it contradicted his intuition if not also his instruction. Rising supplies drive prices down...not up.

What's more, these new houses had none of the defects of his old barrack. The paint was fresh. The doors opened and shut properly. The air-conditioning made no funny noises. The faucets didn't leak. The new houses were bigger, cleaner, brighter, more modern. How was it possible, in face of this competition, that his hulk of a house was going up in price? It should go down.

What was a house really worth, he might have asked himself. What is it, after all? It is shelter: it is a place to hang our hats. It is home sweet home. But who ever heard of home sweet home making anyone rich.

Then, his mind working on the problem like a gorilla trying to do long division, he realized that he had to look upon his house, not as a dwelling, but as an investment! Thus did another brick in the lunatic wall of the great housing bubble get laid in place. Between 2002 and 2006, in many areas of the country, residential housing rose at 20% per year or more. As an investment, it was actually a superb one, he noticed. What stock would do that? And what stock had granite countertops in the kitchen?

The more he looked at it as an investment, the more attractive it became. He could buy a house with no money down. That was another madness – which we'll get to in a minute. But let us imagine that he acted as a conservative, prudent investor. He could buy a $200,000 with a 20% down payment. So, he put down $40,000. Then, he got two forms of pay off. Like a stock or a bond, he got a 'dividend' – in the form of a place to live. A $200,000 house might rent for $2,000 a month. So, he figured he got $24,000 there. Plus, he got a capital gain – when the house went up in price. At 20% per year, this came to another $40,000. Whoa...what a bonanza! His $40,000 initial investment was throwing off $64,000 in 'profit' – every year. All he had to do was pay a loan of say, $1,000 a month...and, of course, property taxes and expenses.

The history of the great US house price bubble: Profiting from living in a house

One absurdity led to another; each one bigger than the last. The US householder began to see that not only was his house a great investment, but that he must be an investment genius for taking advantage of it. The average wage in the US in 2000 was only $37,565. He was making more than that – much more – just by living in his own house.

A thoughtful man, left alone with his private reflections, might have wondered how it was possible. He might have considered his own good fortune and thought more deeply about what actually lay behind it. How is money made, he might have asked himself? By work. By saving. He knew the answers. And he knew he was doing neither. Ah, by investing! 'Yes, that's it,' he said to himself, 'I am an investor, like George Soros or Warren Buffett.'

Only smarter. Buffett still lived in the same house he bought 40 years ago, he noticed. What a dolt! He should have traded up, flipped and refinanced.

Then, another monstrous delusion developed. The homeowner came to believe that he had the equivalent of an ATM machine in his bedroom. If his house was making him so much money, he said to himself, surely he could take some of that money out and spend it? Using home equity lines and refinancings, homeowners found that they could make regular withdrawals from the Bank of Their Own Homes. Borrowing against the house was easy – lenders saw little risk. And interest rates were low.

It seemed like a no-brainer. A house that was bringing $60,000 a year in wealth to a family could easily provide $10,000 to help the family live better. Heck, the family was still $50,000 ahead of the game. And so the money flowed. And what began as a trickle soon became an Amazon; a great river of no return. In the two years 2004 and 2005, homeowners 'took out' more than $1 trillion from their houses.

Experts told them they were being very prudent. They were shrewdly 'managing their household wealth,' it was said. House loans was cheap credit; better to borrow from a home equity line than a credit card. And besides, with their houses rising in price, how could they go wrong?

The history of the great US house price bubble: The ability to pay a loan

We answered that question in these pages. It was not the price of the house that counted; it was the ability of the homeowner to repay the loan. Yes, he could sell his house to get cash. But then where would he live? It wasn't as if his was the only house in America going up in price. The only way he could actually realize the inflated value of his house was by dying, or moving out of the country. Not many householders were ready to do that. Short of that, he had to service his loan, just like any other borrower. And as the weight of his borrowing increased, his legs began to wobble and buckle. Nor did it help that his house was pricier – his insurance, his maintenance costs, and his property taxes were rising too!

By 2002, US houses were clearly going up in price – faster than they ever had before. And the homeowner was about to swallow his next big absurdity.

The rise in US housing prices between 2002 and 2006 in certain markets – San Francisco, San Diego, Miami, Las Vegas, Washington, Manhattan – was breathtaking. By 2005, the average house in San Francisco was selling for $$820,482. In the Washington suburbs, ordinary split levels and colonials had doubling in price in five years' time. And along the California coast even trailers passed the $1 million mark.

The history of the great US house price bubble: Mobile home madness

In the year of our Lord, 2005, on the Pacific coast of the North American continent, a two-bedroom trailer was offered for $1.4 million. This was hardly a first or even a most. Other mobile homes had sold for $1.3 million and $1.8 million. Still another was on the market for $2.7 million.

Why would people pay so much for mobile homes? Well, the views were said to be spectacular and they were good investments. That is, they were good investments in a time when prices were going through the aluminium roofs. Still, unlike most single family dwellings, trailer owners don't own the land upon which their houses rest. Instead, they must rent it. In addition to the house loans trailer buyers have to pay 'space rent' which, for the $1.4 million mobile home was $2,700 a month. Not a fortune, but still a drain on your money.

And oh yes, we mentioned 'housing loans'...but housing loans are hard to get on trailers. Because the trailer might be pulled off the land...and then what would it be worth? Almost nothing. In Malibu, in 2005, the average house sold for $4.4 million. A trailer is a very simple home. But put it on a lot overlooking the Pacific and it is worth a fortune, at least in the great bull market of '96 to '06. The $1.4 million trailer, we were told, was in a gated community and on a 'triple-wide lot.' Wow.

Meanwhile, in Florida, buyers were taking up condos that hadn't even been built. In Miami, 'flipping' condos came to be a profitable speculation in the early 21st century. Speculators would buy a group of 5 or 10 condos – even before a single shovelful of dirt had been displaced. The idea was to sell the contract to another speculator while the place was being built. The second buyer would then sell to yet another buyer when it was completed. Neither the first, nor the second, nor the third buyer had any intention of living in the condo. They were just speculating.

The trouble was that the object of their speculation looked rather lonely and forlorn when it was finally put up. Driving by at night, you would notice that few of the condos had the lights on. Most were empty; waiting for the ultimate buyer, the poor sap who would actually live in the place and, presumably, pay for it.

The history of the great US house price bubble: Squeezing out the speculators

This eventually became such a problem for developers that they tried to squeeze out the speculators, insisting that buyers take up only one of the condos and move in within a specified period of time. In some projects, developers announced special offers, which had prospective buyers camping out all weekend in order to get a good place in line to buy when the doors opened on Monday morning.

While buyers were leaping from one absurdity to the next, they were provided special shoes...with wings...by the lending industry.

In the autumn of 2006, the regulators began to wonder. A group of regulatory agencies began to think they had allowed too many marginal buyers to take off. The air was full of them...and many were beginning to crash. Even Ben Bernanke, speaking just yesterday, warned that borrowers might need some flying lessons; a little more 'awareness' of lending practices was what was needed, said he.

Bernanke's comments followed the release of a new set of standards, in a report entitled "Interagency Guidance on Nontraditional Mortgage Product Risks."

And then, about the same time, the Comptroller of the Currency, John C. Dugan, spoke about the innovations of the mortgage industry:

"Lenders who originate these types of loans should follow sound underwriting practices that consider the borrower's repayment capacity."

Traditionally, the lender judged both his man and his market, we recall pointing out. If both were deemed solid, he would take a chance, lending the man a mortgage and hoping that the market was strong enough to allow him to recover his money if the man failed.

Nontraditionally, however, lenders didn't even bother with the man; instead, they judged the market and judged it foolproof. This proposition they then set off to test – by making outrageous loans to both fools and knaves.

The history of the great US house price bubble: Flourishing house loans

Reading the popular press – not to mention the advertisements in the popular press – we learned about the number and variety of non-traditional house loans that have flourished in the last six years. Adjustable rates, of course, became common. But so did housing loans with zero down payments, alluringly low starter rates, including interest-only mortgages, flexible payments, and 'stated income' applications in which the borrower is left to use his own imagination in describing his financial circumstances.

When the 21st century first budded out, only 5% of mortgages were of the so-called 'sub-prime' variety, that is, house loans to marginal borrowers. Five years later, one in four was to a subprime borrower.

Also in 2000, only 25% of these sub-prime house loans were of the 'stated income' variety. Only 1% consisted of 'piggyback loans' – junior loans designed to eliminate the need for a real down payment. And none were I.O., or interest only.

By September 2006, 44% of sub-prime loans had "limited documentation," 31% were piggyback loans, and 22% were I.O. This was the very moment at which regulators were asking the lending industry to be more careful – that is, after they had already let the weasels in the chicken yard.

Daily Reckoning readers laughed heartily at empty conceit; the stated purpose of both the US federal government's housing policy and that of the lenders themselves was to 'help Americans buy their own homes' or words to that effect. Easy credit was meant to increase homeownership. (Renting a house was a kind of social failure, like dropping out of high school or driving an old Pinto.) They had 'democratized' the credit market, they claimed; now not only rich speculators could lose their shirts. The common man could too!

The history of the great US house price bubble: EX credit

The obvious effect of EZ credit was to turn Americans into a race of housing speculators, not of homeowners. Instead of actually buying and paying for a house, marginal buyers were enticed into these innovative loan products, which were more like options to buy a house rather than an actual purchase of one. An I.O., interest-only, house loan gave the speculator the right to buy the house sometime in the future – if things went well. And as the I.O.'s, limited doc, flexible payment ARMs reached farther and farther into the general population of homeowners, fewer and fewer people really owned their homes at all. More and more of them became gamblers, betting that property values would rise fast enough for them to keep on refinancing until they actually pulled in enough dough to make a down payment.

The problem with this little pleasantry was that the joke was on the people who could least afford it – the gullible borrowers of the subprime market. Much more funny was the gullibility of the sub-prime lenders. Cheap suits, expensive suits – when you got down to it, they all fell for the same line of guff.

While the marginal lumpen took out ARMs, the hedge-fund, pension fund, and insurance fund geniuses bought MBSs, mortgage-backed securities. The securities were backed by the mortgages which were in turn backed by the imaginary incomes of the borrowers and inflated house prices. The credit agencies rightly judged the quality of the mortgages as less than perfect, BBB-. And then with the miraculous powers of modern finance these same mortgages were put into MBSs and turned into triple-A credits!

The transformation of bad credits into good ones, in front of the very eyes of Ph.D. mathematicians and hedge fund quants, must be rated along with Christ's performance at the marriage of Cana, where the Nazarene turned ordinary tapwater into wine. Scientists often suggest that the Gospels lie. But as to the veracity of modern finance, they were mute.

Asked to explain, the institutional salesmen resorted to a logic little different that of the ordinary homeowner. The component parts may be a little greasy, they said, but put together the sliced and diced, processed mortgage packages were less risky than individual mortgages. It was as if you were less likely to get sick from eating a can of Spam than from eating any particular cut of meat. How that could be was never explained. Presumably, the glop that went in didn't get any better by mixing it with more glop.

Just how bad some of this glop was became apparent only recently. After swindling themselves and each other for so many years, the real professionals decided their way into muscle into the house loan bubble.

The history of the great US house price bubble: A slowing market

As reported in Forbes:

"The real estate market has never offered such opportunity for graft. Since the US housing market started to soar in 2001, loan fraud has become the fastest-growing white-collar crime, according to the FBI. Last year crooks skimmed at least $1 billion from the $3 trillion US mortgage market.

"Now that the market is slowing, fraud is only rising. As business dries up, there's increasing pressure on lenders, brokers, title companies and appraisers to be profitable. That means loan and title documents aren't scrutinized as carefully as they might be, and courts - many of them so low-tech they resemble Mayberry - can't keep up with the volume of paper.

"Then there's the mad rush to sell, particularly by people who paid high prices for homes and suddenly can't afford the loans.

"It's like a tasting menu for con artists and grifters, so tempting that in some cities drug dealers have turned to mortgage fraud, plaguing lower-income neighbourhoods with crooked mortgages rather than crystal meth."

The Forbes article told the story – related here earlier this week - of a pair of thieves, known as the Bonnie and Clyde of house loan fraud. The two did very naughty things – pretending to be who they weren't, borrowing money to buy houses at inflated prices, forging documents, stealing identities, defrauding sellers and lenders alike - and made off with millions of dollars.

Elsewhere it was reported that lenders made millions in housing loans to inmates in the Colorado prison system. A whole group of miscreants issuing out of the Rocky Mountain state pen was able to buy 17 houses for inflated prices and take away $2.1 million in excess loan proceeds. According to the report, hundreds of houses were sold in what was called 'price puffs' – at prices above real market value.

By the autumn of 2006 these houses were going into foreclosure at the rate of 1 out of every 13. The price puffs began modestly – with buyers taking out $5,000 to $10,000 at the time of settlement. But amounts grew until they were walking away with 30% of the purchase price, or amounts over $100,000.

Then, the feds got on the case and people started going to jail again. But that is how these stories tend to end. In court, in chapters 7 and 11.

Every public spectacle ends in correction of some sort. Often, in a house of correction. And the force of the correction is equal and opposite to the deception that preceded it. This one ought to be a doozie.

Ottawa Denies Canada-US Deal On Softwood Lumber

Canada denied reports and US claims that a deal had been reached to end a longstanding softwood lumber trade row that has soured Canada-US relations.

There is no final confirmation of any agreement with the Americans.
If there should be an agreement, the prime minister will be here in a few moments or later on today to inform the members of this house of this issue.

Earlier this week, Canadian media reported a framework agreement had been reached that would see 78 percent of duties collected by the United States on Canadian lumber imports since 2002 refunded and a limit to 34 percent of the US market for future imports.

A "tentative agreement" had been reached with Ottawa late Tuesday.

Under the tentative agreement the United States would refund Canadian forestry firms 80 percent of duties collected on softwood imports or up to four billion US dollars, plus interest.

The remaining one billion US dollars in duties collected from Canadian firms would be split between US forestry companies and projects to benefit the North American lumber market or for "meritorious initiatives like housing reconstruction in Katrina affected areas.

Canadian provinces must also agree to a five to 15 percent "export charge" on softwood lumber exports to the United States.

They may opt for a 2.5 to five percent export tax, plus limit exports to 30 percent to 34 percent of the US lumber market, depending on lumber prices.

If a Canadian region exceeds its exports limits, the following year exporters in that region would pay a penalty at a rate of 1.5 or double.

Each region`s market share would be based on its average market share between 2004 and 2005.

Logs harvested from Canada`s Atlantic provinces and northern territories would be exempt.

The deal would last seven years, with an option to renew for two more years, and calls for a dispute resolution system and for "policy exits" to be determined within 18 months.

Housing Investment Will Rise a Little Further in 2006

Housing investment will rise a little further this year but ease a bit in 2007 and 2008 as higher interest rates begin to bite.

The central bank (BoC) has been a little bit surprised by the continued strength of the housing market despite the rise in interest rates

Bank of Canada Raises Key Interest Rate a Quarter-point to 4.0%

The Bank of Canada raised its key interest rate by a quarter percentage point to 4.0 per cent on Tuesday, continuing to increase the cost of borrowing for consumers and companies.

It's the sixth straight increase since last summer, when the central bank's overnight rate was at 2.5 per cent. And the bank hinted there may be at least one more rise in the offing.

"Some modest further increase in the policy interest rate may be required to keep aggregate supply and demand in balance and inflation on target over the medium term," the rate announcement stated.

Bank of Canada Interest Rate Announcement

On Tuesday, 25 April 2006, the Bank of Canada will announce its decision on the target for the overnight rate. A press release will provide a brief explanation of the decision.

Ottawa's Office Vacancy Rates Drop

The office vacancy rate in the Ottawa suburb dipped below 10 per cent in the first quarter for the first time since the technology bubble burst.

The Kanata market waited about six years for to come back, so it's quite significant. So it's good scenario for Ottawa.

Vacancy rates in Kanata approached zero at the turn of the millennium as fast-growing tech firms set up shop in gleaming new office buildings.

But the suburb came to resemble more of a ghost town than a boom town in the years following the bust, with vacancy rates surging above 25 per cent by 2003.

A busy first quarter of big deals drove Kanata's vacancy rate down from 11.4 per cent in the final quarter of last year to 9.3 per cent, the lowest level since the late 1990s, Colliers reported. By comparison, the vacancy rate in the first quarter of 2005 was 20.6 per cent.

The absorption of space has driven up rental rates in Kanata roughly fourfold from the post-bust low, adding that it expects the vacancy rate in Kanata to continue to fall.

Overall, Ottawa's office vacancy rate dropped to 8.8 per cent from 9.4 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2005. Most of the activity took place in west Ottawa and Kanata due to new technology tenants and the expansion of existing tech firms.

The vacancy rate in the downtown core tightened to 3.8 per cent from 4.1 per cent, while the suburban rate fell to 12.5 per cent from 13.3 per cent.

The biggest question mark remains the 900,000 square-foot former JDS Uniphase campus on Merivale Road, which Minto Developments bought last summer and renamed the Mercury Centre.

The RCMP has been rumoured to be a likely tenant, but Minto has indicated they may lease the building to multiple tenants.

It said Minto has been "actively marketing" the property.

The availability of the Mercury Centre has kept the vacancy rate in Ottawa South, including the area surrounding the Ottawa International Airport, at 24.6 per cent. Without the Mercury Centre, the rate would be 13.8 per cent.

But in the downtown core, it expects rental rates to remain unchanged due to uncertainty over the expected completion in 2007 of Oxford Properties' Constitution Square Phase III, and the vacating of other downtown properties.

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Skyrocketing Property Taxes Squeeze Out Homeowners

Critics call it the biggest and the sneakiest tax grab in recent memory.

From Vancouver to Halifax, Canadian homeowners are being hit with skyrocketing property assessments -- leading to significantly bigger property tax bills -- that some can't afford.

"I think we're going to have to sell," said David Diplock, an Ontario pensioner. "I've been retired 12 years. I don't have any way of getting a raise or any increases or anything."

Diplock and his wife have lived in their Port Colbourne area house for more than 30 years. They raised 11 children there. In the last few years, they say, the assessed value of their property has gone through the roof -- almost doubling -- to $337,000. They don't believe their "lived in" house is worth that much -- and they don't want to move anyway.

Their taxes are suddenly $6500 per year. The couple lives on Diplock's monthly Canada Pension -- and that tax bill now takes half of it.

"In my heart, it hurts," he said. "We start talking about it and (my wife) breaks down and I've got to comfort her and the next thing I know, I'll be breaking down because we feel we are being kind of robbed."

It's the downside of a housing market that's been on the upswing for the better part of a decade. The people hit hardest are the ones who don't want to sell -- many are seniors living on a fixed income.

"It should never be to the point where you have to struggle to pay your taxes," said Diplock.

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation calls it a national crisis. It estimates, on average, municipal property taxes have jumped by 24 per cent nationwide since 2000. The biggest increases are in cities -- like Vancouver, Toronto and Ottawa.

"It's a problem everywhere, right across Canada, but you know, no one is talking about it," said Garth Turner, Conservative MP for Halton, Ont. "It's very destructive for individual taxpayers and for many lives it ends up pretty much destroying them."

"If I had to, I couldn't afford to buy my own house," said Robert McBean, a retiree whose half duplex in Toronto has suddenly jumped $85,000 in value, on paper.

"There's been nothing done to my house. I didn't make any improvements. All I did was cut the grass."

"People think it's a windfall but if you have to pay the tax on that it's no longer a windfall."

Film studios have moved in near McBean's home. Several new houses have sprung up on the next block. "To give them (the city) extra tax money just because somebody moved in down the street and paid an unreasonable amount for a house, it's crazy," he said.

What's more, CTV found several examples of homes assessed for even more than they are likely worth. For example, In Toronto, several residents on O'Leary Avenue are fighting their property assessments. They have no parking, no yards and no garages. One of the homes recently sold for $168,000, yet the property value has been assessed at $255,000.

"Tax increases through the back door," said Turner, who is taking rising property taxes on as an issue. "It's very insidious. I think it's very harmful and it's really going to have a very negative impact on the whole system if we don't reform it now."

Turner thinks the new Conservative government he belongs to should insist municipalities get some of the money, in any new transfer payment deal made with the provinces.

"In Ottawa we are talking about, you know, cutting the GST or cutting income taxes. We are debating how to give money back to taxpayers. This is not even on the radar -- and its got to be. But it never will be, in politics, unless we have people screaming about it."

"It is a national problem," admits James Knight, CEO of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCN). "Property tax is regressive and it's not linked to the ability to pay."

The FCN insists municipalities can't cut those taxes, though, without cutting services. So, nothing much will change, Knight said, until Ottawa and the provinces give up more cash.

"There's enough revenue in the country, there's enough taxes -- but there's not enough sharing of them," said Knight. "Municipal governments need somewhat more to deliver their responsibilities."

"Who can I level my anger towards?" asked David Diplock. He's filed an appeal of his assessment, but, he said, if he loses, he and his wife will have no choice but to sell the home they love -- the home they expected to live in for the rest of their lives.

"Someone else will buy the place, and they'll pay the taxes," said Diplock. "To sneak something like this under the table and rip everybody off -- I think it's criminal, really."

CTV

Hot BC Housing Market Really a Bubble?

Vancouver, arguably the nation's hottest real estate market with year-over-year double-digit pricing increases and average homes selling for half a million dollars, economists are fearing that there are indications of a real estate bubble that is close to bursting.

"That's an eyebrow-raising price increase, but I would prefer to wait and see if it is an anomaly," said University of British Columbia real estate economist Tsur Somerville of a 22 per cent jump in housing prices over the same time last year. "I for one would be concerned if prices in the second quarter showed an equally large increase."

Craig Alexander, deputy chief economist at TD Bank Financial Group, said that booming economic conditions offer the perfect breeding ground for speculative price bubbles to form.

"That's because in such an environment, housing market participants are at greater risk of developing a case of irrational exuberance, especially if they expect that such exorbitant price gains will continue indefinitely."

He said the risks appear to be greatest in Vancouver, where on Thursday, telephone lines opened to give residents a chance to register as a potential buyer in the city's most highly anticipated condominium sale: 'Woodward's District,' a 536-unit development smack in the middle of Vancouver's notorious Downtown Eastside, otherwise known as Canada's "poorest postal code," thanks to the throngs of prostitutes, drug addicts and petty thieves that line the streets and alleys near the building's proposed site.

The actual sale for a Woodward's property starts Apr. 22, with prices ranging from $200,000 to $800,000, but only those who register starting Thursday will receive a wristband that allows them to participate in the sale. The completion date for the project is slated sometime in 2009.

But while some experts continued to warn the pace can't continue, others said there's no need to worry just yet.

"With today's data, it goes without saying that there is still not a shred of evidence that Canada's housing market is tapering off," said Marc Levesque, chief fixed-income strategist at TD Securities. "Construction activity is proceeding at a red-hot clip, resale activity remains solid, and building permits are not even hinting at a slowdown."

And that could increase pressure on the Bank of Canada to continue to nudge up its trend-setting short-term interest rate. The central bank has already boosted rates five times since last fall as a pre-emptive strike against inflation.

At the time of its last increase in early March, when central bankers raised their overnight rate to 3.75 per cent, they indicated they were almost finished tightening.

However, strong economic data -- including a record low jobless rate of 6.3 per cent in March, the lowest in 32 years -- is raising speculation that the Bank of Canada may have to raise rates a few more times to keep the economy from overheating.

Its next scheduled chance to change interest rates comes on April 25.

The CMHC report wasn't completely good news, carrying the seeds of a possible slowdown in the months ahead, with construction of apartments and condos outpacing that of single-family homes in March, which hints at some weakening to come, warned CMHC's chief economist Bob Dugan.

Toronto and Montreal in particular saw apartment starts surge last month, he said.

At the same time, "single starts decreased for a second consecutive month, suggesting that the pace of new-home starts will begin to pull back."

On a seasonally adjusted basis, urban starts rose 4.7 per cent to 219,700 units in March.

Multiple starts, or new construction of apartment and condominium buildings, rose 18.6 per cent to 123,000 units between February and March, while construction of stand-alone houses fell 8.9 per cent to 96,700 units.

Residential construction got a lift in the first quarter from unusually warm weather, adding fuel to the Canadian economy, said Scotia Economics analysts Sarah Hughes.

That could "diminish somewhat in the second quarter as declining affordability, rising construction costs and a cooling resale market tempers housing demand," she wrote in a note to investors Monday.

But other factors will continue to prop up the market, Hughes added.

"While starts are expected to trend downward in 2006, Canada's generational-low unemployment rate and respectable wage gains should continue to support a historically high level of residential construction."

For the first three months of the year, actual urban starts were up 19.1 per cent from the first quarter of 2005, with all regions of the country gaining on last year.

Single-home starts were up 16.7 per cent, while multiples were up 21.1 per cent.

In March, a jump in apartment construction in Montreal meant the Quebec region led Canada with a 21.2 per cent increase in urban housing starts, to 48,100 units.

Urban starts declined in the Atlantic region and Ontario, and were virtually unchanged in British Columbia.

GlobalNational

Ottawa Houses Selling Like Hotcakes

A record number of homes were sold in major Canadian cities during the first quarter. In Ottawa, records were set for the number of new listings and average listing price.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the number of homes listed and sold on the MLS totalled 86,861 during the first three months of the year.

That's up 2.3% from the fourth quarter, and is one-tenth of a percentage point above the previous record, set in the third quarter of 2005.

The strength of the housing market this year continues to surprise, despite rising home prices and slightly higher interest rates.

The number of new listings broke records in Ottawa, Victoria, Toronto, St. Catharines and Saint John, and, across the country, new listings in March of 46,265 represented the highest level since May 1991. Klump credited several factors for the market's buoyancy, including affordable mortgages and rising incomes.

Hot Housing Market Remains Superheated

The surge in housing prices for new homes is now nearing the increases of the late 1980s housing boom, and will likely start putting upward pressure on inflation.

New house prices continued to rise strongly in February, as the New Housing Price Index rose 0.7 per cent, down slightly from January's increase of 0.9 per cent.

New house prices prices were up seven per cent on a 12-month basis compared to 6.6 per cent the previous month, the steepest year-over-year increase in 16 years.

New house price gains are moving up toward levels not seen since the real estate boom of the late 1980s.

Good demand for new housing in some metropolitan areas also contributed to higher price levels while land-value increases contributed to price hikes in 10 of the 21 metropolitan areas surveyed.

Fifteen of the 21 metropolitan areas posted monthly gains, led by Calgary at 2.2 per cent.

Construction material and labour cost increases were the main factors pushing price levels up nationally.

Electric Bill Too High? Get Your Own AIR-X Windmill.

Ever look at your electric bill and wish you could do something about it besides running around turning off lights?

This summer Southwest Windpower, will introduce a wind turbine just 45 feet high. The turbine will produce electricity even at modest wind speeds. Suitable for properties as small as half an acre. It could extend the windmill option to a much larger portion of the Canada.

Main Features:

All of these features are primarily found within the body of the turbine. The new microprocessor based speed control results in increased performance, improved battery charging capability and the reduction of “flutter” noise from the machine. The controller allows for peak-power tracking of the wind by optimizing the alternator's output on all points of the cubic curve and then efficiently delivers the energy to the battery. The turbine’s smart controller allows it to actually control blade rotation speed thus eliminating the buzzing noise commonly found with the AIR 403 and 303 in high winds. Furthermore, a new series of carbon-reinforced blades with a modified pitch angle further increases power production. The new electronics are a considerable improvement over the AIR 403 controller that consists of diode-rectification and a simple off/off voltage switch.

Much Lower Noise: Previous AIR wind modules relied on their aero-elastic blade design for protection in high winds, causing loud flutter noise in winds above 35 mph (16 m/s). AIR-X’s circuit monitors the wind speed and electronically slows the blades as it reaches its rated output preventing it from going into flutter. This results in a much quieter wind turbine. In high winds, the AIR-X will continue to produce power at a reduced level until the wind decreases, at which point maximum output will resume. The Benefit: Quieter and neighbor friendly operation.

Improved battery charging: Previous AIR designs required 300-400 amp hour battery banks so the trickle charge of the wind turbine could be adequately absorbed. The AIR-X’s charge controller periodically stops charging, reads the battery voltage, compares it to the voltage setting and if the battery is charged, it completely shuts off all current going to the battery. This function is performed within a few milliseconds. The closer the battery is to reaching its full state of charge, the more often the AIR-X’s circuit repeats this action. This means any size battery bank from 25 to 25,000 amp hours or higher can be charged safely. When the battery has reached its charged state, the AIR-X will slow to an almost complete stop. Only when the battery has dropped below its voltage set point will it startup and resume charging. The Benefit: Extended battery life, no overcharging.

Lower stress design: AIR-X limits power on the input side of the electronics by controlling the torque from the blades. The power no longer has to be dissipated by the electronics resulting in lower stress on the circuit, bearings and other materials. Furthermore, stress on wind turbines occurs primarily in high winds. Under these conditions, the electronic stall design reduces the blade speed to 600 rpm, thereby significantly reducing turbine and tower loading while still producing power. The Benefit: Greater confidence in turbine operation in high wind conditions without manually operating the stop switch. Note: A manual stop switch control is an available option for the AIR-X.

Internet Attack On the Brokerage Commission

Finding the house is probably 75 percent of the work. Why not give buyers 75 percent of the commission?

Today 77 percent of home buyers start their search on the Internet. Other sites provide comparison home value estimates and information about town and neighborhood facilities.

With their clients doing much of the grunt work, the new Internet "rebaters" are happy to take less for the services that the buyers still require – such as scheduling appointments with listing agents, preparing documents, guiding clients through closings and more. One of the main duties of a traditional buyer's agent is to drive clients around to listings.

For the brokers, it means a much more productive business model. One agent can do several transactions a week, while traditional agents do several transactions a year.

But traditional brokers hate these new business model. It threatens their livelihood. They'll be blackballed from the industry and other agents wouldn't show houses to our clients.

Apartments and Condos Drive Up Housing Starts

Construction of apartments and condos outpaced single-family homes in March 2006. Toronto and Montreal in particular saw apartment starts surge last month. At the same time, single starts decreased for a second consecutive month, suggesting that the pace of new-home starts will begin to pull back.

Multiple starts, or new construction of apartment and condominium buildings, rose 18.6 per cent to 123,000 units between February and March, while construction of stand-alone houses fell 8.9 per cent to 96,700 units.

Canada's Housing Market is Heating Up

The U.S. housing market may be rolling over, virtually all Canadian cities remain undervalued (with the exception of BC). The Canadian housing market did heat up in the first quarter of 2006 and remain robust. The real estate conditions are relatively tight in aggregate. As a result, the national average price of existing homes continues to climb at a vigorous pace. These national figures significantly mask a great divide emerging from a regional perspective. It can also create the perfect breeding ground for speculative housing price bubbles to form. That's because in such an environment, housing market participants are at greater risk of developing a case of `irrational exuberance,' especially if they expect that such exorbitant price gains will continue indefinitely. The "soft landing" in Ottawa housing market has already begun to occur. Currently the price is trending higher because the price has remained above its long-term (2-year) moving average since Jun. 1997. The great 1997-2006 price advance is over and a reasonable scenario is for prices to drift into the mean or long-term moving average, giving us that healthy soft landing.

Ottawa Building Permits Down Sharply So Far This Year

Building intentions in Ottawa are running well behind 2005 levels, in sharp contract to continuing gains in construction activity in the rest of the country.

Statistics Canada reports the value of building permits issued in Ottawa for the first two months of the year was down 36.9 per cent compared to last year. It is likely however that the 2005 figures were skewed by a large number of projects booked early in the year.

Non-residential construction is down almost 60 per cent from last year, with declines in all sectors---industrial, commercial and institutional building. The value of residential permits is up 8 per cent for the first two months of the year, with gains in both single and multi-family construction.

It's a different story across the country however, where the agency reports a rebound in construction intentions in February.

It says municipalities handed out $5.2 billion in permits, up 3.6 per cent from the previous month. Non-residential permits rose 14.4 per cent, after a 13.4 per cent decline in January.

Homebuilders, on the other hand, took out $3.4 billion in permits, down 1.5 per cent and the second consecutive retreat from the record high set in December. The value of single-family permits fell for the first time in eight months.

Still, February's level of residential activity was 5 per cent above the monthly average for all of 2005.

Regionally, 22 out of the 28 cities surveyed by Statscan showed faster starts than in 2005. Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver showed the largest gains, thanks to their dynamic housing sectors. The six cities posting declines were all in Ontario.

OttawaBusinessJournal

Mild Weather Gave Canada's Housing Market a Solid Start to 2006

Mild winter weather prompted Canadians to buy more homes than usual in the first 3 months of the year, pushing house prices even higher. The country's hot housing market hasn't lost all its steam yet, although it's being propped up largely by Western Canada. The year has started very strongly and it shows no signs of slowing as the peak spring market approaches.

Quick Action is Very Important After the Flood

For homeowners, few natural events cause greater or more lasting damage than a flood. But what many of us may not know is that much of the worst damage can actually occur after the water has drained away.
If your home has been flooded, the best way to protect your property, your belongings - and the health of your family - is by getting rid of the water and drying your house as quickly as possible. Whether you do the work yourself or hire a contractor, a few important precautions should always be taken before you begin:

• Put safety first. Avoid electrical shock by wearing rubber boots, keeping extension cords out of the water and shutting off power to the flooded area.
• Record the details of the damage with photos or video if possible, and contact your insurance agent and register with your municipality as soon as possible.
• Set up a step-by-step action plan to remove all remaining water, mud and other debris, dispose of contaminated household goods, rinse away contamination and disinfect contaminated surfaces, and dry out your house and salvageable possessions.
• Assemble all the equipment and supplies you'll need in advance, including gloves, masks, pails, mops, squeegees, plastic garbage bags, unscented dishwashing detergent and large containers for soaking bedding and clothing.
• Store valuable papers in a freezer until you have time to work on them.

Then, during the clean up, keep a checklist of chores close at hand to make sure the work is carried out in an order that will help minimize the damage, including:

• Remove standing water with pumps or pails and a wet/dry shop vacuum, and remove all soaked and dirty materials and debris, including wet insulation and drywall, residual mud and soil, furniture, appliances, clothing and bedding.
• Work from the top down, breaking out ceilings and walls that have absorbed water, removing materials at least 500 mm above the high-water line and replacing any flooring that has been deeply penetrated by flood water or sewage.
• Hose down and thoroughly rinse all surfaces wetted by the flood water, and wash and wipe down with a solution of dishwashing detergent and water. Rinse. If the surfaces do not appear clean, repeat the washing down with detergent, scrubbing as needed, then rinse again.
• Clean surfaces not directly affected by the flood water with the detergent solution and allow to dry.
• Ventilate or dehumidify the house until it is completely dry.

CNW-CMHC

Ottawa Housing Events Scheduled for the Week of April 10-14

TUESDAY, April 11
In Ottawa, Statistics Canada releases figures on 2006 first-quarter investment in non-residential building construction. Statistics Canada releases the February new housing price index.

Ottawa Condominiums Still Provide Best Housing Value

Condominiums continue to offer Ottawa homeowners the most bang for their home-buying dollar, and the best chance for a big jump in price.

In the seven Ottawa markets the average price of a standard condominium showed the greatest appreciation, rising by 3.5 per cent in the past year to $173,750. The average price of a standard two-storey home increased 2.6 per cent to $271,286 while a detached bungalow rose 1.9 per cent to $275,887.

In the South End, the average price of a standard condominium increased by 8.5 per cent, year-over-year, to $153,000. In the city's East End, the average price of standard condominium jumped by 8.1 per cent to $146,000, year-over-year. In Kanata however, a standard condominium appreciated by only 0.6 per cent to $161,000, year-over-year.

Ottawa's housing market will continue to experience balanced conditions; a healthy local economy and a strong job market have continued to attract new buyers into the market, maintaining healthy price appreciation.

Across the country, the greatest price appreciation in detached bungalows, which jumped 11 per cent in price in the past year to an average of $282,059.

Standard two-storey properties increased 9.2 per cent to $340,956 and standard condominiums rose 8.8 per cent to $195,909.

Heated Ottawa Housing Market May Cool, But Not Bust

The odds of a housing price correction are rising, a major bank is warning.

However, the chances that the current seven-year boom will turn to a bust are still low because, while it has run longer than most, the 40 per cent increase in prices is not excessive by historical standards, the run-up in interest rates has been relatively modest and unemployment is low, Scotiabank said in a report Monday.

"From a historical perspective, the duration of the current upswing in home prices is relatively long," said Scotia economist Adrienne Warren, noting that over the past 50 years there have been three other major housing booms, each lasting five to six years. "The magnitude of the current price gain, however, is not out of the ordinary, with the rise in real home prices essentially in line with the average 44 per cent increase recorded over the prior three cycles."

Housing prices still appear to be well supported by economic fundamentals, being driven by tight supply-demand conditions, not investor speculation, the report said. In contrast, during the 1985-to-1989 housing boom, which went bust, price increases were much larger than would otherwise be expected, given overall market fundamentals.

The current housing boom is also more diverse regionally than previous ones, especially the 1980s boom, when average home prices were driven up by a spectacular albeit unsustainable 84 per cent inflation-adjusted surge in Ontario, Warren said. In the current cycle, all regions of the country are contributing to the rise in average house prices, and no province has yet experienced an after-inflation appreciation in excess of 60 per cent.

The current low and stable inflation environment is also reducing the risk of a large price correction, the report said, noting that in only seven of the past 50 years has there been an actual drop in housing prices.

Any drop in inflation-adjusted prices this time will likely occur through a gradual erosion by inflation, rather than a drop in actual prices, it said.

And the housing market may get a demographic lift down the road, as the "baby echo" generation begins to enter the housing market, the report said.

Meanwhile, economic growth and employment prospects are reasonably good, supported by energy-related and productivity-enhancing business spending and multi-year government-sponsored infrastructure projects, it said. Foreign investment is also on the rise, and the housing market is a clear beneficiary.

Unlike the end of past housing booms, there has not been a pronounced run-up in interest rates, as the strong dollar and global competitive pressures have been keeping a lid on inflation for the Bank of Canada, allowing it to leave rates at what are still relatively stimulative levels, the report continued.

Past housing price declines have usually been preceded by a pronounced increase in shorter-term interest rates or a marked deterioration in labour markets, it noted.

While the housing market will likely cool, it's expected to result in a gradually slower pace of price appreciation, Warren said. Regionally, prices will likely remain firmer in the western provinces, supported by their relatively stronger labour markets, tighter housing markets and a continuing influx of people from other provinces.

The Fly Off Effect of The Real Estate

You don't have to be affluent to fly off to your weekend getaway anymore -- with the rise of discount flyers like JetBlue and Southwest Air, second-home buyers have expanded their target areas outward.

In a survey last year, Escapehomes.com found that 60 percent of respondents planning to buy a second home were looking more than 500 miles away from their primary residence.

"Every year we watch as distance becomes less of a factor," says David Hehman, CEO of Escapehomes.com.

"The traditional second home," says Paul Prescott, national director for Deloitte & Touche residential development department, "was two or three hours drive away. People felt it had to be that close to get enough use of it to make it worthwhile."

Most vacation home communities were clustered within a short drive of major cites. It's what made the Catskills the weekend home of choice for New Yorkers, Cape Cod the vacation spot of choice for Bostonians and the Jersey Shore the pick of Philadelphians.

But it's now possible for New Yorkers to fly to Burlington, Vermont quicker than they can drive to the Catskills. And fares as low as $45 make it eminently practical.

Leslie Gauff, a real estate broker with Carlson Real Estate in Stowe, Vermont, says that inexpensive air fares have had an impact on her business.

"The Bostoners drive up for the weekend," says Gauff. "It's about three hours. But many New Yorkers fly." That's in lieu of a five-hour drive. "I've had people say that it's just as easy, in some ways easier, to fly up here than to drive to the Hamptons."

Stowe home prices have increased about 18 percent a year for the past three years, according to Gauff.

Western resorts are even more dependant on air transport.

JetBlue flies from Long Beach to Las Vegas for $44. Southwest flies to cities within Texas for $49 and anywhere within California for $59.

"Salt Lake City is a good example," says Prescott. "Someone in San Francisco can fly to Utah and be on the slopes at Park City faster than they can drive to Tahoe."

According to Hehman, it's not merely the low fares; it's also ease and speed. "People are just more comfortable flying now. And fighting traffic to get to a weekend place really detracts from the experience," he says.
Will U.S. airlines ever emulate Europe?

Although some of the fare deals sound pretty great, American carriers are still way behind the Europeans. In Europe, low air fares are transforming the vacation-home market. It's now possible to fly from one European country to another for less than the cost of riding the bus to the airport.

The UK's Abbey National Bank estimates that some 1.2 million Brits now own second homes in France and on the Iberian Peninsula. Germans own some 300,000 homes in Spain. The French are even buying homes in Britain, to the tune of about 20,000.

A sample of prices posted on the Web site of RyanAir, the leader in discount European fares helps explain why:

* A one-way ticket from London to Dublin cost £0.79. That's less than $1.39 in U.S. dollars.

* One way from Glasgow to Paris – £4.49, about $7.86 U.S.

* How about London to Berlin -- free, that's $0.00 in American money.

RyanAir has maintained its profitability by relentlessly slashing costs and by unbundling services (such as meals and baggage checks) and charging for them. It is also starting to host gambling games onboard. The company claims that more than half its seats or more will be free within a few years.

RyanAir is not the only bargain carrier flying European skies; easyJet, for example, flies passengers from England all the way to Ibiza, off Spain's Costa Blanca, for £30.99, about $54. Other carriers helping to make air fares practically irrelevant, even for budget travelers, include Air Berlin, Wizz Air and SkyEurope.

There's nothing comparable in the United States – at least, not yet. A JetBlue spokesman, Bryan Baldwin, does not think that his company will start to mirror the kind of prices (or lack thereof) that RyanAir is putting up in Europe.

If the trend to really low airfares becomes even more widespread, it could have a heavy impact on second-home markets.

As Prescott points out, the expectations of the boomer generation is much different than those of their parents. "The whole nature of second home ownership is changing," he says. "My pre-conceived notion of a second home is a cabin on a lake. Today the second home experience often includes a planned community or activity -- golfing or skiing for example -- that may not be available near the primary residence."

And there's one more way that low air fares affect home sales; they attract tourists. Jess Reid, president of Jess Reid Real Estate in Park City, says, "Tourists visiting Park City are the target market for home sales. They come for a visit, love the place and buy a home. If air fares are low, we see more tourists and make more sales."

Savory's Fine Foods Coming to Bayshore Mall

Bayshore Shopping Center has annonced that Savory's Fine Foods will be replacing Market Fresh at Bayshore Mall. Savory's Fine Foods will be carryng fresh produce and traditional groceries, as well as unique speciality products, including gourmet take-out meals, hand-made chocolates, fresh-baked breads, international cheeses, and organic meats. THe new store is expected to open later this May 2006.

Homeless Women in Ottawa Filling City Shelters

Shelters across the city are seeing a growing number of homeless women, a crisis that's leaving their resources stretched.

At the downtown Shepherds of Good Hope, an outreach program originally mandated to help men and women with chronic mental illness, now has a new population of women who suffer addictions or are sex trade workers.

STAFF LACKS TRAINING

There are no drug addiction services for these women and the staff isn't properly trained to deal with the complexity of their problems, said Joanne Hansen, senior manager of shelters at the Shepherds of Good Hope.

"All we're providing is a bed, a roof over their heads and meals. We need more," she said.

The Shepherds' Hope Outreach program has 40 beds and 30 of them are used by women.

Often, up to three women a night are turned away because there's no room and the resources aren't sufficient.

It's the same situation facing Cornerstone Women's Shelter.

Each night, Cornerstone's beds are full and staff is forced to turn away women.

Director Sue Garvey said another reason they are turned away is because the chronically mentally ill who suffer addictions present behavioural problems that Cornerstone can't handle.

"We have the support for men, but with women, we are very much behind," Garvey said.

Last year, 1,267 women stayed in local shelters, up from 2004 when 1,221 women used shelters.

Contributing to this increase is the surge in drug use among homeless women.

More women on the streets are turning to crack, and crystal meth use is also on the rise.

"For homeless women, addiction is so critically dangerous in the city right now and we really need to find a solution to this," Garvey said. "The more vulnerable they are, the more vulnerable they are to getting caught up in this issue."

Mayor Bob Chiarelli is developing an integrated drug strategy that will see community groups across the city come together.

Garvey wants Cornerstone to be part of that action group.

The Shepherd's Hope Outreach program has asked the city's housing program for about $300,000 to expand its program.

BEHAVIOURAL PROBLEMS

The money will help change its physical structure by segregating the women from the chronically mentally ill.

Funds would also go toward providing addiction services to these women, as well as training staff to properly deal with those with behavioural problems.

"We really want to improve the system so we can get them out of the system," said Garvey.

Bisiness Owners Take Train Pass

Slater and Albert streets will be so cramped in some spots with a north/south light rail line that city officials have asked some building owners if they'd be interested in housing passenger stations on their ground floors.

According to the city's request for proposals for the light rail line, there are locations on Albert and Slater where "it is difficult to accommodate the waiting area, the boarding area and the pedestrian sidewalk." The space is even more limited for bus stations, the RFP says.

So, city officials asked more than a dozen building owners and managers, where bus and rail stations are likely to be built, whether they would be interested in leasing ground floor space to the city for "a waiting area and possible concession uses."

There were no takers.

Rejean Chartrand, the city's director of economic development and strategic projects, said the offer was made on the remote chance that one of the owners would be able to or interested in doing so.

"We didn't have high expectations, but we offered it because we figured that the city would have an interest if there was any interest from the private sector guys," Chartrand explained.

Several business and property owners on Slater and Albert streets have been vocal in their opposition to having both buses and light rail on their streets. The unhappy businesspeople banded together last year to form a coalition to make their voices heard at City Hall.

SEEKING FLEXIBILITY

All of which makes the need for the city -- and the consortia vying for the contract to build the system -- to make local building owners comfortable with the design.

Building owners and managers are looking for flexibility when it comes to the design of the bus or rail stations that will be built in front of their buildings. Some want them to incorporate architectural elements of the buildings themselves.

"There's a basic design that the station is supposed to have," one landlord told the Sun. "The difficulty we have is we don't want to have a cookie cutter and that's a general consensus of most of the landlords on these two streets."

Chartrand pointed out the city has had consultations with the owners and managers since well before the procurement process began. The owners were also able to meet with each of the three consortia vying for the contract to express their concerns and expectations.

Chartrand said the stations will have a "common element" and "theme" but "the look and feel we would try to match with the facade (of the building) as much as we could."

Grapevine Go Out of Business

Naturally I am sorry to see the Grapevine Company go out of business after 8 years of service, and I am equally sorry to give up my personal association with this company of which I am very proud. But I sincerely believe that there are advantages to municipal operation which are very compelling. Of course there must be proper management, but of this I have no worry, for Ottawa has never lacked for public spirited citizens possessing both integrity and ability."

1 April Fool's

Ten Digit Dialing Arrives in Ottawa 613 Area Code

The simple act of dialing a telephone number is becoming more complicated, as of today.

Ten-digit local dialing – which requires users to dial the area code before a local number – is now in place within the 613 area code, as well as in the 450, 514 and 819 area codes in Quebec and the 519 area in southwestern Ontario.

As of June 17, users who do not dial the 10 digits will hear a recorded message prompting them to dial the area code followed by the seven-digit local number. Their call will then proceed, but this message could disrupt communications such as fax or Internet transmissions.

The changeover means both consumers and businesses will have to re-program their telephones, dial-up Internet connections and alarm systems, adding the area code to the local number.

For business, here is a partial checklist of things to consider:

• pre-programmed cell phone numbers and other wireless devices
• fax machines
• speed-dialing lists
• dial-up Internet connections
• telephone options such as call forwarding and call blocking
• alarm and security systems
• company databases and phone lists

Businesses are also advised to update work documents such as letterhead and business cards, invoices, brochures and catalogues as well as signage, vehicles, directory listings and websites. Adjustments should be made before the June 17 deadline.

Local 10-digit dialing has been introduced to meet the high demand for new telephone numbers. In the National Capital area, it will allow the same seven-digit phone number to be used in both the 613 and 819 area codes.

The telephone companies have set up a special website at www.dial10.ca to provide more information.

Garbage Business Smells Sweet

When Baseline Councillor Rick Chiarelli says the city has to pay more attention to trash collection in Ottawa, he knows what he's talking about.

After all, garbage collection is big business around here, and with the pending expansion of the Carp Road landfill site, it's only getting bigger.

"We have to be fair to the business sector," explains the councillor, who supports the proposed expansion and continuation of the Carp Road landfill, whose trademark bulge is quickly becoming a Kanata landmark.

"Because this a legitimate business that we need, and business owners have rights too."

Indeed, it may come as a surprise to some, but the business of dumping in Ottawa is booming. And according to lobby groups it's the private hauling companies – companies like the Tomlinson Group or Waste Management, which runs the Carp Road site – that benefit the most.

Ottawa has four major landfill sites – Carp Road, Trail Road, Navan Road, and Springhill Road. Three are owned and operated by private garbage hauling. Only Trail Road is operated municipally.

"The city's whole theme is 'If Carp closes tomorrow, what are we going to do with all this garbage?'" says John MacMillan, president of West Capital Aviation and one of the minds behind ottawalandfillwatch.org, a local landfill watchdog.

"But the problem right now is that the City of Ottawa gets an artificially low price of $38 per tonne to dump at Carp," continues Mr. MacMillan, who admits his bias – he lives close to the Carp dump and wants to see it closed. "This is a huge disincentive for waste diversion and new technology efforts."

Even the issue of inflated population growth figures – the bane of some local developers hit with thousands of dollars in inflated infrastructure fees – have played into the city's decision to keep dumping at Carp, say observers.

The Centre for Spatial Economics, which produced the data for the city's current official plan, has already released updated projections predicting a smaller 2015 population of 979,000, compared to current official city estimates of over 1.1 million.

Observers like Alex Munter say the city is using these inflated numbers to justify expanding the Carp dump, when in reality no such growth exists.

"The city knows the numbers in its official plan are just plain wrong – but refuses to fix them," says Mr. Munter. "The promoters of an expanded Carp landfill are being handed a free pass by the city's own numbers that inflate Ottawa's projected population by over 120,000 people."

Dumping, or tipping, fees vary wildly from facility to facility, but for comparison's sake, dumping fees at the city's own landfill on Trail Road equate to $73 per tonne across the board. That is, for residential, commercial, and even hazardous waste.

That's almost double the price of what Waste Management charges the city to dump at Carp. And according to Mr. MacMillan, it's not by accident – that same low price, he says, is the only thing keeping Waste Management's Carp dump operation in business.

Waste Management officials declined comment on the matter.

"The low price means the city has no motivation to change, because they're getting a good deal," he says, adding that other cities in Canada, like Halifax, set their landfill dumping rates artificially high (Halifax sits at around $115 per tonne) to promote diversion and renewable technologies like plasma waste conversion. The technology incinerates garbage while creating energy for electricity.

But Coun. Chiarelli says Mr. MacMillan's allegations are nonsense. "These things generally come from people who want to shut down the dump," he says. "Waste Management is a private sector company and the element of city trash that goes to the Carp dump was negotiated on the open market. And prices will vary, depending on a whole range of things.

"No matter which alternative we pick, it's going to cost more," he says. "Traditional incineration costs three times the price, after selling the emissions for power.

"But even if we move at lightning speed, we won't see a full-scale alternative till the other side of five years," he continues. "And that means we need to find a place to put the garbage, unless, of course, people want to keep it at home."

Outaouais Housing Plan in Quebec Raises Alarms

The Quebec Ministry of Natural Resources is investigating reports today that a developer has begun a 60-lot housing development near a wetland south of Lac St-Pierre in Val-des-Monts, without provincial approval.

Some Val-des-Monts residents say too much cottage country north of Ottawa is being cleared for permanent houses without municipal or provincial government permits and with no input from residents.

Ministry spokesman Michel Bergeron said officials from the Quebec government will examine the site within the next few days to determine how close the houses would be to fish habitat. He said the ministry became concerned about the housing development after it rejected an application from developers Bernard and Richard Marenger to blow up a beaver dam and drain the wetland.

The developers face a maximum possible $300,000 fine if they damage fish habitat, Mr. Bergeron said. He said they are clearing roads and lot sites, even though they have no municipal permits to develop the 28 hectares of mixed forest, south of Lac St-Pierre off Highway 307, north of Gatineau.

"We have been unable to contact municipal officials about this," Mr. Bergeron said. He said Mayor Marc Carriere, who also is warden of the MRC des Collines and a Quebec public servant, suddenly doesn't want to answer questions about how this could happen," Mr. Bergeron said. "He has simply disappeared."

Workers continued to clear the forest yesterday, even though Mr. Carriere told Chemin Marecage resident Tammy Hogan on Tuesday that he ordered the developer to stop work.

Ms. Hogan said Val-des-Monts did nothing to stop the work during the past month, even though municipal officials knew the property was zoned for housing, but lacked other permits.

Residents don't necessarily object to the development, but they are concerned that the municipality hasn't consulted them about how it will be done. Ms. Hogan said 300 more houses and a golf course are planned near Lac St-Pierre, and some residents are concerned the development will mean heavy traffic near an elementary school on Highway 307.

She said that project, and others near Lac Bonin and Lac McGregor, could go ahead without public input because the municipality is keen to fill the demand from city people for permanent lakeside homes and sees no need to consult residents.

The Citizen was unable to contact the mayor at his office in Val-des-Monts, at the MRC des Collines in Chelsea, or at his provincial government office in Gatineau.

"We have asked for months whether the developer had submitted a proposal and were told each time he had not," Ms. Hogan said.

"We were told they were good guys, but they were cutting trees without a permit," said Ms. Hogan.

"Municipal officials told me nobody in the community knows about the development because they eliminated public consultation seven years ago, when they found people in the municipality were stalling development."

She said municipal workers told her they can't talk to her about the project and all questions must go through the mayor.

"A few people in the Quebec government have explained to me this is the flavour of Val-des-Monts because the mayor roughshods his way through developments."

Ms. Hogan said the municipality's planning document, City Living, shows the municipality wants more housing in its undeveloped sections. The document is "temporarily unavailable" on the municipal website, www.val-des-monts.net.

Pierre Ricard, director of Quebec's Ministry of Municipal Affairs in the Outaouais, said the province requires municipalities to consult the public when a developer applies for a zoning change, but no public consultation is required for planning details.

Taking Out the Trash

There's plenty of stink over plans to expand a west-end Ottawa dump, but we have yet to hear a viable option for what to do with the tonnes of garbage that we collectively drag to the ends of our driveways every day.

Residents closest to the Carp Rd. landfill have trained their sights on Waste Management, the private-sector company that operates the dump just a couple of hundred metres off the westbound Queensway.

They would be better advised to start demanding answers from members of Ottawa City Council, who seem to have found their voices on the garbage issue only now, with a municipal election a scant eight months away.

Waste Management is doing exactly as it has been asked to do by the city -- taking in and processing roughly 1,000 tonnes of garbage daily at its Carp site.

Could the company build and operate an incinerator to destroy some of the garbage? Of course it could.

But the city would first have to build that option into its garbage disposal plans. And so far, Waste Management officials told members of a Sun editorial board yesterday, the city's policy calls for "land-based facilities only" -- what the rest of us would call dumps.

Opponents of the Carp landfill point to an incinerator in Brampton as the model to follow, but Mike Walters, a senior official at Waste Management, noted the cost of processing garbage through the 18-year-old plant is $105 per tonne -- roughly three times the tipping fee the city of Ottawa pays to use the Carp site. Hard-pressed ratepayers aren't likely to embrace a solution that is going to cost them even more on their property tax bills.

We need the mayor and councillors to show leadership on the garbage disposal issue and we also need ordinary citizens to play a role. Far too much of what we should be recycling and composting is still going out with the trash.

But until we're doing a much better job of cutting back what we toss away, properly run landfills will remain an important part of the total solution.

And another thing ...

There's a glimmer of hope that pro football will return to Ottawa this summer. Edmonton real estate executive Bruce Urban will be in the national capital next week to check out the franchise, and tells the Sun's Barre Campbell he's convinced he can make it work.

"We'll have to turn it around fan-by-fan," says Urban. We'll be keeping our fingers crossed.

Spreading the Garbage Gospel

There's an almost evangelical aura surrounding Mike Walters when he talks garbage.

As he speaks, he becomes increasingly animated, obviously excited about the topic, polished in his delivery.

Tanned, with his French-cuffed, crisp white shirt open at the neck, Walters -- the senior district manager of landfills with Waste Management -- talks in feverish and fast tones when speaking about all things garbage.

It's almost hard to believe all he's talking about is trash.

That's everything from the stuff you throw out, to the stuff you shouldn't be throwing out, like recyclables and compostable materials.

As excited as he gets, his problem is that in the final analysis, it's still garbage and it seems no one wants it in their backyard, in their neighbour's backyard, or anywhere near their neighbourhood.

Faced with opposition to expanding its landfill at Carp Rd. which refuses to go away, Waste Management is taking its dog and pony show on the road, putting a positive spin on their plans to enlarge the landfill.

Four senior employees with Waste Management met yesterday with members of the Sun's editorial board.

With politicians at both the provincial and municipal levels dithering, with neither a real vision or some solid leadership showing the way, Waste Management is left to its own devices to put a positive spin on the expansion of the Carp Rd. dump.

Er, make that the Carp Rd. landfill.

"It's not a dump," one of the suits says.

Dump. Landfill.

You say po-tay-toes, I say po-ta-toes.

To be clear, Waste Management is in the business of making money. And they do that through hauling, landfilling and recycling garbage in cities across the country.

So they clearly have a vested interest in people's acceptance of the lowly landfill.

It's a lot easier to do their job if they don't have the public working against them; if they don't have residents ranting and raving about living next to a landfill; if they can work in partnership with the different levels of government they must work with.

That's why they meet with members of the media, that's why they're involved in public education, why they even go so far as to spread their message of good waste management in the school system.

And it's part of the reason that when they're in front of Ottawa city council, and politicians like Goulbourn Coun. Janet Stavinga decide it's appropriate to badmouth them publicly, they do their best to just sit there, to grin and bear it as best they can.

"It's all part of the process," one says.

"It's an election year," says another in explaining their silence.

Playing politics is clearly part of what they do.

So they don't fight back -- publicly, at least -- when their reputation is besmirched.

And they certainly don't go on the attack, as they could.

Sure, they hold their ground.

(Okay, they did diss some CUPE members who attended a public meeting, suggesting they were mouthpieces for mayoral candidate Alex Munter, but that's as nasty as they got.) Truth is, and they know it and Ottawa city council knows it, the garbage has to go somewhere.

Just what would happen if they threw their hands up in disgust, and said fine, you don't want the landfill site, we won't take your garbage.

What then? Here's the thing.

Waste Management, and we can only presume companies like them, know that Ottawa city councillors haven't done nearly as much as they should have in working to solve the ongoing and mounting garbage crisis.

They don't say that, not exactly, but it's relatively easy to read between the well-rehearsed lines.

"Ottawa has a strong integrated waste management plan," several officials from Waste Management say, almost in unison at one point during the meeting, and several times throughout.

Problem is, of course, that while the strategy is a good one, it's not being implemented as quickly or as well as it should be.

No doubt about it.

If it's a campaign between government and Waste Management, score one for WM.

A Whack at MPAC

We've known for years that there was something seriously flawed about the property assessment system in Ontario.

We have complained often about a bureaucracy that was heavy-handed and adversarial and just plain unfair to taxpayers -- here in Ottawa and across the province.

But until yesterday even we didn't realize just how screwed up the system is and how badly it needs not just a tune up but a complete overhaul.

Appealing a property assessment in Ontario is a "David versus Goliath" battle against a byzantine, self-important Crown corporation that's been thwarting frustrated taxpayers for years, says the province's ombudsman.

Andre Marin's scathing report on the Municipal Property Assessment Corp. describes the property assessor as an elitist operation with a "superiority complex" and "questionable practices" that result in thousands of incorrect evaluations each year.

Wow. And we thought that we'd been tough on these guys.

The key part of the problem is that it's almost impossible to win a case against these assessment police, who have a bank of data to back them up and seem to consider property owners as adversaries to be defeated at any cost.

Disagree with them at your peril but then the onus will be on you to prove them wrong. And do it before a deadline that they set or you're out of luck.

"This is not a match-up, it's a slaughter -- and it's happening in tens of thousands of cases every year," Marin said in releasing his report.

He got the attention of Finance Minister Dwight Duncan, who is promising taxpayers an immediate extension in this year's appeal process and demanding MPAC develop an agenda to reform the system.

But that's the easy part. Dealing with a Crown agency that has been used to getting its own way for so many years is going to require the government to stand its ground and demand fairness for taxpayers. This is not a time for vague promises.

Marin has shown us where the system is broken. Let's fix it.

And another thing ...

Pamela Anderson is the latest in a string of celebrities wishing to meet with PM Stephen Harper to discuss the seal hunt.

While it may be a more tempting offer than a tete-a-tete with Brigitte Bardot or Paul McCartney and his wife, we doubt even Pammie will break through Harper's no-celebrity policy.

Costs Hit Close to Home

Canadians spent a higher portion of their income on housing in the fourth quarter, as high home prices and utility costs pushed affordability to its worst level in a decade, said a report by the Royal Bank of Canada.

That deterioration is coming at the end of 10 years of generally "excellent" affordability conditions, the report by the bank's economics department noted.

While affordability will likely continue to slide in the first half of the year, rising incomes and steady interest rates and house prices should stop the declines in 2007, economists said.

RBC Financial Group's latest housing affordability index measures the proportion of pre-tax household income needed to service the costs of owning a home.

The worst-hit cities were Vancouver and Calgary, where house prices escalated rapidly. Royal Bank expects the pace of demand for new and existing homes in the rest of the country to slow moderately over the next two years because of the decline in affordability.

Much of the drop in affordability stems from slower growth in household income, said Derek Holt, the Royal Bank's assistant chief economist. "This was unable to offset increases in mortgage rates, house prices and utilities costs," he said.

Benjamin Tal, senior economist at CIBC World Markets, expects affordability to get worse before getting better.

"Income growth in Canada is starting to accelerate, wages are rising," Tal said. "But the increase in house prices has been faster. Add to it higher interest rates, and the overall size of mortgages is rising, so affordability is going down."

RISING INTEREST RATES

The impact of rising rates has been more pronounced, Tal said, because about 22% of mortgages are variable-rate.

"With interest rates rising by maybe another (quarter to half point), we probably will see affordability continue to deteriorate, at least for the next few months," he said.

Beyond that, he expects it to stabilize because interest rates will stop rising, house prices will level off, and Tal predicts incomes will be stronger than expected.

"So, I think affordability will not be much worse a year from now. It might even be better."

The report suggests that condominiums were the most affordable Canadian housing type during the fourth quarter, with an index of 25.7%. A standard townhouse is next at 30.1%, followed by a detached bungalow at 37%. A two-storey home remains the least affordable type, with an index reading of 43%.

Elite Condo Project at 90 George St Delayed

Construction on the city's most expensive condo development has reportedly been delayed until May, thanks to legal allegations emanating from disgruntled subcontractors.

Broccolini Construction has filed a lawsuit against 90 George St. claiming $1.7 million in back pay for work performed on the site. Developer Terry Guilbault, however, says he fired the firm after they didn't meet expectations and denies the allegations.

"We decided we needed someone with more experience in high-rise construction," he told the Ottawa Citizen this week. John Broccolini, head of Broccolini Construction, denies they were fired.

The proposed 19-storey building at 90 George St., in which penthouse units are going for a reported $1.8 million apiece, is right now a gaping hole in the earth fenced off from the rest of the Byward Market.

Guibault, however, remains positive.

"This project is definitely a go," he said in the same interview. "Sales have gone remarkably well."

At the same time, Canril is suing the building's original architects, Desmarais Cousineau Yaghijian St. Jean Marchand Architecture and Design, in a separate legal battle. Guilbault says the firm used the same design as 90 George St. on a building for competitor Claridge Homes.

Guilbalt says he believes construction will begin again as early as May.

Hoteliers Developing East End's Answer to City's Convention Woes

Completion of a long-awaited conference centre addition to the Hampton Inn on Coventry Road has local hoteliers and tourism officials looking to increase business in the city's east end.

The hotel will unveil its conference facility in early May, with a soft opening taking place later in the summer to coincide with the Ontario Summer Games. The new 24,000 square feet of meeting and conference space, with its large ballroom, lecture halls and other smaller rooms makes, the hotel a mid-range option for meeting planners. It will become the tenth or eleventh largest space in Ottawa.

"It's going to be a really nice addition to the tourism industry," says Franco Falcucci, general manager at the Hampton Inn. "It's a beautiful facility and there's such a lack of space in the city and we're been getting so much demand for trade shows, exhibits and just the day-to-day meetings."

Mr. Falcucci says his hotel has taken a lead in the east end to provide extra space with this addition, which is actually only phase two in a four-part project. An additional 10,000 square feet of meeting space, a restaurant and a full service hotel are also currently under construction and should be completed within the next 18 to 24 months.

The Hampton Inn currently has 179 hotel rooms. Despite its upgraded interior, indoor pool and full amenities, it is officially classified as a "limited" service hotel. In order to provide more space for larger conventions and trade shows, Mr. Falcucci says he has made an informal agreement with the general manager of the Chimo Hotel on St. Laurent Boulevard.

"We're going to be the leader in terms of space, but there are still larger hotels in the area, like the Chimo ... and we're going to work in partnership with them," he says. "If we apply for a lead for a conference that needs 'x' number of rooms, we'll do a partnership with the Chimo's 256 rooms, so we can drive business in the east end."

George Marine, the general manager of the Chimo, says he is pleased with the idea of pooling both hotels' resources together.

"We also just completely renovated our 7,000 square feet of banquet and meeting space," he says. "So, we have two very nice properties and it makes sense to work together and try and attract some of the major conferences to the eastern part of Ottawa."

Mr. Falcucci says the new space at the Hampton will be unique in the area for many reasons. Besides its 10,966 square foot ballroom, which can be divided into seven sections, its main focal point is an impressive 50-foot high windowed atrium.

"The architect used the theme of Bytown and the Rideau River and Ottawa River, so we're using a lot of natural materials with granite and stone and patterns in the floors and walls to look like water," he says. "There are also bridges or walkways to get from one end of the facility to the other on the second floor and he took into consideration elements of the environment, with natural light throughout every room, including the ballroom and even the theatres."

The centre's two theatres, or lecture halls, are also unique to a hotel space, as well as two tiers of underground parking, which have been designed to be more spacious and well-lit than the usual product.

Environmental concerns were also present in the construction process, with the centre likely to seek in the near future certification under the LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, Green Building Rating System.

A complication during construction actually turned into a win-win situation for the hotel and conference centre.

"When we started digging, going 70 feet deep for the two-tiers of parking, we hit natural spring water," says Mr. Falcucci. "As a result, our owner built a three-quarter of a million gallon holding tank out of concrete to hold it. So, we actually tapped into the hotel, the roof of the conference centre and the new development for the hotel and all the rain water will all flow into the tank, get a little bit treated with some chemicals and then be re-pumped into our toilets for water conservation."

The official proprietor of the hotel and conference centre is Bona Building and Management Limited, but Mr. Falcucci says the sole owner is an Ottawa-based businessman who prefers to keep a low profile. There are currently 16 Hampton Inns in Canada and 1,300 in the U.S.

The construction on the project actually started four years ago and Mr. Falcucci says many customers have asked why the development has taken more time then they expected.

"This project is backed by purely one investor and he's a detail man," says Mr. Falcucci. "It's also just the sheer volume because we were our own general contractor, so the excavation process alone took over a year. But, it's been worthwhile because we've been able to take our time, get things just right and make it a nice feature in the east end."

Mr. Falcucci says the centre is already booked well into the fall with a number of trade shows and a major wedding show. The property has also started the process of joining Ottawa Tourism in order to take part in the city's three-per-cent destination marketing fee.

Jacques Burelle, president of Ottawa Tourism, says he is pleased to see the extra meeting and conference space opening in the city.

"It's a serious piece of property that's being added to the landscape here," he says. "For the mid- to small-sized conferences, we can certainly use it in the city. There's a lot of industrial park business that's out in that area, but it's also convenient to the airport, downtown and the train station too for those coming in from Toronto and Montreal."

Entire Family Slain in Cumberland, Ottawa East

A Cumberland man who killed his estranged wife and three children and then blew up his house -- killing himself -- had been ordered to stay away from his spouse two months ago.

"She was living in fear," said Lorraine Saucier of her sister, Francine Mailly, who died Sunday night with her three children, Jessica, 12, Brandon, 9, and Kevin, 6.

Ms. Saucier said she knew something terrible had happened the second police knocked on her door at 2 a.m. yesterday.

"As soon as I saw the police I knew something had happened to her or the kids," she said. "Either her or the kids would be dead."

A note outlining Francois Mailly's plan to kill his family was found inside a red van parked outside what remained of his bungalow at 2315 Dunning Rd. following the fatal fire Sunday night, police said.

Alongside the note was a picture of his three children. Police also discovered a badly damaged .22-calibre gun sitting inside the front door.

"The note stated his intentions to kill his family and his reasons to do that," said Ottawa police Chief Vince Bevan last night, adding the Children's Aid Society had a file on the family and police had a history of contacts with them dating back to April 2002.

Police would not reveal the exact contents of the note because it contains personal information that is pertinent to the investigation.

Ms. Saucier said her sister left Mr. Mailly, 40, on Sept. 30 after 19 years of marriage, but spent much of October at the Dunning Road house.

She said her 37-year-old sister blamed the split on Mr. Mailly's attitude toward the children.

"Francine is not here anymore because they split up. It's because of the kids they split up," she said, explaining how Mr. Mailly often felt the children were in the way of his relationship with Francine.

"The kids were in his way," said Ms. Saucier, adding that Jessica and Brandon were "afraid" to visit his house. "This had been going on for years. She couldn't take it any more," she said.

Ms. Saucier said Mr. Mailly even went so far as to tell his daughter she was the reason her parents split up.

"She was a little princess and she was just like her mother," said Ms. Saucier.

She said Ms. Mailly's family firmly believes Mr. Mailly really wanted to kill his wife and children and then escape before the deadly fire but made a mistake.

But Mr. Mailly's relatives painted a different portrait of him, saying they couldn't understand what could make him kill the family he loved so much.

"I would have never figured my brother for doing something like this," said Shawn Mailly last night.

"It's a surprise to my whole family. He loved his family, wanted his kids with him. I guess he could not bear the fact of having somebody else raise his kids," he said.

Earlier yesterday, investigators with a cadaver dog sifting through the ashes of the charred and flattened house discovered the remains of a woman and a young male child at about 4 p.m. They expect to find remains of the two other children within the rubble. They are Ottawa's second, third, fourth and fifth homicide victims of the year.

Chief Bevan said Ms. Mailly called police as recently as February "indicating she had some fear for the children's safety" following a separation from her husband last year.

That led to a confrontation at Ms. Mailly's brother's house in Embrun on Feb. 4. It was that incident that resulted in Mr. Mailly being ordered not to have any contact with his wife after he threatened to kill her brother, Marc Lanois. The Canada Post letter carrier was charged by Russell OPP with uttering death threats after showing up at his brother-in-law's house at about 9 p.m. demanding to see his wife, who had been temporarily staying there with the children.

When Mr. Lanois told him to leave and threatened to call police, Mr. Mailly told him he would be "dead" if he closed the door. He then stood outside on the front step and pounded on the door for several seconds before leaving.

Police officers arrested him 17 minutes later, sitting in his car just down the street from Mr. Lanois' house.

In addition to the condition he stay away from his wife and her residence, the court also ordered Mr. Mailly to not visit his brother-in-law's house and prohibited him from possessing firearms.

But in court last Wednesday, Chief Bevan said Ms. Mailly -- who had temporarily moved back in with her husband around March 10 -- asked for a variance in the conditions. It was not granted.

Chief Bevan said an interview with police at that time gave no indication that her life -- or the lives of her children -- were in danger.

"The information she shared with police officers did not indicate any threat to her safety," said Chief Bevan. Within the week leading up to the killings, the couple again broke off the relationship, he said.

Ms. Saucier said contrary to what Chief Bevan said, her sister didn't want to move back in with her husband and was planning to file for divorce this week.

The family is planning a press conference today to talk further about the homicides.

The couple had a long history with police, Chief Bevan said.

Police first had contact with the couple in April 2002 when they investigated complaints of threats and harassing phone calls. They investigated Mr. Mailly again in May 2003 in relation to a complaint from a co-worker of Ms. Mailly. Then, in 2005, Ms. Mailly contacted police to report she was separating from her husband.

Mr. Mailly's estranged wife was most recently living in an Orleans townhouse, and was last seen Sunday afternoon at her former five-bedroom house in Ottawa's rural east end when she returned to pick up the children after a day with their father.

Chief Bevan said Ms. Mailly dropped the children off at the house at about 1 p.m. and spent the day with her family. She was supposed to return at about 9 p.m. to pick up the children.

"There was no sign that anything was amiss," he said.

But shortly after 9 p.m., neighbours reported hearing two explosions and looked outside to discover Mr. Mailly's house a raging inferno. Moments after the first explosion, Mr. Mailly, his body ablaze, stumbled out of the house and collapsed in the front yard where he died.

Neighbours said Ms. Mailly's car was parked in the driveway, her purse still locked inside. Others reported seeing the children playing in the yard in the hours before the blaze, which police said had been started with an accelerant.

While police couldn't confirm the exact cause, Chief Bevan said gasoline being spread throughout the house could have resulted in a similar explosion followed by intense fire.

Friends and neighbours at the Teal Street townhouse Ms. Mailly's shared with her children said yesterday the couple had an acrimonious breakup, although the children still visited their father regularly.

Next-door neighbours Debbie Reid and her 25-year-old daughter, Sarah, said Ms. Mailly began renting the unit in October, but dropped in only sporadically until about a month ago, when it seemed she and her children moved in permanently. "She told me that her husband would find her, so she would have to leave and go somewhere else," said the elder Ms. Reid.

Last week, Sarah Reid said she would keep an eye on her neighbour's place, after Ms. Mailly told her that her estranged husband had been harassing her and had broken into her house. Through the wall they share with the next unit, the Reids could hear the Mailly children running through the house and playing, but they never heard fighting or saw police visit the home.

However, another neighbour, Cindy MacAuley, who did not know the Maillys, said police visited the home in early February, jumping over the back fence to gain access to the house. Chief Bevan said police were called to the house after receiving a complaint from Ms. Mailly and found suspicious footprints around the house.

Debbie Reid said Ms. Mailly had been saving up for long time to get her own place.

"When she moved back in, she said she just wanted to have a normal life, get on with her life," said Debbie Reid.

She last saw 12-year-old Jessica on Friday, when she noticed the little girl giving some of her stuffed animals to some smaller children across the parking lot from their white-and yellow-sided row houses, not far from Place d'Orleans shopping centre. The porch light and inside hallway light at 147 Teal Cres. were switched on yesterday, and several bags of garbage were piled outside the patio doors in the small, fenced-in backyard.

When Ms. Mailly and her husband separated, friends Shaun and Lisa Fletcher helped her find housing in their complex, and she and her children ate dinner at the Fletcher home the night they moved in.

Mrs. Fletcher, who became friends with Ms. Mailly when she began working in the mail room at NRC and trained her for the job before transferring to another department, last saw her friend on Wednesday when they made plans to take their children shopping over the weekend.

Ms. Mailly's car was parked in front of her house as recently as yesterday afternoon, Ms. Fletcher said, but she never heard from her and become concerned.

Mr. Mailly's next-door neighbour and brother-in-law, Serge Payant, said the children often visited his farm to feed the horses carrots and apples and scatter feed for his chickens. He said children fed the animals on Saturday and Kevin, the youngest, drove a small ATV around the farm before the tragedy unfolded.

"For a couple of months nothing went well between Francine and her husband so she rented a house in Orleans. Sometimes she would spend the weekend here and go back home," he said.

"The kids played outside my house with the little ATV and a bicycle on Saturday. They were very nice kids so sometimes I would make them doughnuts. One time the girl asked her dad to buy some carrots so she could come here and feed my two horses," said Mr. Payant. "Sometimes Francine would come with the kids to play with the chickens because she liked animals too."

Mr. Payant said the heat of the blaze was so intense that no one could get closer than six metres from the house. Glass splinters from the blast landed in his yard about 30 metres away.

He described how the explosion was like a "bomb" that shook his house. By the time his wife and other neighbours came outside, the roof was on fire and windows and doors had been blown out.

Ms. Fletcher said the Mailly boys usually joined in the popular road hockey games at the rowhousing complex, and she thought all three children were enrolled in taekwondo classes. They were bused to nearby Ecole elementaire catholique des Pionniers.

Lionel Gibson, the head instructor at Tae Eun Lee Orleans taekwondo, where the two eldest children were students for about a year and a half, said losing the children is like losing a member of his extended family.

"These are very good kids," he said.

They had stopped training a few months go, but before they did, Brandon had earned a green belt and his elder sister was an orange belt.

Brandon was really into it, Mr. Gibson said.

"He pushed harder than everyone else," Mr. Gibson said. "The oldest sister had the talent. Technique came easy to her. It was just all there. She was gifted as far as martial arts goes."

It was also a sombre day at the Canada Post Ottawa mail processing plant where Mr. Mailly worked. As workers pulled into the loading dock at 1424 Caledon Place to prepare for their next run, they reflected on their co-worker, known to them as Frank.

"He was a good guy, he was a hard worker and a family man too, he talked about his kids a lot," said co-worker Tony Sullivan.

According to his co-workers, Mr. Mailly was a full-time employee at the plant who filled in for workers who were on holiday or sick leave, meaning everyone at the plant got to know him.

Co-workers said they didn't know about his marital problems until yesterday, and that he had recently taken a few days off to stay at home and take care of the children.

Mr. Sullivan said that the floor supervisors in the processing plant had gathered the workers in the morning. "We had a moment of silence; it's sad," said Mr. Sullivan, fighting back tears. "He was a family guy with small kids."

Mr. Sullivan said Mr. Mailly had been an assistant coach for his son's hockey team and was very involved with his children, even naming an auto body shop that he ran after his two sons, Brandon & Kevin Auto Restoration.

Chief Bevan said he met with the regional coroner for Eastern Ontario, Dr. Andrew McCallum, yesterday but it was too early to decide whether there will be an inquest.

However, the case will be considered by the provincial Domestic Violence Review Committee, which reviews all intimate partner and ex-partner homicides.

Homeowners Beginning To Feel The Squeeze

With interest rates on the rise, and the housing market showing signs of a downturn, homeowners are starting to feel the squeeze.

For many, the trouble started when the market was booming, and buyers flocked to interest-only loans in order to find their way into a bigger home. These interest-only loans were an attractive option while rates were low, but once the fixed term ends, monthly payments are likely to jump up to twice the previous amount.

In the worst case scenario, homeowners could end up owing more money than their home is worth. The Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith had the story of one family that is caught in the squeeze.

Meghan and Vince Jordan recently moved in to their brand new dream home in Denver, but they have one big problem — they can't get rid of their old one.

"A year ago, we don't think we would have been in this situation. We think our house probably would have sold," said Meghan Jordan.

Their home has been on the market since August, and so far they have dropped the price by $35,000. Now, the Jordans have taken a bridge loan to cover the costs of owning two homes. Even more nerve racking, they've taken out an interest-only loan, so for five years they are only paying interest. With rates on the rise, they are worried they took a bad risk.

"That is the $90,000 question — what if (rates) don't come down? You are going to see people with properties with rates that can potentially double," said Vince Jordan.

The Jordans are highly leveraged, they have two kids, two mortgages and daycare costs. And their quandary is not unusual. Greg McBride from Bankrate.com joined The Early Show Thursday to discuss ways for homeowners to protect their financial health.

First, a look at the risk that comes with an interest-only loan. If, for example, a borrower took an interest only loan of $200,000 in 2003, their monthly payment would have been around $667. After the first adjustment, those monthly payments could jump to $1,415 in 2006.

"That's why (interest-only loans) are right for some but wrong for a lot of people. That payment increase is not something the average American household can handle. That increase is a byproduct of two of things," McBride told Smith. "The initial interest rate of 4 percent when you borrowed the money now jumps to something over 7 percent. You also have to start paying back that principal. You could see another payment increase next year. After all, interest rates are still rising."

If you find yourself in this predicament, McBride says you should refinance out of harm's way.

"You can still get a 30-year fixed rate mortgage for less than 6 1/2 percent," he said. "Your payment is going to go up but not as much as if you hold onto that interest-only loan. The other thing is it's really a one-time hit because you are then looking at that payment for the life of the loan as opposed to the interest-only where you are a sitting duck for another increase next year."

McBride stresses the importance of cutting into the loan balance and starting to build up what he calls an equity cushion, something the Jordan family doesn't have.

"They were 100 percent leveraged," he said. "They don't have any wiggle room. They need to start chipping away at the loan balance, building up an equity," which is so important because "if you have to sell suddenly, that's what's going to absorb your transaction cost."

Another important piece of advice from McBride: don't borrow against home equity.

"If you are the type that's going to go out and run up additional credit card debt it's best to leave that home equity untouched," he said.

This means no home equity lines of credit to pay off credit card bills, no cash-out mortgage refinancing to pay for home improvements, and no tapping into home equity to pay for goodies like vacations. To do so would mean eroding your protection for when home prices decline.

"You can't bank on home appreciation to do your saving for you. It's time to put the noisemakers and punch bowl away because the party is over on that end," said McBride.

Finally, he recommends living in your home for the long haul. That means accepting the idea of your home as a long-term investment, not a vehicle to get rich quick. Treating it that way is an important form of protection against a bursting real estate bubble.

To Spring Home Buying Season with Old Rules and New Tools

It's that time of year again: After the long, cold winter, when shopping for new homes grinds nearly to a halt, the warm weather brings people out and into real estate offices.

But this year, shoppers face a changed environment.

In January 2005, only 382,000 homes were sold, according to the National Association of Realtors. By contrast, the peak sales month, June, saw 753,000 homes change hands, with much of the shopping coming in the two months prior.

Now, many markets have cooled, giving more leverage to buyers. Still, it's more important than ever for shoppers to pay attention to fundamentals, and at the same time, there are new tools available to help.

The rules

1) Get pre-approved for your loan. According to Lennox Scott, CEO of John L. Scott Real Estate, it's more important than ever this year to get pre-approved -- because virtually every other buyer has. "You have to do that," he says, "to show you're capable and motivated."

Mortgage broker Bob Moulton, of Americana Mortgage, says it reduces the stress of home buying. "You're going through a fire drill before closing, lining up inspectors, attorneys, getting paperwork together. It's a lot easier if you already have the loan in place."

Pre-approval involves filling out a mortgage application before you begin to shop. It includes all your financial information such as salary, credit history and bank statements, and it establishes a target loan amount. Approval typically takes at least several days.

2) Determine how much you can afford. Remember, you probably can't count on the soaring home-price market to bail you out anymore.

Too, prices have changed dramatically in many places in just the past 12 months. You may have to re-think where you want to live. In Phoenix, prices grew nearly 50 percent. Several cities in Florida were up 40 percent or more. That split-level you had your eye last April may be an unaffordable today. In addition, interest rates are on the rise, increasing monthly payments.

Lenders typically don't want their borrowers' total home expenses -- including mortgage, taxes and insurance -- to exceed 28 percent of their gross income. A borrower with household income of $60,000 a year, paying off a car loan at $300 a month and property taxes of $3,000 a year, would be eligible for a loan big enough to buy up to a $300,000 home on a 30-year, fixed 6.5 percent rate.

Jim Gillespie, CEO of Coldwell Banker, says, "For every 1 percent rise in mortgage rates, 250,000 to 300,000 buyers are priced out of the market."

3) Don't get caught up in a bidding war. Try not to fall too deeply in love when bidding on a home -- you're much more likely to overpay if you do.

This year, it should be easier to hold out. Housing inventories have risen steadily the past six months. As Moulton says, "With all the inventory out there, there's always another house."

4) Check out the home thoroughly before going to contract. Hiring a home inspector is always a good investment. They may find problems that can be repaired at the seller's expense. At the very least, buyers can get some idea of how much they'll need to put into repairs and remodeling before they close.

This is more important than ever. Ken Simonson, chief economist for the Associated General Contractors of America, is predicted double-digit increases in the prices of construction materials this year, thanks, in part, to Hurricane Katrina. Labor and energy costs will also spike.

5) Pick your sales agent carefully. Working with an experienced pro can make house hunting a pleasure instead of a nightmare, but the housing bubble of the past few years has lured legions of green recruits to the field. Be extra careful in choosing an agent this year.


New tools

The Internet greases the wheels for house hunters. According to Gillespie, a California study reported that when buyers start their shopping on line they're able to complete the buy in two weeks after they start working with a salesperson and they view just 6.2 homes. If they don't shop on line, the process takes an average of seven weeks and they see 14 homes.

Several new Web tools have come on line or into wide use during the past 12 months These include:

1) Zillow.com enables buyers to get an online estimate of the market value of their house, as well as others in their neighborhood. (For more, see, What's your home worth, Get a 'Zestimate')

2) Homepages.com offers high resolution aerial photography of neighborhoods that enables shoppers to drill down into the details of what kinds of amenities and facilities it offers. HomePages marketing director Matt Heinz says users can zoom in on parks, for example, to see if they have basketball courts, a dog run or playground equipment. Click on a school building and data such as test scores appears.

"It allows consumers to see the house in context with the neighborhood," say Heinz. The service also provides prices for recently sold nearby homes

3) Broker web sites have added many useful tools since last spring. There are more photos, slide shows and virtual tours than ever and much new information is available as well.

Scott, for instance, reports his company's site now includes aerial mapping and neighborhood information like housing inventory stats, demographics, weather records, and population.

Coldwell Banker has streaming video on their sites that reports such important data as the percentage of listings that the agency has sold through, the average ratio of selling to asking prices, time on market, and average prices. The site also enables consumers to do side-by-side home comparisons.

4) Real estate blogs. Get the real skinny on a new neighborhood before you buy. Many new blogs offer tons of raw, unedited, un-fact-checked info on places all over the country. Is that Mexican fusion restaurant any good? How are the new condos on Main Street selling? Which are the best schools? The blogs have the answers, although you can't count on them for total accuracy.

Recent contributions to the Brownstoner.com, a Brooklyn real estate blog, included speculation on the quality of a new building project under development, what residents can do to block building extensions and on what block "Brokeback Mountain" stars Heath Ledger and Michelle Williams live.

Quebec's Housing Market Moderately Cools

Quebec's housing affordability eroded in the fourth quarter of 2005 in the wake of rising mortgage rates, weaker income growth, and higher utility costs, according to the Housing Affordability Index report released today by RBC Economics.

"Quebec's housing market had already begun to cool last quarter," said Derek Holt, assistant chief economist, RBC. "The good news is that supply and demand have slowed simultaneously without impacting prices. House price growth now appears to be moderating into the single digits."

The RBC Affordability Index for Quebec -- which measures the proportion of pre-tax household income needed to service the costs of owning a detached bungalow - stood at 34.8 per cent. Among housing classes, a standard two- storey remained the least affordable at 42.6 per cent. Affordability of a standard townhouse stood at 30.5 per cent and a standard condominium remained the most affordable, requiring 27.7 per cent of income.

In 2005, Quebec's housing starts dropped by almost 8,000 units, down 13 per cent from 2004, showing the strongest decline in Canada this past February. Another sign of Quebec's cooling housing market is that residential permits peaked in 2004 and have since declined significantly. Furthermore, unlike many other parts of the country, the relatively weak investment trend on the non-residential side is expected to continue and will challenge employment growth providing yet another challenge to Quebec's housing market. Montreal's housing market is experiencing a marked slowdown initiated by a significant decline in housing starts and residential permits. Nevertheless, housing affordability in Montreal deteriorated despite the deflation in prices across almost all housing types compared to the prior quarter, with the exception of condos. House prices are growing modestly in the five per cent range compared to year ago.

Ontario's Housing Market Shows Signs of Slowing Down

Ontario's housing market is showing signs of a controlled cooling down, according to the latest Housing Affordability Index issued today by RBC Economics.

"Affordability deteriorated across every major housing class in the fourth quarter," said Derek Holt, assistant chief economist, RBC. "Slower household income growth, higher mortgage rates on the heels of higher bond yields, and a jump in utility costs are the drivers behind the decline. While condos continue to remain the cheapest option for Ontario homeowners, they also experienced the sharpest erosion to affordability compared to the other house classes."

RBC's Housing Affordability Index for Ontario, which measures the proportion of pre-tax household income needed to service the costs of owning a home, increased for the benchmark detached bungalow to 35.5 per cent for the fourth quarter of 2005. Other classes also saw deteriorations with a standard two-storey home requiring about 41.8 per cent of household income, a standard townhouse absorbing 29.9 per cent and a standard condo needing 25.7 per cent of household income.

In 2005, housing starts in Ontario pulled back 7.4 per cent, residential permits dropped for the first time in 10 years by 3.3 per cent, and for the first time since 2000 resale volumes weakened. The price for a detached bungalow rose 5.4 per cent while a two storey home jumped 4.1 per cent compared to a year ago. On a more positive note for prospective buyers, price growth has slowed to the three-to-five per cent range for the various house classes, instead of the eight-to-ten per cent price increases witnessed over the past several years.

"Migration and housing starts tend to move closely together in Ontario. Labour-hungry western provinces, most notably Alberta and British Columbia, continue to pull workers from other provinces, putting downward pressure on new home construction in Ontario, which still remains at elevated levels," noted Holt.

According to the report, housing affordability weakened in Toronto for the first time after three consecutive quarters of solid improvement. The slower pace of household income growth, combined with higher mortgage rates and utility costs, contributed to the deterioration. Townhouses experienced the sharpest erosion of affordability, which had the strongest price growth for the quarter.

"Even though indicators suggest that the housing market is still hot in Toronto, we expect to see gradual cooling over 2006-07. Supply and demand should continue to soften simultaneously without causing abrupt price shocks," said Holt.

In keeping with the rest of the province, Ottawa also saw affordability deteriorate across all housing classes. The cost for a detached bungalow jumped more than eight per cent compared to a year ago, showing the biggest deterioration in affordability. Despite these fluctuations, Ottawa still maintains one of the most stable housing markets in the country.

The decline in housing affordability spanned all provinces and all major cities. At the provincial level, the largest deteriorations were in British Columbia followed by Manitoba and Alberta. The worst hit cities were Vancouver and Calgary.

The Housing Affordability Index, which RBC has compiled since 1985, is based on the costs of owning a detached bungalow, a reasonable property benchmark for the housing market. Alternative housing types are also presented including a standard two-storey home, a standard townhouse and a standard condo. The higher the index, the more costly it is to afford a home. For example, an Affordability Index of 50 per cent means that homeownership costs, including mortgage payments, utilities and property taxes, take up 50 per cent of a typical household's monthly pre-tax income.

House Price Gains Remain Strong for Atlantic Canada

Atlantic Canada witnessed its second consecutive quarterly drop in housing affordability, according to a new report issued today by RBC Economics.

"With market indicators suggesting that house price growth has come to a near standstill, prices continue to remain at last quarter's record levels," said Derek Holt, assistant chief economist, RBC. "Higher mortgage rates and weaker income growth, coupled with the lingering effects of higher prices from the previous quarter, have contributed to these declining conditions. Over the next couple of years, we do expect the housing market to cool in a gradual, controlled manner across the Atlantic region."

RBC's Housing Affordability Index for the Atlantic provinces, which measures the proportion of pre-tax household income needed to service the costs of owning a home, continued on its mildly deteriorating trend for the fourth quarter of 2005, increasing to 22.8 per cent for a standard townhouse, 23.1 per cent for a condo, 27.1 per cent for a detached bungalow and 33.5 per cent for a two-storey home.

The housing market in the Atlantic region continues to face challenges going into 2006. Pull-backs in residential permits and housing starts have already begun, especially in Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador. However, an aging housing supply and migration challenges are also motivating homeowners, except in Prince Edward Island, to spend at least 50 per cent more of their incomes on renovations relative to the rest of the country, instead of upgrading to a bigger or better house.

"On a more positive note, with the nationwide retreat of energy prices, especially natural gas, homeowners should feel some relief on utility bills," noted Holt.

Canada's Housing Affordability Mildly Deteriorates

Canada's housing affordability mildly deteriorated in the fourth quarter of 2005 due to relatively weak growth in household income, according to the latest Housing Affordability Index released today by RBC Economics.

"The erosion in Canada's housing affordability was largely attributed to slower growth in household income compared to the rest of the year. This was unable to offset increases in mortgage rates, house prices and utilities costs," said Derek Holt, assistant chief economist, RBC. "Although borrowing rates may continue to increase, we expect rates will remain stimulative to the economy for this year and next, while job markets remain strong."

The RBC Affordability Index measures the proportion of pre-tax household income needed to service the costs of owning a home. The most affordable housing type is the standard condo, with an index of 25.7 per cent. A standard townhouse is next at 30.1 per cent followed by a detached bungalow at 37 per cent. A standard two-storey home remains the least affordable housing type with an index reading of 43 per cent.

Affordability has deteriorated, but RBC notes that the pace of price appreciation has cooled in most parts of the country for almost all types of housing over the past year with the exception of British Columbia, Alberta, and Manitoba, which continue to experience double-digit annual price gains.

"The mild deterioration in housing affordability is likely to lead to a moderately slower pace of demand for new and existing homes in 2006 and 2007, but it will be a controlled slowdown in the housing markets as both new supply and demand are expected to cool simultaneously," added Holt.

According to the report, expected growth in home renovation spending, critical to the construction industry, will partly offset weaker new home construction. Canada's renovation spending has grown by over 50 per cent since 2000, to over $26 billion in 2005. RBC forecasts that renovation spending will remain strong as homes built in the 1980s boom will continue to enter their prime renovation years.

British Columbia's Housing Market Remains Strong Despite Affordability Deterioration

British Columbia remained the least affordable province in which to own a home in the fourth quarter of 2005, according to the new report released today by RBC Economics.

"Although B.C.'s housing affordability remains the least favourable across the country, its housing market continues to power ahead," said Derek Holt, assistant chief economist, RBC. "Affordability eroded in the last quarter of 2005 as demand remains high and house prices continue to climb."

RBC notes that soaring house prices pushed British Columbia's detached bungalow affordability index up the most in the fourth quarter relative to the third, but the other three indices (two-storey, townhouse, and condo) also deteriorated. A standard two-storey home took up 62.8 per cent of average household pre-tax income in the final quarter of 2005 costing $435,000.

For other housing types, the RBC Affordability Index, which measures the proportion of pre-tax household income needed to service the costs of owning a home, stood at 29.9 per cent for a standard condo, which remains the most affordable housing type. A standard townhouse is next at 43.2 per cent followed by a detached bungalow at 54.9 per cent.

RBC forecasts that affordability is expected to continue to erode as the economy continues to boom and strong migration to the province persists. Land shortages coupled with labour and capacity constraints will intensify demand for homes and are expected to continue to drive price appreciation across the province.

Vancouver's housing affordability deteriorated substantially, bringing the annual average for the standard detached bungalow and two-storey homes to a 10-year high. Rapid price gains, slower household income growth, higher mortgage rates and increased utility costs all contributed to eroding affordability across all housing types. The condo remained the most affordable at 29.4 per cent, followed by a standard townhouse at 43.6 per cent. A detached bungalow stood at 57.5 per cent and a two-storey home was the least affordable at 64 per cent.

Alberta's Homeownership Costs Continue to Climb

Alberta's housing affordability continued to deteriorate in the fourth quarter of 2005 as income growth was unable to match the pace of price appreciation, according to a new report released today by RBC Economics.

"Throughout 2005, Alberta's housing affordability steadily eroded in all classes of homes," said Derek Holt, assistant chief economist, RBC. "Rapid price growth is fuelling this deterioration with the annual pace of price growth for a two-storey home in Alberta leading the country."

According to the report, the booming energy sector has impacted almost all sectors of Alberta's economy, but has particularly heated up the housing market. Builders took out more permits to fill growing demand, housing starts were up 12.6 per cent in 2005, and employment growth remains robust with 3.5 per cent more jobs in February 2006 compared to a year ago.

The RBC Affordability Index, which measures the proportion of pre-tax household income needed to service the costs of owning a home, stands at 19.2 per cent for a standard condo in Alberta, the most affordable housing type. A standard townhouse is next at 21 per cent followed by a detached bungalow at 29.9 per cent. A standard two-storey home remains the least affordable with an index reading of 33 per cent.

Furthermore, housing supply remains very tight with residential unit sales up 40 per cent in January compared to last year, while house listings cannot keep pace with demand. "Alberta's hot economy is creating significant capacity shortages affecting the supply of raw and intermediate resources plus labour, and this is partly behind a doubling of price growth in the fourth quarter compared to the previous quarter that has pushed year-over-year price appreciation into double-digit territory in all classes of homes," said Holt.

The fourth quarter of 2005 marked Calgary's most significant deterioration in affordability for the year in all housing classes. Rising construction costs and skilled labour shortages sent house prices climbing. After three quarters of steady year-over-year price growth in the five-to-eight per cent range, the last quarter of 2005 price growth nearly doubled in all of Calgary's housing classes. Widespread price appreciation, modestly higher mortgage rates, and higher utility bills contributed to the deterioration.

Manitoba's Housing Affordability Worsens

Manitoba's housing affordability weakened for a second consecutive quarter as growth in home prices, higher utility costs, and higher mortgages rates overwhelmed income growth, according to the latest Housing Affordability Index released today by RBC Economics.

"Income growth could not keep pace with rising housing costs and as a result this undermined affordability," said Derek Holt, assistant chief economist, RBC. "However as the market shifts into more balanced territory in 2006 and energy prices continue to decline, Manitoba housing affordability should stabilize going forward."

The RBC Affordability Index for Manitoba, which measures the proportion of pre-tax household income needed to service the costs of owning a home, weakened for all housing types with a detached bungalow coming in at 32.9 per cent. A standard two-story home moved to 32 per cent, a standard townhouse to 18.7 per cent and a standard condo to 17.2 per cent.
While house price gains in Eastern Canada have begun to level off, Manitoba's have been gathering momentum, increasing about 10 per cent over last year. With limited housing availability, in late 2004 and early 2005, not keeping up with growing demand, prices have remained resilient. However, with the number of new listings now increasing, Manitoba should begin to see supply constraints lift and affordability improve.

Homeowners Can't Afford to Buy the New Property Before They Sell the Old

Homeowners looking to buy a new house have a different set of problems to consider than first-time buyers.

It's the height of the spring home-buying season and many of the shoppers are families looking to upgrade to bigger or better homes. These house hunters have a different set of issues to confront than first-time buyers.

The biggest one: They can't afford to buy the new one before they sell the old, and timing is tricky.
If they sell the old house before they buy...

Most buyers can't afford to own two properties at once.

But if they sell first, they face the prospect of having to move before they have taken possession of the new place.

In hot markets many buyers prefer to make certain the old home is sold before they commit to the new one. The reasoning is that once they absolutely have to find a place, they'll shop very hard.

"Many of my clients get their house under contract first and then rush to buy a new home," says John Mudd, an agent with Exit Realty Suncoast in the dynamic Tampa, Florida market. "It takes less time to find a new home than to sell the old one," he says.
If they buy the new house before they sell the old one...

Even scarier, perhaps, is that they could end up carrying the costs of owning both homes for a while.

Austin Schuster, founder of NYC Living Realty in the equally hot New York area, says, "It can get tricky when a buyer tries to buy a new home without having a contract on the old one."

"Under those circumstances," he says, "buyers have to be extra cautious in pricing the old home; they have to sell it as quickly as possible. They can't overprice it. They should get at least some offers within 30 days. If they don't, they have to be willing to look at the price point again."

In other words, they may have to be prepared to take less for the house to get a deal done.

There are a couple of ways to deal with the juggling act

Contigency sales Many buyers attempt arrangements with sellers to make the new purchase contingent on the sale of the old one. If the buyers can't sell their home within a period of time, the purchase is cancelled.

Sellers don't like these such arrangements, of course, and are more likely to accept them in slowing markets than hot ones.

But no matter what, asking to buy on a contingency hands the seller a bargaining chip. That can translate into paying more for the property.

Bridge loans It seems that no matter how you go about it, buying one home when you're selling another will cost you money. Either there'll be pressure to accept a lower bid for your old property or you'll be scrambling to find a new one and wind up spending more than you want. What you need is to be able to do is find the best buy on a new home while your old one fetches the highest price the market will bear.

For that, you may need time.

Enter the bridge loan, also known as a swing loan, which can give buyers the time they need to make the best financial decisions.

A bridge loan is just what the name implies; it's a loan that spans the gap between the time you buy a new home and you sell the old one.

Bridge loans come in two flavors. The first kind gives you the money to pay off an existing mortgage and to pay down on the new house. You make no payments on the bridge loan, just on the new home. When you sell the old home, you pay off the bridge loan, including interest.

In the second kind, you keep your first mortgage and borrow against the equity in the first home to make a down payment on the second. Let's say your old home is worth $220,000, the new one costs $300,000, and you owe $100,000 on your existing mortgage. That means you have equity of $120,000. You're putting 20 percent down on the new home, which is $60,000.

You can use the bridge loan to pay at least part of the down payment.

In both cases, you're paying interest on two mortgages, but one is deferred until you sell.

Consumers may be under the impression that high fees can make bridge loans costly. But George Hanzimanolis, founder of Bankers First Mortgage Inc. and a vice president of the National Association of Mortgage Brokers, says that's not so. According to him, the interest rates on bridge loans are the same as on regular mortgages, and fees, such as for recording mortgages, should only add a few hundred dollars to the transaction expenses.

"Bridge loan costs are reasonable," he says. "Because banks feel secure; the loan is cross-collateralized by the two properties, so it shouldn't cost any more. And they come from the same lender as the regular mortgage."

"A bridge loan can pay off because borrowers are not forced to sell their homes short, at lower prices," says Hanzimanolis. "They can wait for a better offer."

In an up market, that may add thousands of dollars to the selling price, offsetting the added mortgage interest and fees.

"It can be a very good benefit," says Hanzimanolis.

The "Danger Years" for Homeowners

Delinquencies peak the third and fourth years of mortgages. Will risky terms add to the problem?

Millions of mortgage borrowers are entering their "danger years," when delinquencies peak and owners risk losing their homes.

Although borrowers are often told that the first year is the hardest, delinquencies have historically reached their highest points during the third and fourth years of mortgages, according to Doug Duncan, chief economist for the Mortgage Bankers Association.

"As a mortgage ages, things can go wrong," he says.

There are a few forces at play: After years of strained budgets, borrowers may have little in savings to draw on to handle a crisis; this is also the period when major repairs begin to crop up; finally, many home buyers go through life changes, including starting a family.

The number of Americans affected by the coming danger years could be huge. Half of all mortgage loans are three years old or less, according to the MBA. Nearly $3 trillion in mortgages originated in 2002, $4 trillion in 2003 and $3 trillion again in 2004. Many were refis, but there were also record totals of new purchases as well.

In addition, many of these transactions involved risky loans, such as interest-only ARMs and no-down payment loans.

A recent report from the National Association of Realtors found that the median new home buyer put down just 2 percent in 2005. Forty-three percent put down no money at all. And according to SMR Research, some 25 percent of loans were interest-only, do nothing to reduce the debt on the house.

"Lenders used to offer interest-only loans to only the best credit-quality prospects. That's no longer true," said Stuart Feldstein, founder of SMR Research.

Adjustable rate loans accounted for nearly half, by dollar volume, of loans issued in 2004 and 2005. Because interest rates have risen and are expected to increase further, those loans will adjust upward and monthly payments will be higher.

With a $200,000 loan adjusting upward from 4 percent to 6 percent, the monthly bill would increase to about $1,200 from $955.

"There are very vulnerable groups out there," says Allen Fishbein, Director of Housing and Credit Policy for the Consumer Federation of America. "We found many consumers severely underestimated what their payments would be when they adjusted. Some didn't even know how to calculate what their payments would amount to."
Most homeowners are safe

Duncan tends to downplay the perils of non-traditional mortgages. He points out that 35 percent of all homeowners carry no mortgages at all and another 50 percent have traditional fixed-rate loans, which leaves only 15 percent of all homeowners at risk.

And, he points out, some who have opted for nontraditional mortgages are affluent and choose these products to free up cash for more lucrative investments. The risk to these financially savvy individuals is low; most can pay off their mortgages any time.

Furthermore, those who bought a few years ago in hot markets may already be in safe territory, as the value of their homes has grown enough that they now have enough equity to ride out financial storms.

Out-sized gains in housing prices lately has probably helped keep delinquencies as low as they've been.

But even if the percentages of borrowers who may go into default remains modest, even an increase of a few percentage points can add up to millions of households.
Big price gains are ending

And housing markets seem to be headed, if not into a decline, at least into a period of much more stable, slower growth. The median home is predicted to inch up by only a few percent in 2006, according to NAR. In many markets, prices may fall. Home buyers cannot count on increasing home equity to bail them out of tight situations.

Fishbein recommends that most mortgage borrowers convert to fixed rate loans as soon as practical. "Consumers have enough uncertainty in their financial lives,' he says, "Nailing down their housing payment is a good course for most consumers."

"People are really stretched," says Dean Baker, macroeconomist and Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research. "They are banking on everything turning out right for them. That they won't lose their jobs, that they won't run into unexpected expenses. They're betting that the housing market will continue to appreciate."

"The problem is that few people recognize it for the gamble that it is," says Baker.

Increasing Numbers of 'Mama's Boys' are Choosing to Live with Their Parents

They're the increasing numbers of older male children opting to continue living at home with their parents.

Generally aged from early 20s to the mid-30s, the "adulescents" are staying longer than ever before in the parental home, with many showing no signs of moving out on their own or of making a commitment to a partner. Others moved back home after a period of living away or a failed relationship.

And it's not just young men -- although in the western world young women living at home are the minority.

Surveys show that 41% of Canadian young adults 20-29 lived with their parents in 2001, a jump of 27% since 1981. The number of men between 30 and 34 living at home has increased by 20%.

It's even higher in Toronto where 54% of young adults live with their parents.

In Italy, it's a way of life. A new study found 82% of men between 19 and 30 still live with their parents, whereas in Japan 60% of single men and 80% of single women 20-34 now live with their parents.
FREEDOM, PRIVACY

But many mid-life parents don't need to know the exact statistics. They're living the scenario daily.

Just when they expected to be "empty nesters," enjoying a life of freedom and privacy at this time of life, many are still nurturing a grown child.

It's become such a common trend that it's now mainstream comedy reflected in movies, on television and even in commercials.

The current television commercials for cheese show an elderly couple desperately trying to get rid of their older live-at-home son. They fail because he loves home cooking and they're still "cooking with cheese."

It's also the basic theme of the new romantic comedy movie Failure To Launch starring Matthew McConaughey and Sarah Jessica Parker. The story features a 30-something son who refuses to leave his comfortable home. In desperation, his parents hire an attractive woman (Parker) to lure him away. Needless to say, the plan doesn't quite work out that way.

It's a trend causing concern to economists who say it's one of the factors contributing to the lowered birthrates in western and eastern countries as young people delay, or avoid, marriage.

Other reasons cited for staying at home longer are the limited availability of affordable housing; financial concerns such as high student loans, higher education expectations and a lack of job opportunities.

Frank Spadone, 35, a Toronto-based, Italian professional comedian/actor, doesn't have any of these concerns but is still living at home. For most Italian guys, he says it's a question of culture.

"Italian families, especially our mothers, want us to stay at home as long as possible," he says, "They love having us around and looking after us and it's really important to them we save money so we can buy our own home someday."
DOESN'T PAY PARENTS RENT

He points out Italian people dislike renting -- "don't make other people rich" is a favourite saying -- and admits he doesn't pay anything to his parents. But as he travels constantly in his business and is away a lot, doesn't feel he's too demanding.

But when it comes to having a social life, Spadone says being at home in your mid-30s can hamper it.

"Some women wonder what's wrong with you if you're still living at home when you're older, and when you do meet someone you tend to spend a lot of time out, which can be expensive."

But then he laughs and says he can always bring a girl back to the house for dinner as his mother really enjoys this. He does, however, run the risk she might not like his choice stating "she doesn't hold back if she doesn't like someone!"

Is he ever going to leave? And if he does, is he looking for someone to replace his adoring mother?

Spadone laughs again and says since he thinks he's recently found The One, it may be "on the books" for him to leave. He says that although many Italian men might be looking for someone to take over where their mother left off, he isn't one of them.

"But, hey," he jokes, "after we're married, we can always do up the basement and live there."

"Just joking!," he says in response to my astonished reaction, but adds plenty of Italian couples do just that. For them, leaving permanently just isn't an option.

Thrill of Saving Money has Delaying Their Big-ticket Buys

The greatest incentive to delay a purchase is on new homes, where the biggest potential GST saving lies.

Few people think about this, perhaps because the GST partial rebate on housing is a bit complicated. There is no rebate on homes costing more than $450,000, so the savings there is $4,500 and up. The savings per point of GST on a $300,000 new home is still a whopping $1,920.

Shocking Lesson in How the Market Works in Toronto

When you own a place in Vancouver, you tell yourself certain things. Of course, you're living in the most beautiful city ever imagined, and spring starts in February, and the Winter Olympics will make everyone richer. But more than that, you convince yourself that you're living on the most coveted soil in the country.

It's the only way to survive the eternal rain.

But the illusion shatters when you do what I did: leave the West Coast for a job in Toronto, and learn what hot real estate really looks like. Indeed things are so scorching here that the laws of haggling have been flipped on their head. Buyers don't negotiate down. They go up, sometimes in six-figure leaps. And it's so common across the city -- at least in the "desirable" neighbourhoods -- that now it seems normal.

It isn't -- at least, not outside of Toronto.

In Vancouver, the city that's supposed to have the frothiest market in the country, people do not make a habit of submitting opening bids $50,000 to $100,000 over the list price.

To our great regret, Vancouverites don't do that at all.

On Jan. 13, we put our split-level home in Port Moody, a suburb 20 kilometres east of the city, on the block. Looking at our three-bedrooms, double garage, landscaped backyard, and quiet spot at the end of a cul-de-sac, our real estate agent suggested $475,000, figuring it would give us a good shot at fetching something in the mid-$460,000s. She pooh-poohed an open house, saying they "just bring the neighbourhood women in to check out your kitchen."

Over the next two weeks, we had 16 private showings, resulting in two offers, both $5,000 or more under list, both conditional. The first slipped off the table after eight days, when the buyers couldn't sell their home. The second was contingent upon financing and a property inspection.

Their offer was $470,000, a figure that not only seemed reasonable, but after 17 days on the market, appeared to be as good as our house was going to get. So we accepted, and happily so. After all, it took less than a month, and we were almost at list. How much better could it get?

Oh, it can get a lot better, as we've now discovered. Just not in Vancouver, despite all of the hot-market hype.

Whether in the 'burbs or downtown, a well-priced home can expect to sell within a few weeks, "at list or slightly under," says Ron Vandenberg, with Re/Max All Points Realty in Vancouver. Bidding wars can and do happen, he acknowledges, but it's not the norm, nor has it been in recent memory.

Of course, it needs to be said that the average price of a house in Greater Vancouver is $470,495, according to February figures provided by the city's Real Estate Board, a full $117,000 more than the Greater Toronto average. Still, there's a difference between pricey homes and a sizzling market.

When your agent, like ours here, doesn't bother to show you homes that have been on the block for more than a week because they must have termites, rats or a caved-in roof, you know you're on sweltering turf.

In fact, of all the $350,000 to $600,000 properties we saw in the Beaches, Davisville, Allenby, Bloor West Village and the Danforth area over a six-week hunt, not one was being sold in the same way as our place in British Columbia.

If you've looked at homes in Toronto lately, you know the deal. In the "vast majority" of instances, says Diane Litchen, an agent with Harvey Kalles Real Estate, a house will go on the market on Tuesday or Wednesday, be open for viewings on Saturday and Sunday, and be eligible for offers at 6 p.m. a few days later.

The rationale is obvious: Every sale becomes an auction. And buyers know they have to move fast and bid aggressively to win.

The list price isn't meaningless -- it just, um, doesn't reflect the price of the house. Its role is simply to establish the ballpark, while making the place seem more affordable to pack the weekend traffic.

The system works: a home we badly wanted in the Beaches listed for $450,000, attracted more than 125 people on the weekend, and sold for $653,000.

Another in Bloor West Village entered the market at $489,000, but left $124,000 higher.

Indeed, the couple we eventually bought from admitted they would have cancelled the process immediately if the highest offers were anywhere near the "official" price.

The place we wanted was a three-bedroom, semi-detached in Davisville, just east of Bayview and south of Eglinton, on a nice street with good schools and shopping nearby. "Officially," the house was going for $449,900, which for a starting point seemed fathomable.

Alas, it's only the end price that counts, and what would that be? We were willing to go up to $550,000, but were hoping to escape at closer to $500,000.

This much we knew: Nearly 50 parties had toured the house privately and 75 attended the open house, yet by Wednesday morning, no one had registered an offer.

Here's where the brinkmanship comes in. Unfortunately, nobody seems to know what the best strategies are, or even how to win without blowing your brains out. One approach is to register an offer -- without citing a figure -- as early as possible, to scare off other buyers. In theory, that makes sense. In fact, there's no downside, but for some reason, people tend not to do it.

Instead, they wait until the last possible second to express their interest. And that what's happened in Davisville.

Two hours before the deadline, one offer emerged. By show time though, there were five, including ours.

Accepting the formula, put forward by our agent that the price grows by 3 per cent with each player at the table, "our" house's value soared nearly $565 a minute as the clock wound down.

We'd later discover the sellers were hoping to land somewhere between $505,000 and $525,000. But, of course, we didn't know that. Nor did we know if they were going to allow anyone a second bid. And naturally, we didn't know what the other four had submitted, or how high they were prepared to go.

At 6 p.m., we offered $540,000, a figure that made a mockery of the 3-per-cent formula (that would have worked out to $517,000), but which our agent insisted was "reasonable."

Reasonable? Going $90,000 over the list price on the opening bid is reasonable? Maybe yes, maybe no, but it got us the house. And gave us a whole understanding of how hot it can get away from the coast.

New Construction Projects in Ottawa

The Galleria
By Richcraft
200 Besserer St, Ottawa
http://www.richcraft.com/galleria/



Opus
By Ashcroft
320 McLeod St, Ottawa
http://www.opusbyashcroft.com/



90 GEORGE
By Canril
90 George St, Ottawa
http://www.90george.com/



EcoCite on the Canal
By Ecocite
Monk St, Ottawa
http://www.ecocite.com/



92 Holland
By Tartan Urban
92 Holland Ave, Ottawa
http://www.tartanurban.com/urban/



Ovation on Holland
By Tartan Urban
131-135 Holland Ave, Ottawa
http://www.tartanurban.com/urban/


Gardens 2
By Charlesfort Development
Bronson and Albert, Ottawa
http://charlesfortdevelopments.com/gardens2/


Glasgow
By Charlesfort Development
Powell and Bronson, Ottawa
http://charlesfortdevelopments.com/glasgow/



Hudson
By Charlesfort Development
Kent and Lisgar, Ottawa
http://charlesfortdevelopments.com/hudson/



The Current
By WildMill Development
Wellington and Holland, Ottawa
http://www.windmilldevelopments.com/projects_currents.html

One-Day Depot for Household Hazardous Waste April 1

The City of Ottawa is hosting a one-day household hazardous waste collection depot from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 1 at the Trail Waste Facility, 4475 Trail Road, off Moodie Drive, south of Fallowfield Road.

This depot provides a convenient way to help keep the environment free of hazardous household waste. Attendants will unload the hazardous material and dispose of it safely.

Some examples of household hazardous waste include turpentine, aerosol containers, fire extinguishers, pool chemicals, insecticides, stains, wood preservatives, barbecue starters, propane tanks, oven cleaners, disinfectants, herbicides, fungicides, furniture stripper, gasoline and window cleaner.

Avoid lineups for the following products:
· Waste oil can be brought back to a “Take it Back!” partner retailer; check the City’s Web site at ottawa.ca under Garbage and Recycling for a list of 75 retailers that take back oil.
· Latex paint can be hardened at home with clumping kitty litter or a commercial paint hardener and the hardened paint put out in your regular garbage bag. Recycle the empty, cleaned paint can (with the lid removed) in your Blue Box.

For more information visit the City’s Web site at ottawa.ca or call 3-1-1. (TTY: 613-580-2401)

U.S. New-Home Sales Plunged in February

U.S. new-home sales plunged in February by the largest amount in nearly nine years, while the median price of a new home dropped for the fourth-straight month - providing fresh evidence that the once-booming housing market is cooling off.

The drop in new home sales followed news Thursday that sales of previously owned homes actually rose by a stronger-than-expected 5.2 per cent last month following five straight monthly declines.

Analysts said the trend in both reports pointed to a slowing housing market after five record-setting years.

The slowdown in the U.S. housing market could spill over into Canada and reduce shipments of lumber sold to the U.S. homebuilding industry.

Secret Commission Rebates

What’s wrong with your agent promising to rebate you all or a part of the fee that you are theoretically paying that agent when buy your house?

Hold on, some of you will say: the seller pays the commission. Others may argue that the buyer pays it because it is computed into the price of the house. Marcie Geffner, a reporter with the Inman News Service has an article about a Los Angeles agent who lost his job because he formed a network of real estate agents who agree to offer secret commission rebates to buyers.

Here’s the idea:

The home buyer who has been promised a secret rebate can offer the seller a higher price for the house, which may capture the deal, especially if multiple offers are on the table. The seller then pays a commission to the listing agent from the proceeds of the sale and the listing agent divides that commission with the buyer’s agent, who puts the money back into the buyer’s pocket. Paying the rebate outside of the settlement to keep it secret doesn’t solve the problem; it just makes the rebate itself smell fishy.

But the rebate itself isn’t the problem. Rather, it’s an unhappy side effect of a structural problem in the industry — that the buyer cannot negotiate how much his or her own agent is paid.

Her final point: sellers ought to pay their agent for what the agent’s services are worth and the buyer should do the same. The problem is the commission as well as the commission split.

Coldwell Banker Realtor Was a Burglar, Cops Say. More Ammunition For FSBO

Homeowners found cameras, jewelry and money missing after visits from Susan Silok, a broker with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, and her oversize purse, reports The Record of Bergen County, N.J.

News of the arrest Wednesday rattled North Jersey’s real estate community, primarily because agents say they work hard to earn a homeowner’s trust.

Says one agent: “We have a reputation . . . Our reputation is that people can trust us with the key to their house.”

Says another: “This is so out of character for Realtors. . . This is not something we ever see.”

Hmmm. Why not? Let’s hear from the cops:

Police suspect there are more victims of similar thefts who haven’t reported them.
“We had people tell us that they didn’t report it because they didn’t want to bother us,” said Mahwah police Capt. Stephen Jaffe. “It’s amazing how many people kind of let it go.”

Investors Can Now Trade Housing Index Futures as Well

CME, the world’s largest and most diversified futures exchange, today announced that it has signed a licensing agreement with MACRO Securities Research, LLC (MSR), a financial innovations firm located in Madison, New Jersey, dedicated to the creation of instruments designed to unlock liquidity in new asset classes, to launch derivatives based on ten of the Case-Shiller Indexes® (CSIs), published by Fiserv, CSW Inc. (CSW), representing movements in housing price values. These futures contracts are scheduled to launch in the second quarter of 2006.

The ten cities include Boston, Chicago, Denver, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York Commuter Index, San Diego, San Francisco and Washington D.C. CME will also list a composite index of the ten cities for trading. The contracts will be settled in cash based on the value of the CSIs for housing.

Bank Sees End to Interest Rate Increases

TD Bank predicts central banks in Canada and the United States will reverse course and begin reducing interest rates by the end of 2006.

In its latest economic forecast, TD says the Bank of Canada is likely to raise rates one more time, to four per cent, while the U.S. Fed will raise rates to 4.75 per cent. But TD says the most likely economic scenario is for a mild and short-lived slowdown in the U.S. that will spill over into Canada, "sending both central banks back into interest rate cutting mode by the end of this year."

"Last summer, we noted that housing market strength and household indebtedness in the U.S. was simply unsustainable, and that it would give way to an economic slowdown in the second half of 2006. Evidence is mounting in support of this view," says TD chief economist Don Drummond.

The predicted U.S. slowdown will be a drag on Canada's economic growth, although we should do better than the U.S. The U.S. economic expansion will ease to an average annualized pace of around 2.3 per cent in the second half of 2006 and first half of 2007, while Canadian economic growth will only marginally slip below its long-term trend rate of 2.8 per cent.

"Virtually everything that matters in our forecast flows from two key assumptions: first, the U.S. experiences an economic slowdown; second, the economic weakness proves to be mild and relatively short-lived," Mr. Drummond noted.

Mr. Drummond says there's a 30-per-cent chance the U.S. economy "will plow through its vulnerabilities" and expand at a 3.5 per cent annual rate, similar to the performance in recent years. This would provide support for major trading partners, especially Canada. But Mr. Drummond says there is an equal 30 per cent probability that the U.S. economic weakness will be longer and deeper.

The greatest risk, according to TD, is a "hard landing" for the American housing market, which would tip the U.S. economy into recession.

"The Canadian economy looks to be fundamentally healthy, but befitting of our status as a relatively small, open economy, the driving force over the next year or so will be from developments abroad," Mr. Drummond concluded.

Survey Finds House Wins as Good Investment

According to RBC Royal Bank's 13th annual homeownership survey, 90% of Canadians, the highest level since 1998, say buying a home is a good investment. And 17% of homeowners say their homes will be their primary source of retirement income.

"There's a definite consensus among Canadians when it comes to the financial benefits of owning a home," said Catherine Adams, RBC's v-p, home equity financing. "In fact, the average homeowner estimates that his or her home has gone up 18% in value over the last two years."

This year's survey reveals 72% of Canadians expect housing prices to rise over the next year. While Canadian homeowners estimate the average market value of their homes at $214,337, that is somewhat less than the national average of $258,274 reported by the Canadian Real Estate Association in January 2006.

RBC also notes 60% of Canadian homeowners currently hold a mortgage; that's up 4% from 2005 and 10% more than 2000. The average amount owing is $95,840.

When it comes time for renewal, half of mortgage holders will likely go with a fixed-rate mortgage, 25% say they will select a variable rate, and another 25% plan to go with a combination of both. Almost half of all mortgage holders (48%) plan to lock in their renewals for five-year terms.

Fly-In Community Eyed for Carp Airport

An Ottawa developer wants to build a fly-in community -- the largest of its kind in Canada -- at the Carp Airport.

West Capital Developments Inc. has presented the city with a proposal for an "airpark" where residents can fly in and taxi their private planes to hangars next to their homes.

The proposed project, which is still in the early stages of the approval process, includes about 340 houses, ranging from townhomes to large estates.

John Phillips, president of West Capital, said the homes would range from the "affordable" to "million-dollar estates."

"We've gone to great lengths to make it a community. It's not just for jet-setters. We have standard housing, but it is aviation related."

As part of the Carp Airport re-development scheme, the plan includes an 800,000-square-foot aerospace business park, which is expected to bring jobs, and traffic, to the area.

That has some area residents worried. "We moved out to the country because it's quiet," said Jon Lajeunesse, who lives across from the project site. He noticed a city sign posted on the development site nearly two weeks ago. "We have a nice view of the forest in front of us right now, which soon may be townhomes."

Last week was the deadline for area residents to provide their views on the proposed development, but city planner Sally Switzer said community meetings will be scheduled despite the deadline.

"We use the comments to gauge whether we are going to have a public meeting in the community and in this case, we knew we would, right from the beginning," said Ms. Switzer.

The developer is buying the airport from the city, but has already started construction on a 7,800-square-foot operations facility for the site. An environmental assessment is under way.

The proposed community is intended to cater to pilots and aviation enthusiasts. There are about 500 such fly-in communities in the United States.

Mr. Phillips said the cost of running the airport would be covered by shared fees from residents and business tenants. The airport would be not-for-profit and some residents would have the option of sharing a plane with their neighbours.

But those who already live in the area aren't so sure Carp is a good location for a fly-in community.

"This is a very rural area," said Stephanie Carroll, who lives with Mr. Lajeunesse on Diamondview Road. "I don't have a problem with them expanding the airport, but the townhouse development is what is strange to me."

"It's very quiet out here and that will obviously change," Mr. Lajeunesse said. "One day someone is going to come with some money and want to build something. That's what always happens in the country."

MLS vs Grapevine

Check out MLS vs Grapevine. You’ll notice some interesting trends. Delusional FSBOs listing for outrageous prices, but the Realtors already know something’s afoot. On MLS, the same houing types are priced so much lower. Inventory is piling up. Stats don’t lie.

What do I suggest? Well, for one thing the bubble which certainly does exist is clearly leaking. The drum is beating to sell.

No bubble? Come on, get real.

Case of Overs-Development?

For Brian and Connie Parkinson, one of the most heartbreaking moments they've endured since pizza mogul Michael Overs bought the bungalow next door to them was watching contractors chop down a 15-metre oak tree at the edge of his property. Mr. Overs likely didn't know it, but the tree had been planted about 30 years ago by the Parkinsons' sons, not long after the family had moved into their home on Ellis Avenue.

But what happened next was worse: Two days before Christmas, the couple watched in alarm as landscaping trucks dumped tonnes of soil and massive granite boulders next door, blocking the bungalow's driveway and forcing crews working on the lot to traipse up and down the Parkinsons' drive to access the lot. The Parkinsons say an employee of the Overses informed them he had a legal right to trespass.

The couple was forced to hire a lawyer and conduct a title search to prove they could retain control over their own driveway.

The confrontation with the Overses wasn't the first to take place on the pleasant residential street. Since the legendary Pizza Pizza chain founder and his wife Lillian moved to the Swansea neighbourhood in 1989, paying $3.25-million for a mansion and other buildings on three conjoined properties sloping down to Grenadier Pond in High Park, they've been involved in at least one other public dispute.

That disagreement involved an elderly couple living on the north side of the Overses' mansion, Lucy and Tony Kortenaar, who the Overses sued for $150,000 in 2001. The drawn-out legal dispute involved a 2.5-metre-wide slice of land the Overses wanted to use as an access route for vehicles driving into their lavishly landscaped backyard. The case was dismissed by an Ontario court judge, who last month ordered the Overses to pay $25,000 in costs to the couple.

But neighbours on the street say their worries aren't over. They're concerned about the couple's plans for the properties they've been quietly amassing on the street. No one knows what they're planning, but some speculate that their wealthy neighbour is preparing to build something large in a residential area that enjoys a bucolic view of the north arm of Grenadier Pond.

"If he assembles all this land, I presume it's not for keeping a nice little garden," says an Ellis Avenue homeowner who received an offer to buy several years ago and asked not to be named. "I presume it's for building condos along this street."

City planners and the local residents association president, however, say they aren't aware of any pending development or rezoning applications.

A formidable figure in the business world, the reclusive entrepreneur started selling pizza out of a store at Wellesley and Parliament in the 1970s. He invented the single-phone-number approach to pizza delivery. The "967-11-11" jingle became so famous, legend has it that Canadian customs officials would ask travellers crossing at Fort Erie to recite it as proof of citizenship.

In the 1990s, however, Mr. Overs fought a series of high-profile legal battles with his franchisees. But the company in recent years has revived its image by lending its name to fundraising drives and various public events.

Now the Parkinsons and other Ellis Avenue residents are growing increasingly worried about what they believe could be another Overs business venture. In 1993, the Overses applied to the city to develop six homes on the 1.5-hectare site they'd acquired, a proposal that ultimately had to gain approval from the Ontario Municipal Board.

While that project never got off the drawing board, local residents have noticed that the couple has continued to assemble land overlooking the pond, possibly, they believe, with an eye to developing it. Since 1994, Mr. Overs and his wife have been living on their 51-metre-wide principal property, which is surrounded by a high wrought-iron fence and security gates. But they now own at least seven lots, most of which are contiguous. The landholding is L-shaped and extends behind the backyards of several homes on the east side of Ellis Avenue.

Some of their neighbours, who live in more modest homes, report that Mr. Overs has approached them with offers to buy their land privately.

"It looks to me like he wants to develop this area," says Mr. Parkinson, a retired business owner. "He offered to buy our place last year."

Mr. Overs did not respond to several requests for an interview. In court affidavits, however, the Overses insist that they live on the property, and have spent "considerable" amounts on landscaping it, with ponds, rock gardens and water features.

Parkdale-High Park councillor Bill Saundercook says he would oppose an application for a multi-unit residential building on the site. "That would be very out of character with the community."

The land, though zoned for residential uses and dominated by single-family homes, is highly desirable, particularly because of its view of High Park.

If a project went forward, it wouldn't be the first time a developer decided to erect a multi-unit residential complex overlooking the pond. During the 1950s, a previous owner of the Overs property attempted to develop apartment buildings on the picturesque spot, but was blocked by the Town of Swansea in the face of local opposition. And Ellis Avenue is not far from another locally controversial development -- a stepped condo erected by Context Development on a piece of empty land at the northwest corner of High Park.

Mr. Parkinson says noisy construction vehicles are constantly coming in and out of the Overses' property. The stream of vehicles led to the Kortenaars' disagreement with the Overses, who sought to create access routes to solve the problem of getting landscaping and maintenance vehicles into the sloping backyard.

One candidate was a 60-metre-long right-of-way connecting Ellis Avenue with the Overses' backyard. That strip of land, however, was the Kortenaars' driveway and a row of 50-year-old trees bordering their backyard. When they refused to let their new neighbours use it, the Overses sued them.

In court documents, the Overses claimed they had an easement entitling them to use of the right-of-way, which they said they intended to use for maintenance and landscaping vehicles bringing materials and garden waste in and out of their backyard.

But when Ontario Superior Court Justice James Farley dismissed the suit, he ruled that the Overses had made no attempt to secure the right-of-way when they bought the property; in fact, they built a new fence and planted shrubs in the area. Justice Farley noted that the Overses have other access routes to their property.

Alan Dryer, the lawyer handling the case on behalf of the Overses, declined to comment.

The ruling came hard on the heels of the Overses' dispute with the Parkinsons, which bore similarities to the Kortenaar case. During the construction over Christmas, an employee of the Overses presented the Parkinsons with land title documents purporting to show he had the right to use their driveway to gain access to the property next door. The end of the Parkinsons' driveway meets the property line separating their lot from the one the Overses bought.

Lawyers for the Overses have now challenged the legal opinion given to the Parkinsons. "This is terrible," says Mr. Parkinson. "We don't need all this nonsense."

They find the situation more than a little ironic, given that the formidable fences and gates around the Overses' property are festooned with "private property" and "no trespassing" signs.

"This is private property, too," says Mr. Parkinson. "We're not going to be chased out of here."

Condo Boom Continues, Developers are Starting to Consider a New Target Market

Debbie Thompson wanted to move downtown. She really did.

Having just spent a year in London, England, the 34-year-old research manager returned to her former condo in Scarborough and found herself bitten by the urban bug.

"I was totally converted," she says. "I wanted to replicate that kind of lifestyle, where I lived close to where I studied and worked."

The trouble was, Ms. Thompson was looking for something that was affordable and would also give her room to grow -- along with the family she was hoping to start soon. When her parents, her brothers and their children piled into her condo on a recent visit, she realized she'd need more space in which to raise kids of her own. And despite the condo boom, affordable room to grow is one thing Toronto's rising towers aren't providing.

Condominiums represent the overwhelming bulk of new housing being built in the city, but virtually every project is dominated by tiny units that only singles and couples can squeeze into. In fact, of the more than 17,000 condos sold in 2005 across the GTA, only 342 had three or more bedrooms -- enough space for a two-child family.

So, when the generation of young couples who've bought downtown condos find themselves with more children than they have rooms, will they have to leave the core? And is a downtown tower any place to raise a family in the first place?

Harry Stinson thinks it is, and has plans to make his next project family-friendly. The outspoken developer, whose posh One King West condo is currently playing a starring role on MuchMusic's DJ Search, is now promoting a revised proposal for his Sapphire Tower development downtown that will include about 300 family-sized units ranging from two to four bedrooms.

"If you look at major cities around the world, that have become serious urban centres, as Toronto -- despite itself -- is becoming, there's ample proof that urban living is large apartments," Mr. Stinson says. "It's astounding how unoriginal the concept is."

Mr. Stinson, who plans to price his larger units between $500,000 and $1.5-million, says it's reluctant developers, not reluctant buyers, who are holding back the market for large-suite condos. The marketplace just needs someone to prove that families will move in.

"The real-estate market in Toronto is like everything in Toronto," he says.

"They're just a bunch of lemmings."

But while there's growing interest in the subject of housing families in condos, the lemmings appear to be waiting for more than Mr. Stinson's cue.

Perhaps the single biggest impediment to family condos across the city is that, as expensive as houses in Toronto may be, big condos are more expensive still. With downtown condo prices passing $350 per square foot this year, units large enough to house a family are also expensive enough to deter buyers who could buy a house, white picket fence and all, elsewhere in town. And according to developers, the expensive units are often the hardest to sell.

Condo broker Brad Lamb says he's not seeing any demand for family-sized units at the moment, but he expects that to change within a few years. He predicts that real-estate prices in Toronto will continue to rise, to the point where buying a house will no longer be an option for young families, leaving still-expensive condos as the only choice.

"For condominiums to be a serious consideration for families, houses need to be out of reach," says Mr. Lamb. "They're not yet out of reach -- they're close."

Whether or not Mr. Lamb's bleak predictions come to pass, at the moment condominium developments are the only game in town. As Gary Wright, the City of Toronto planner responsible for the downtown core, puts it, "the condo market is the housing market.

"If families are going to live in the city in the future, if they live in newly constructed buildings, by and large they're going to be condo buildings." Developers, for their part, are guardedly optimistic about the future of family living in the downtown core -- but few are bringing large-suite condos to market.

Jim Ritchie, senior vice-president of Tridel, one of the city's largest developers, says that his company has seen increased customer interest in larger condos, though it's weakest in the downtown core, where first-time buyers currently dominate. Tridel has included three-bedroom units in projects elsewhere in Toronto, including 80 in a smaller project in Willowdale, which he says sold well.

Meanwhile, sales are proceeding for the massive Maple Leaf Square condo complex across from the Air Canada Centre, which will go so far as to include a day-care facility. Barry Fenton, President and CEO of Lanterra Developments, the project's developer, agrees that he sees more families in condo towers, some of whom, he says, are buying adjacent units and having them built as a single large unit when the building goes up. But the trend, he says, is toward families making do with less space.

"They'll take a 1,000-square-foot unit and try to figure out a way to have sleeping quarters for two kids, plus themselves," Mr. Fenton says. "In the living room and dining room they'd have a pull-out couch. They'll put a Chinese screen in front. They're creative."

Mr. Lamb, the broker, phrases it differently: "It's a complete nightmare to live with a kid in a condo."

Parents often buy their condo before their child arrives, he says, and then "stuff the kid into an awful little den, or into the living room. As soon as they've got the money and built the equity, they sell the condo and move to a house, probably in the suburbs."

Others point out that many new condo projects are built in areas that lack the residential-neighbourhood qualities families traditionally seek, and that such areas don't become attractive to them until commercial development -- and gentrification -- takes place.

"The most pioneering crowds typically aren't families," says Craig Taylor, director of marketing at Context Development.

"Historically, the most pioneering people are the gay community and the arts community, and then, after that, the gentrification starts with yuppies. Families come third."

Still, a study conducted by students in the University of Toronto's masters of urban planning program attempted to find solutions that would make downtown living more feasible -- and concluded that towers aren't incompatible with family life.

The report underlined a number of factors that make for "family-friendly housing": chief among them that families prefer living closer to the ground so parents can watch their kids at play.

"Family-friendly buildings can be incredibly tall -- families just aren't going to live on the 35th floor," says Annely Zonena, one of the authors.

The report also stressed that floor space alone doesn't make a condo child-friendly: factors such as storage space and sound-absorbing building materials are also of critical importance. But the study also suggests that high land prices downtown will keep condos from being affordable unless government sponsorship ensures at least some units are made available below market rates.

"There needs to be concerted effort from the public sector if we want to see families downtown," says Ms. Zonena.

Indeed, for all of the core's bright lights and beautiful people, it was the cost that eventually drove Ms. Thompson away from the city. Faced with the choice of a tiny place downtown that she could afford, and a larger place she couldn't, she stopped by a model home in an Ajax development -- 1,800 square feet, and within her price range.

"I walked in," she says, "and thought, 'Oh my God, this is my house.' "

Don't Rush to Condemn Dump, Ottawa Warned

The City of Ottawa's legal department is advising councillors to keep an open mind toward a company's plans to expand the Carp Road landfill or risk legal action.

In a memo to elected officials before their upcoming debate on the landfill project, city lawyer Rick O'Connor says councillors and the mayor need to wait until all the evidence is in before deeming Waste Management's plan for the dump as unsound.

Council is scheduled to consider next Thursday a motion calling on the company to drastically change its plans.

Mr. O'Connor says that contrary to some claims, council isn't legally obliged to support the expansion under a 2001 agreement with Waste Management.

But the lawyer says Mayor Bob Chiarelli and the councillors can oppose the landfill's expansion, only if they deem it to be environmentally unsound or contrary to planning principles.

And to reach that judgment they must wait until all the evidence is in, otherwise they "may invite a legal challenge that councillors were 'biased' and of 'closed mind' on the matter," the memo says.

Whether the dump expands or not is largely up to Ontario's Ministry of the Environment. Waste Management is in the midst of the ministry's assessment process in seeking expansion approval. It could take years before a decision is made. Residents in the area of the landfill, which the company proposes to triple in size, want the expansion stopped.

"It is only after the completion of the environmental assessment that a determination can be made as to whether an 'environmentally sound proposal' has been made," says Mr. O'Connor in his memo. "Such a conclusion could not, in my opinion, be drawn in advance."

At least one councillor agreed with Mr. O'Connor's opinion. Rick Chiarelli said yesterday the city lawyer's warning for politicians not to jump to any conclusions on the dump issue needs to be taken seriously.

"We can't be biased or we could face legal action, and that will be costly to taxpayers," he says. "Council has a responsibility to provide a fair hearing to the owner of the dump, who has every right to make an application to expand."

Mr. O'Connor's briefing to councillors and the mayor comes days before they discuss a motion prepared by Mayor Chiarelli and councillors Janet Stavinga, Eli El-Chantiry and Peggy Feltmate. The motion refers to the company's plans as "limited in scope, unclear, imprecise, deficient" and in need of drastic change.

The politicians want the company look at other sites and technologies for dealing with waste, better consultation on all aspects of the plan, written assurance that no waste from southern Ontario will be tossed in any potential landfill, an independent review of the company's present or future plan, and a facilitator to ensure negotiations go smoothly. The motion will be debated at a special council meeting Thursday.

Councillor Chiarelli said he supports all efforts to find alternative ways of dealing with garbage such as new technologies and recycling, but as long as garbage is produced by residents it needs to go somewhere. He said if Waste Management's proposal is deemed environmentally sound by the ministry, he will support it.

Waste Management spokesman Wayne French has said repeatedly that no garbage from southern Ontario will be allowed in the landfill, which currently receives a third of Ottawa's residential waste. He says the company objects to the allegations that its plan is deficient, and that the company is open to any suggestions.

"We are very, very early in this process, and we are willing to look at all options," he says. "The city and public have to tell us what they want. Everything will be looked at -- recycling, incineration, organic composting, everything. It has to be safe and environmentally sound. We want the same things. We're not in a fight here."

The Strike by Ontario College Teachers

Well it’s about time. That’s all we can say of the news that the two sides in the strike by Ontario college teachers are set to resume talks tomorrow.

It’s just too bad that they couldn’t have come to their senses a couple of weeks earlier and headed off a destructive walkout that has punished the very students that the teachers said they were trying to help with their job action.

If they were really concerned about their students the teachers wouldn’t have waited until the final weeks of the curriculum to hit the bricks.

As Sun columnist Christina Blizzard pointed out in yesterday’s paper, the strike has made a mockery of everything students have been told about a college education.

On the one hand, wrote Blizzard, “we tell them to get an education. Work hard. Suck up those tuition hikes. Pay your own way. Get a summer job to pay for your college fees.

“And what do we do? We sit back and watch as a strike of college professors systematically removes (a) their ability to work hard; (b) their ability to get a summer job; and (c) their ability to afford a college education in the future.”

There’s plenty of blame to go around in the college teachers’ strike.

The administrators clearly didn’t do enough either to avert the walkout or to get back to the bargaining table once the strike began March 7.

Instead they issued vague promises — details promised later this week — saying that no student would suffer as a result of the labour dispute.

Here’s a news flash. The students have already suffered, and will continue to be punished every day that there is no settlement in the dispute.

They have had to put summer employment plans on hold, fret over alternative housing arrangements should classes be extended into May and complete assignments without feedback or assistance from their teachers.

Many don’t know yet if they’ll be able to graduate, and receive the diploma for which they have worked so hard; the document that will allow them to enter the world of employment.

As the students pointed out during noisy protests last week, they have been used as pawns in the contract dispute, and both sides should be ashamed of themselves for that.

Ted Montgomery, the union’s negotiator, says he’s “optimistic” that talks are resuming but says the colleges have to put something better on the table before a deal can be reached. “Until something actually changes and until something better is on the table we’re not sure there is a settlement, but we hope we’re on the right path.”

Joy Warkentin, chairwoman of the college council’s bargaining team says the schools are “eager” to negotiate a settlement and get students back in class. However, she acknowledges that both sides are about $200 million apart in their demands, so there’s lots of work to do.

Not exactly an auspicious start to the negotiations. If the two sides can’t reach a quick settlement, Colleges Minister Chris Bentley ought to step in and order the teachers back. The students can’t afford another week of rhetoric.

And another thing ...

The debate over the Carp Rd. landfill has taken an ugly turn with news that a local realty company is suing the city, Waste Management and the province for $30 million because land it owns near the site is “heavily contaminated.”

Metcalfe Realty Co. added its voice to the dispute that has local residents demanding the dump be shut down. So far, though, we’re waiting for a workable alternative to dispose of 1,000 or so tonnes of garbage a day.

A Company is Suing the Ottawa City, the Operator of the Carp Rd dump

A LOCAL REALTY company is suing the city, the operator of the Carp Rd. dump and the provincial Ministry of Environment for $30 million because land it owns near the dump site is "heavily contaminated."

Documents filed to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in November 2002, show Metcalfe Realty Co. claims that a wide range of contaminants -- including phosphorus, cyanide, barium, boron and lead -- have leached into about 100 acres of the realtor's land.

In the statement of claim, the company states "that the contamination and the resultant damage to its land were caused solely as a result of the migration of contamination from the lands owned by the defendant, Canadian Waste Services Inc. (now WM)."

Metcalfe Realty purchased the land in 1959 -- two years after the dump began operating -- for the sole purpose of long-term development. Due to the contamination, they say they are unable to sell or develop the property.

The company also claims that the landfill operator "continued to operate ... when it knew or ought to have known that the leachate emanating therefrom would be likely to cause contamination to the plaintiff or other adjoining landowners. It failed to take steps to treat or minimize the leachate emanating from its operation."

Metcalfe Realty says the operator also failed to place waste sufficiently above the water table, to perform adequate testing and failed to supervise and regulate waste products.

'CITY KNEW'

The company says the city is on the hook for part of the $30 million: "Ottawa knew that both the quantity of and nature of the waste deposited at the site ... was causing severe contamination to adjacent lands."

It also holds the city responsible for not warning property owners and "instead embarked on a systematic scheme to conceal the problem by installing municipal sewer and works so as to avoid the necessity of the adjoining landowners using their groundwater."

In its statement of defence, the city denies the allegations and says that the present operator or its previous owners and the MOE are responsible for ensuring the site was in compliance with the province's Environmental Protection Act.

The city's statement says "the discharge of leachate contamination from the landfill site ... rests with the co-defendant, CWSI or the Ministry of Environment."

The matter was put on hold almost two years ago after the two parties agreed to continue testing the ground flow, but remains in front of the court.

"Experts have been hired by both sides," said Daniel Leduc, the lawyer representing WM. "When the experts are satisfied they have all the data, that may resolve the issue."

Leduc also suggested the land identified in the company's statement of claim is valued at $1 million.

LEGALESE

With a $30-million fight on its hands, the city of Ottawa, Ministry of Environment and Waste Management are battling it out in court to determine who is responsible for the alleged contamination of about 100 acres of land near the Carp Rd. landfill facility in the west end.

A lawsuit was launched in November 2002. Below are further excerpts from court documents:

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"The city of Ottawa states that it did at all material times, to the extent of its own jurisdiction, and ability to do so, require that the operations of the Canadian Waste Services Inc. or its predecessors, be carried out so as to comply with all MOE requirements, including ensuring that leachate contamination to neighbouring property owners did not occur as a result of the landfill operations."

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"The city of Ottawa is liable at law for the negligence of its predecessors, the Township of West Carleton and the Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton."

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"The plaintiff states that the continued operation of the landfill operation on the lands owned by CWSI (now WM) continues to contaminate its lands and is in breach of the Environmental Protection Act."

The city "has no knowledge of the alleged damages suffered by the plaintiff and puts the plaintiff to the strict proof thereof, in the alternative this defendant pleads that the damages claimed by the plaintiff are excessive, exaggerated and remote."

Councillor Says Meeting is Just for Show

Baseline Coun. Rick Chiarelli is questioning the need for an emergency council meeting called for next week to deal with the expansion of the Carp Rd. landfill site.

Although Chiarelli was not available for comment yesterday, his assistant Mike Patton said his boss doesn't see a need for council to meet.

The meeting was called earlier this week by Mayor Bob Chiarelli to deal with a motion expected to be introduced by Goulbourn Coun. Janet Stavinga.

Stavinga and West-Carleton Coun. Eli El-Chantiry want to have several items added to the terms of reference that Waste Management (WM), the company that operates the Carp Rd. landfill, will file to the province as it applies for an environmental assessment that will investigate the company's request to expand.

"It's time, money and effort," said Patton. "For what?"

Chiarelli believes the items his colleagues would like added to the terms of reference can be completed by a simple phone call to WM.

Stavinga's two-page motion includes asking that the dump's visual impact, public health concerns, leachate management and height be part of the terms.

Will Towers Enhance Quality of Life?

UNITED GULF’S proposal to build two 27-storey buildings in downtown Halifax has drawn a lot of opposition from those who see the development as a monstrosity and support from those who see the wavy hotel and condominium towers as "world-class" additions to the Halifax skyline. The impassioned public debates both inside and outside city hall is a wonderful illustration of how much people care about downtown Halifax and its future development.

Much has been said about the economic and cultural costs and benefits of this development, and its mass, scale, density and design, but hardly any mention has been made of its implications for downtown Halifax as a community and what it says about our vision of the future of this neighbourhood.

What makes Halifax great and unique? Like so many Haligonians who have come from away, I decided to stay because I have fallen in love with this city, especially its connection to the ocean and the genuine warmth of its people. I have lived and travelled all over the world, and I believe this is what makes our city unique and wonderful — the Port of Halifax, the Northwest Arm and its maritime personality. This is what gives Halifax its soul. Our planning and development must showcase and build around these unique and fine qualities.

Furthermore, the municipal planning strategy states that the basic approach and overall objective of any development in Halifax has to be "the enhancement of the physical, social and economic well-being of the citizenry of Halifax through the preservation, creation and maintenance of an interesting and livable city, developed at a scale and density which preserve and enhance the quality of life." In other words, the cardinal principle of the strategy is that our planning and development must help create and nurture a community in Halifax and preserve and enhance the quality of life of its citizens.

We must think of Halifax not just as a destination for tourists, shoppers and workers but also as a neighbourhood and Halifax Regional Municipality as a community of communities. Neighbourhoods are important, especially to residents, but also to tourists. I have had the pleasure of visiting some of the great cities of the world, and my reasons for going there and the memories I bring back always revolve around their distinct communities and neighbourhoods.

The twisted towers, no matter how curvaceous they may be, may accommodate people but they will not enhance or foster a sense of neighbourhood in the downtown — quite the contrary. The towers, particularly their podium levels, are designed to keep in tourists and condominium residents and to draw pedestrians off the street. I am reminded of cities like Toronto and developments like the Eaton Centre. Before the construction of the centre, Yonge was one of the great walking streets in the world. The Eaton Centre was supposed to be its anchor; instead, it sucked the life out of Yonge Street. Within months of its opening, Yonge was transformed into a sleazy strip mall of dollar stores and tacky tourist and adult entertainment outlets. And the Eaton Centre itself was surrounded by enormous parking garages. Nobody wants to live or establish "one of a kind" boutiques next to these enormous buildings, but people will pay for prime parking spaces there.

Sparks Street and Rideau Street suffered a similar fate in Ottawa, and the pattern repeats itself in numerous other North American cities. If not parking lots, the surrounding area becomes an arena for schoolboy competition among developers and architects to see who is able to produce the highest erections. We see evidence of that here in Halifax with the bank towers.

The architect tells us that this project presents "an opportunity to build a signature building in downtown Halifax."

"It will be an important feature on the waterfront and the skyline."

But we already have such a building, which history, geography and the municipal planning strategy have already crowned the centrepiece — the Citadel. The Citadel is not just a heritage site. It was established as a focal point because it draws attention to our connection to the water and our roots in the age of sail and the age of empire. The United Gulf Towers, by drawing attention away from this focal point, may make Halifax "world-class" but also chip away at its uniqueness as a port city with a maritime personality.

All this is not to say that we should not have modern and unique skyscrapers downtown. This city needs more beautiful public buildings — certainly the bank towers, Scotia Square and the Maritime Mall are hardly objets d’art. For economic and ecological reasons we also need to accommodate more people downtown, and that requires high-density housing. The Spring Garden Road Business Association and the Downtown Halifax Business Commission and others are right in saying that one of the most important goals of our planning and development strategy must be to increase the number of people living downtown.

But these developments must also improve the quality of life in downtown Halifax and make it an inviting neighbourhood where people can live or come to play, work, visit or study. The warmth and community spirit of the maritime personality does not thrive if they are compartmentalized and isolated in 27-storey silos.

If our architects and developers really want to address some modern and unique challenges in creative ways and if they are really committed to enhancing and transforming downtown Halifax as a vibrant community where diverse groups of people can live or come to play, work, visit or study, why don’t we design affordable high-density mixed-use housing for students to keep our heritage homes from being converted to rooming houses?

Why don’t we build accessible accommodations for seniors and those with special needs so that they can live independent lives in our community or live with their families instead of being institutionalized in hospitals and nursing homes?

Why don’t we take on the challenge of revitalizing of Gottingen Street as a more interesting living and creative cultural space?

Why don’t we build a scaled-down version of the twin towers at the Cogswell interchange?

In conclusion, these towers and other projects, like those contemplated for the Infirmary lands, must be considered not in isolation but as part of a larger planning and development strategy built around a vision of what makes Halifax unique and attractive and what will help create and nurture a community downtown. Because this project obscures that vision of its uniqueness and does little to promote Halifax as "an interesting and livable" neighbourhood developed "at a scale and density which preserve and enhance the quality of life," I am opposed to this proposed development agreement in its current form.

Leonard Preyra is chairman of the political science department at Saint Mary’s University and the provincial NDP candidate in Halifax Citadel.

Persimmon's Master Builder

First, the good news. Duncan Davidson, chairman and founder of Persimmon, Britain's biggest housebuilder, has agreed to give the first personal interview in his 40-year career.

Beneath the corporate bricks and mortar lie the foundations of a fascinating life. Davidson is the grandson of the 15th Duke of Norfolk and, aged nine, he was a pageboy at the Queen's coronation; at 18, after a downturn in his fortunes, he was a labourer digging the Blackwall Tunnel. Now he's not only a phenomenally successful businessman, he is also a landowner farming some 20,000 acres in Northumberland.

The less good news: he prefers to talk about housebuilding than himself. But a round of Bloody Marys, a bottle of Burgundy, half a dozen native oysters, Dover sole and a shared bowl of raspberries later, it doesn't quite turn out that way. ("Are we having a starter?" I'd asked, unsure how much time we had. "Yes. We. Definitely. Are," Davidson replied, emphatically.)

We meet, at his suggestion, at the Turf Club before proceeding to Wilton's - perfect backdrops for a City grandee who named Persimmon after a fabled Derby winner. We cover the housebuilding landscape according to Persimmon, which Davidson founded 32 years ago. To his delight, in December it became the first pure housebuilder to enter the FTSE100.

But we cover acres of personal ground, too, about which he has until now been bashfully silent: Davidson's expulsion from Ampleforth, the Catholic boarding school, just before his A-levels for running the school bookie ("I'd got away with it for two years by then," he boasts) and the admission that he was fired from George Wimpey as a trainee - his first job in the building sector - for sneaking off to the races without permission.

In the end he even recalls how he stood on the Buckingham Palace balcony, watching the four-mile Coronation procession in the sheeting rain.

"The service was three hours long - unbelievable. We had to stand quite a lot of the time. Princess Anne and Prince Charles were up in the gallery with the Queen Mother. I don't think I twigged it at the time, but in retrospect I felt very sorry for the Queen. She was only 27 and quite beautiful."

Initially he claimed he couldn't remember the Coronation "because it was 55 years ago, dammit". I wasn't buying that. Davidson has already proved that his mind is a well-organised mental filing cabinet, from which he effortlessly plucks decades-worth of names, dates, or the cost of his first plot of land.

Ryedale Homes, the first company he founded, paid £2,000 for two acres in Yorkshire on which eight three-bedroom houses were built. They sold for about £6,000 each, making the first in a series of tidy profits.

He set up Ryedale in 1965 with no assets apart from the "arrogance of youth" and the belief that he could make a better fist of running a housebuilder than Wimpey. He had to borrow £10,000 from a trust belonging to his then fiancee, Sarah, now his wife of 40 years.

Seven years later, having paid her back, he sold the business for £1m. He owned 60 per cent; a friend, now dead, owned the remainder. The following year, Davidson set up Persimmon. It floated in 1985, has gobbled up rival businesses such as Ideal Homes, Beazer and Westbury, and last year made record profits of £495.4m.

"So you see, I've worked for myself since 1965," he bellows. None of that guff, I note, about "working for the shareholders". Davidson roars with laughter at the very thought. "I am a shareholder," he points out. He still owns six per cent of Persimmon, worth around £250m, having previously sold shares to buy more land for his cattle, sheep and corn in the Cheviots. "I needed the money, you see," he says.

The need for money has driven him all his life even though his mother, née Lady Mary Rachel Fitzalan-Howard, was the daughter of the 15th Duke of Norfolk. The duke's responsibilities include arranging state occasions, which explains why the nine-year-old Davidson found himself attending the Queen. The loot, though, went down the male line, to his cousins. "What do they call it? Primogeniture. Well, that really worked in my mother's family," Davidson says.

And so at Ampleforth he also set up a barbed-wire business. "In 1956 it was rather rare. I used to buy in bulk and sell it to the local farmers." His spell as a labourer on the Blackwall Tunnel and his decision to leave the army after four years to become a housebuilder are simply explained. "I needed to make some money."

Persimmon has a land bank of 78,000 plots, about two-thirds of which are brownfield sites. It will build nearly 17,000 homes in the UK next year, angering those who fear the country will soon be under concrete. Does he feel like a villain?

"I get pretty irritated with people who say, 'Oh, it's awful, Persimmon are building on a greenfield site.' If we weren't building, Barratt or Wimpey would be because it's not us who decides. It's the planning authority, and that's what people won't get into their heads. Planners often come to us and say that they want a piece of land developed."

Still, he complains that planning is ludicrously complicated. "Prescott says he's going to build x trillion houses. It's all very well him saying that but it's the local planning authority that gives consent or not. Then the decision often gets 'called in' by government and it gets bloody knocked on the head. Prescott's in charge of something he can't have much impact on. That's probably why Blair put him there."

But do we need all these new houses? Davidson gazes at me through his oversized specs. "You've heard of Nimbys, but have you heard the phrase 'Banana'? I've been credited with inventing it. 'Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anybody'."

He has no truck with bananas. "There is huge demand for new houses. There are about 23m homes in this country and we're building perhaps 170,000 new homes a year. That means it will take 150 years just to replace existing very old stock."

But that's to presuppose that it needs replacing. "Look, I'm not talking about the West End of London," he says, impatiently. "I'm talking the outskirts of Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool, Newcastle, Glasgow, Edinburgh, all the big cities. There are thousands of houses that really do need replacing."

What's more, he says, we're increasingly aspirational. No signs here that the housing market might be softening. "There's always someone having a baby, getting married, getting a new job. The first thing they think is, 'I've been living in this slightly crummy Barratt home for five years and now I can afford to buy a bigger, better Persimmon home.' And why shouldn't they?"

Davidson has brought up four daughters in a historic Northumbrian house near Wooler which he bought with the proceeds of the Ryedale sale. He never knew his father, who was killed in action when Davidson was two.

Davidson himself spent four years in tanks with the Royal Scots Greys after school, "in lieu of anything else to do". It was the beginning of his love affair with the north of England. He talks of the East Riding and Cumberland, mocking the modern "Cumb-ree-yah". His grandmother lived in Yorkshire and Davidson would often stay with her. His wife is a "Yorkshire lass", and Persimmon's headquarters are in York.

From next month, he will be spending more time in the north. He is stepping down as executive chairman to become life president of Persimmon. Its chief executive, John White, will become chairman.

Equipped with a new hip, Davidson has fresh money-making plans. He plans to start rearing his own rams, or 'tups' as the young animals are known in the Borders, and sell them at the Kelso Tup Sale in September. It is the biggest such sale in Europe, and Davidson loves it.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world. People come down from the hills who probably haven't seen a Tarmac road for 11 months.

"The plan is that we won't have to buy tups because I'll be selling them instead. I won't be writing a cheque but coming back with one. Of course, it may not work and we'll make nothing." Given Davidson's record, I fancy, he'll make sure it does.

Building a Caring Approach

Mitchell Cohen never set out to be a developer, and anyone who witnessed the launch of his career would never have pegged him as one either.

In fact, he got his first taste of the industry when he was fighting against a big development in Montreal.

Back in 1973, at the age of 22, the young social activist organized residents of a rundown apartment complex to take on the landlord who wanted to demolish their walk-ups and build three 22-storey condo towers in their place.

He was successful in saving half the units and turning them into non-profit co-operatives, among the first of their kind in Canada.

While it may be ironic that Cohen today finds himself sitting at the helm of the Daniels Corp., one of Canada's largest development firms, the Saskatchewan native still tries to put his progressive mark on many of his projects.

"We build homes, and our success has given us both the opportunity and responsibility to do everything we can to assist the thousands upon thousands of people who can't put a meal on the table for their family, let alone buy a new home," he says.

Cohen has overseen the development of about 16,000 homes around the GTA. The firm was honoured by the Greater Toronto Home Builders' Association as its first Home Builder of the Year, and has also been a repeat winner of Tarion's prestigious Service Excellence Award.

Daniels builds a wide variety of residential products, from rentals to luxury homes at prices ranging from $120,000 to $2 million.

Major projects include the award-winning NY Towers community near Highway 401 and Bayview Ave., the upscale Kilgour Estates near Bayview and Lawrence, and the high-end One Eleven Forsythe in Oakville.

But the projects that get Cohen really excited are the ones at the lower end of the affordability scale. Daniels is responsible for building 3,600 rental housing units, more than 700 rent-to-own units, and 716 affordable properties aimed at first-time buyers.

"A lot of what we do (is about) pushing government to put real money behind their announcements, developing innovative ways to help tenants become homeowners and working with community-based groups to find ways for homeless people to become tenants," he says.

Just last week, Daniels launched its latest affordable housing project: Wave Lakeshore West. The 13-storey condo — comprising studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units — is being built near Lake Shore Blvd. W. and Kipling Ave. in Etobicoke.

Daniels got both the federal and provincial governments on board with the project, which is targeted to tenants who are having trouble cobbling together a down payment. With both Daniels and the two levels of government helping out with the down payment, the company says it's possible for a couple earning minimum wage to afford one of the units.

It's undoubtedly Cohen's circuitous route to the world of development that has shaped the way he approaches his work. That he became a developer is more a result of happenstance than calculation.

He didn't study architecture, engineering or business. He didn't spend his early working years on a construction site. Even today, you're more likely to see him in his trademark beret than a hardhat.

Cohen studied social psychology at the London School of Economics in the early '70s. His very first job was as a community outreach worker at the Montreal YMCA in 1973. He helped residents in a poor neighbourhood with health, social and recreational programming.

When the residents were about to be turfed from their rundown apartments to make way for a condo, they turned to Cohen for help.

"These tenants came running into my office, saying, `Mitchell, we've got these eviction notices. What should we do?'" he recalls. The city's vacancy rate at the time was less than 1 per cent.

"There was nowhere for these tenants to go, literally nowhere in the City of Montreal. They were in crisis," he says.

Cohen and the residents marched on Montreal's city hall to demand that the walk-ups be spared from the wrecking ball.

At the same time, he spotted an ad in the Montreal Gazette inviting community groups interested in forming non-profit housing co-operatives to contact the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. The groups would buy apartment buildings and turn them into co-ops — some subsidized and some not.

Canada's co-op movement was just getting started at the time and the National Housing Act had been amended to facilitate such organizations.

Cohen made the preliminary calls and his group was given more than $6,000 by CMHC to undertake a feasibility study on creating a co-op. Architects were retained to determine if the buildings could be saved. Accountants were hired to crunch the numbers.

In the end, Cohen was successful in helping create the Cote Ste. Luc Housing Co-operative, which continues to thrive today.

"It's a wonderful community and a lot of the people we worked with back then are still living there today. It was a wonderful success story," he says.

"It was my introduction to the world of affordable housing and what it means to be a tenant, getting an eviction notice when there's nowhere else in the city you can live. I learned a lot about rehab of housing, restoration, renovation, how to do all that," he says.

Cohen moved to Toronto in 1979, landing a job with the Co-operative Housing Federation of Toronto. He worked as a managing consultant, helping organize and manage co-ops. Within two weeks of his arrival at the CHFT, its director of development took ill and Cohen was parachuted into that job.

"That's how I segued into the development side," he explains.

Now, Cohen found himself negotiating deals with developers and builders, and ultimately looking for opportunities to build more co-ops. Many notable co-ops were built in Toronto in those days, including those in the St. Lawrence neighbourhood and in the Bathurst Quay.

But, in what was to become a theme in Cohen's career, a change in government led to a change in his work. The election of the Brian Mulroney Conservatives in 1984 saw the cancellation of national affordable housing programs.

"It came to a screeching halt ... There was nothing like that available anymore," says Cohen, who found himself unemployed.

Searching for a job, he hit up his contacts in the development industry. He phoned John "Jack" Daniels, former chair of Cadillac Fairview, who had just started up another development firm, the Daniels Group.

Cohen would become Daniels' first employee, letting it be known that his foray into the world of private development was conditional.

"I wanted to do it only if we could have an agreement that if there was an opportunity for us, as a private-sector company, to be involved in the development of affordable housing ... I wanted us to be able to use our resources to do that," he says. "Jack's response, without pausing, was `Absolutely.' That was an incredible response. Not everyone would have done that."

One of the first projects Cohen undertook for Daniels was an energy-efficient condominium in Erin Mills.

"I didn't even know what a condominium was," he admits. "I knew co-ops, but I didn't know condominiums."

He oversaw the development of the first Canadian community that complied with the new, environmentally stringent R2000 standards.

"I decided that one of the ways we could stand out from the rest of the competition in the market was to embrace this energy standard," he explains.

"It was rigorous in terms of air infiltration, in terms of how you wrap the home, in terms of receptacles and not having air blow through them," he says. "What we learned in doing that has proved to stand us in good stead all the way through, generation after generation of homes that we've built."

Cohen's career shifted again in 1987, this time with the election of the David Peterson Liberals in Ontario. The Liberals had campaigned on a promise to build 30,000 non-profit housing units, and immediately after the election, Cohen tapped into it.

"Here I am now in the private sector and I have an agreement with Jack (Daniels) and there it was, there was an affordable housing program. So I phoned up my friends at the CHFT and said ... "Let's work together.'"

Daniels went on to build 3,600 non-profit housing units for a range of groups, including seniors and the disabled.

"By going to Daniels, Mitchell has ensured a lot of social housing has been built," says Tom Clement, executive director of CHFT.

Clement keeps in touch with other builders in the city, but no one as much as Cohen.

"He is concerned with the city in general. He likes the idea of civic engagement. He wants to give people a say in where they live," Clement says.

An election would once again change the course of Cohen's work, with the arrival of the Mike Harris Conservatives.

"One June 8, 1995, the provincial government changed and, the next morning at 8 a.m., an email went out to every housing office in Ontario, telling them to stop processing all applications for affordable housing now," Cohen recalls.

The provincial government pulled the plug on almost 900 supportive housing units that Daniels had been working on.

"We immediately had to pick up the pieces, shift gears, and think about who we wanted to be," Cohen says.

That's when Daniels began getting involved in charitable works. The company became the principal financial sponsor of Toronto Tastes, the main fundraising event for Second Harvest, which delivers fresh surplus food to those in need.

"There was nothing that we could do to foster affordable housing of any kind," Cohen recalls. "We thought that, as a private-sector company, there had to be something we could do to provide some assistance to a group that needed help."

Zoe Cormack Jones, executive director of Second Harvest, says Cohen has become an invaluable ally to the organization. When Second Harvest moved to a new location, the development firm used its resources to donate and install a toilet, sink and dishwasher.

And when it comes to raising money, Cohen isn't shy about sending letters out to his contacts in the building industry, she says.

"He's very responsive when he is phoned about anything. He's certainly keen and tries to help us in a lot of ways."

Abby Robins, communications manager for Second Harvest, says Cohen is as comfortable at a black-tie gala as he is helping out at a soup kitchen.

"I think he has a broader outlook on life. He has this thing about a community being only as healthy as it's poorest person," she says.

Daniels also supports other causes, including Eva's Initiatives, which helps street kids, and the Toronto Film Festival.

To balance the demands of his professional life, Cohen spends time with his wife, Janice Lewis, a therapist, and his two children, Hannah, 23, and Jacob, 22.

He also likes to lose himself in his music, playing keyboards in a rhythm-and-blues band. The 10-member group won some acclaim in 1995 when it opened for Aretha Franklin at the O'Keefe Centre.

Daniels has continued to diversify, venturing in the mid-'90s into seniors housing. It entered into a joint venture with Amica Mature Lifestyles to create state-of-the-art retirement residences.

"We toured a whole bunch of retirement homes and were mortified at how awful they were," says Cohen. "We were mortified at the attitude of some of the people who delivered that housing and the approach they took to it ... It was more warehousing than housing.

"We wanted to create places where people wanted to live, not places where people were shipped to by their kids because there were no other options. We wanted to create communities that would be alive, that would be vibrant."

In 2000, Daniels began building rental housing and introduced a creative rent-to-own program.

Under the Home Investment Program, or HIP as it's known, $200 from a tenant's monthly rent can be directed toward the eventual purchase of a Daniels home. This savings account can grow up to $6,000 over five years.

"We're giving this group of people who are renters today a leg up into home ownership," Cohen says.

Daniels has so far built 700 townhouses under the HIP program. And it is now offering the same rent-to-own scheme in highrise developments.

The company has also broken new ground on the environmental front, building the first community in Canada to meet the rigorous Energy Star standard.

Construction began last year on the 354-unit, stacked townhouse community in Mississauga. A similar project, with 96 stacked townhouses, is underway in Markham.

"We're also always looking for ways to build a better home, a more comfortable and more energy-efficient home," Cohen says. "If we challenge ourselves to build a more energy-efficient home, and if that results in other builders following suit, and if ultimately the entire industry embraces a more sustainable future, we will all have won."

The Energy Star homes are targeted to first-time buyers. Daniels made them more affordable by building up — rather than out — on expensive lots of land. And instead of expensive underground parking, there's surface parking with fewer spots available to buyers, many of whom don't own cars. They have easy access to public transit.

This is part of Daniels' FirstHome program, which the company started two years ago. Even though there are no pricey marketing campaigns for these homes, they sell out quickly, with prospective buyers camping out overnight in long line-ups.

"There are many, many untold thousands of people who would love to buy," Cohen says. "They have good jobs, they have good income, but they don't have enough money for a down payment. They need help and they need something accessible in the marketplace."

Former federal housing minister Joe Fontana praises Cohen and Daniels as good corporate citizens.

"They think about what's good for communities and neighbourhoods. Their approach shows that they have a broader vision than just profit," he says.

As for the next social housing project Daniels will take on, the company has put in a bid to redevelop Regent Park.

But just how much new social housing will be created in the GTA could depend on whether the new Conservative government in Ottawa follows through with the multi-million-dollar deal for social housing made by the previous Liberal government. The deal would create housing for 20,000 families.

"We are hopeful that the new federal government will honour the commitments made by the previous government," Cohen says. "This agreement, which committed $602 million to Ontario over three years, was a long time in the making and is critical to increase the supply of affordable housing in the province."

But observers say that no matter who's in power in Ottawa or Ontario, Cohen will always be there.

Says Clement: "The thing that's interesting about Mitchell is that when the programs are around for social housing, he's there. But when the programs aren't there, he continues to be there."

Widow's request: "Please omit flowers"

As far as anybody knew, 1911 was a just another great year in the longest running housing boom Montrealers could remember. Migration from the countryside and substantial immigration combined to create a seller's market. Builders struggled to keep up with demand.

That summer, Eva and Carl Riepert bought a two-storey brick-face cottage at 2124 Waverly St. (today, 5300). They paid $4,500, a tidy sum at a time when the going rate for labourers was a dollar a day and a lady stenographer could expect to earn $1.80 a week.

The Rieperts took possession in September. They'd been living in Verdun when Carl worked in real estate but, in recent years, had moved to Mile End and joined the Anglican Church on Park Ave.

Oddly, Lovell's street directory identifies Carl Riepert as a boarder in the Esplanade Ave. apartment; his son Arthur, 24, an electrical inspector, is listed as head of the household, his 18-year-old brother, Walter, as a second boarder.

Riepert pere, 49, may have been ailing. Two months after they moved into their Waverly St. home, he died, leaving Eva to raise their two younger children - Alice, 15, and Harry, 13 - alone.

Riepert's obituary in the Montreal Star mentioned the funeral procession would leave from the house at 2:30 p.m., and ended with an icy request: "Please omit flowers."

On paper at least, the Rieperts had been optimistic about their future. They made a down payment of $1,000, took over an existing $2,000 mortgage held by Westmount businessman Charles Gurd, and got a $1,500 loan from the vendor, J. W. Finestone. Both debts were to be re-paid within two years at six per cent interest.

Eva used her maiden name, Mooney, on the document of sale. A prenuptial agreement made her separate in property, not an unusual situation for a woman of her time, especially one whose husband's livelihood changed often.

The experts say you never recognize a bubble until it bursts. That winter, the pop was loud and clear. Applications for building permits fell off sharply, house prices dipped and rents began to fall.

In retrospect, the signs had existed for awhile. As early as December 1909, Robert Neville Jr., the carpenter who at 24 had leveraged his father's modest building trade to create a full-fledged development enterprise, began to get nervous. He ran a large display ad in the Montreal Herald, announcing "A1 Properties For Sale on Park, Mance and St. Denis." The fine print offered substantial mortgages and promised "a sacrifice to the quick buyer."

The ambitious town of St. Louis, having incurred massive debt to build services for the construction boom, was forced to declare bankruptcy, leading to annexation by the city of Montreal in 1909. With the outbreak of war in 1914, the housing market ground to a standstill. Recovery was a long time coming.

For many people, the crash meant disaster - but it may have been a godsend for the newly widowed Eva. As each year passed, her house became more difficult to sell. A shrewd businessman held the mortgage; he may have decided his options were limited. In any case, she hung on for more than two decades, while making almost no mortgage payments.

She died in 1933 at the age of 72, deeply in debt, but far from poor.

The crumbs of biography left behind suggest Eva Mooney Riepert was a woman of considerable social ambition, keenly aware of status and reputation. Yet she knew insecurity first-hand and had weathered indignity.

Born in 1861 to Sarah Stuart and John H. Mooney, she was baptized at Crescent Presbyterian Church. She married Carl Riepert there in 1888. Church records show the couple had baptized Arthur, their first child, a year before the wedding.

Their marriage certificate is a curiously sparse document. The groom is listed as a bachelor and builder, Eva, 27, as a spinster. Carl's signature is strong, marked by flamboyant swirls, while hers is timid, shaky, nothing at all like the vigorous, non-nonsense flourish she would produce 11 years later on a document assigning her the right to carry on business under the name C. Riepert & Co.

In 1900, the couple took a decision that hints at a change in self-identification, if not quite a spiritual crisis. Long-time Presbyterians, they baptized Alice and Harry at St. Mark's Anglican Church in Longueuil, one of Quebec's most prestigious religions institutions, and a long way from their home.

Carl (who often called himself Charles) came from a German Lutheran family. At the turn of the 20th century, several Riepert brothers were in the clothing trade, spin-offs from a hat and fur business founded in the mid-1800s by their parents, Elisabeth and William.

The most prominent was Frank, an importer of Japanese, Chinese and European silks, rugs and fancy goods, with an establishment on Ste. Catherine St.

In 1905, when Carl and Eva were living in Verdun, Frank moved into the swanky Majestic Apartments on Hope Ave., near Dorchester Blvd. When he died in 1913, his widow settled in Westmount.

On her baptismal certificate, Eva's father is down as a shoemaker, though that may have been an understatement. By the 1880s, John H. Mooney & Sons ran a tannery in Verdun and several offshoot companies. They had branched out into wool, leather and "the manufacture of coloured sheepskins," later entering the retail trade in boots and shoes on Ste. Catherine St.

So when Eva was suddenly left with debts and teenage children to support, she might well have turned to family on either side for help. What is known for sure is that she paid two significant visits to millionaire Gurd, in the presence of a notary, each time striking an excellent deal that was to outlast the lender.

Gurd was an imposing, self-made man whose personal story predisposed him to look kindly on a widow in need. His parents, Joseph and Marianne, were Protestant Irish who emigrated in 1847.

During a terrible, though not uncommon, first winter, the Gurds were hoarded into sheds in Point St. Charles, then sent to Griffintown, where three children died. Only 5-year-old Charles survived.

Though she had already turned 40, Mrs. Gurd bore four more children. Struggling to support the brood, her husband failed at business, turned to drink and finally departed for Ottawa. Charles was left as the main breadwinner.

After studying at McGill, he started work in a wholesale drug firm and rose quickly, buying out the carbonated beverage division in 1868. His chief innovation was a product developed during the cholera epidemic, when people were skittish about water. Gurd's Belfast Ginger Ale was a popular drink for half a century, winning prizes at exhibitions in Belfast, Paris and London.

By 1911, the Gurds of Westmount were busy patrons of art and devoted philanthropists. In the case of Eva on Waverly St., Gurd's generosity was backed up by legal contracts.

The first and second mortgage payment deadlines passed unmet. In 1922, he leant the widow an additional $600, and in 1928, another $400.

The interest rate was raised from six to seven per cent on the combined loans. But whereas his original mortgage on the house to Julius (Jacob) Finestone had set down severe terms, arguably insulting, in Eva's case, a clause stating penalties for non-payment was stricken out.

Eva Riepert outlived Charles Gurd by four years. She paid only $50 toward the $3,000 principle. Including unpaid taxes, insurance and compound interest, she owed his estate well over $10,000.

Her daughter Alice, who trained as a teacher, had lived at 5300 Waverly since the family first moved in. On a January day in 1934, Alice met Gurd's daughter, Muriel, at a St. James St. notary's office and signed over the deed to the house.

Whatever hardship it might have caused Alice to lose the house she'd grown up in, at least she wasn't destitute. Her mother's will gave her a substantial property in New Glasgow, Terrebonne, including a mill by the Achigan river, a water wheel, machinery, a cottage and a furniture factory.

Situated on the railway line, New Glasgow was a popular summer resort at the time. It's unclear what Alice did with the country property, but she took her mother's furniture and relocated to Melrose Ave. in Westmount.

As for the boys, Eva must have decided they could take care of themselves. Walter had moved to New York City, Arthur to Richmond, Que. A bachelor and chartered accountant, Harry remained in Montreal, becoming a director of the Automobile Association (where Charles Gurd was active) and a member of the Board of Trade (as was Gurd). At one point, Harry was a 10-pin champion bowler.

In her will, she left each of her three sons an oil painting by McArthur, most likely John McArthur, who had shown his work at the Art Association of Montreal, one of several clubs frequented by Mr. and Mrs. Gurd.

How did she do it?

Despite a disparity in wealth, the borrower and lender's paths may have crossed socially. Maybe Eva meet Charles Gurd in 1911 when she and Carl took over Finestone's mortgage, and developed a rapport. Or, maybe Gurd was a friend of the Rieperts, and helped them get the house from Finestone.

Many people who've heard this story say there must have been romance involved. Eva was 50 and a mother of four, Charles, a great-grandfather of 69, when the mortgage was signed in 1911.

Of course, when it comes to a solid middle-class house on a quiet street, anything is possible.

Gurd's namesake, architect and photographer Charles IV, says his great-grandfather was a fierce teetotaller who hated the idea people were putting whisky in his soda. He had a marvellous sense of humour. He sang on radio and took fantastic photographs.

"My guess is he was probably just trying to help out a person in need," said Gurd, who divides his time between Victoria, B.C., and the Plateau Mont Royal.

A spinster of the age of majority (as they said in those days), Muriel Mendelsohn Gurd embraced the role of landlady with alacrity, renting first to Ruben Ryshpan who worked at Advanced Scarf on Esplanade.

A year later, he took in steamfitter John Mulvanie as a housemate; eventually Mulvanie assumed the lease and stayed six years.

When Muriel died in 1941, her siblings inherited the house. They sold it in 1947 to junkyard owner Benjamin Bruman for $4,500 - not a penny more than Eva and Carl Riepert had agreed to pay 36 years earlier.

Hot Market for Energy Efficiency

If you build it, baby boomers will come.

That's the attitude of local developers trying to entice the lucrative baby boomer market with energy-efficient homes.

Now that the children are gone and retirement is quickly approaching, analysts say baby boomers want their second or third home to have all the perks.

Hamilton developer, Midevco Group, built its latest townhome division with the market-driving generation in mind, said president Kirstin Paisley-Godsave.

The developer is the first to pick up on the latest technology in energy-efficient homes, known as the Zone Comfort System.

Midevco's Durand Park project, located at the corner of Robinson Street and Park Street, includes six up-scale townhomes all equipped with the new heating and cooling system.

The homes are about 2,200 square feet and range from $375,000 to $430,000.

"The price range is higher and they (baby boomers) are the ones who can afford these homes," Paisley-Godsave said.

"They are looking for homes with minimal maintenance, minimal effort and rooms that you can easily heat and cool without complex systems."

The Zone Comfort System is "captivating their attention," she said. Produced by Ecologix in Cambridge, the system allows the homeowner to set individual rooms at different temperatures by placing a thermostat on each floor.

By adjusting the thermostats, the homeowner can limit heating or cooling to the room they are using said Al Davies, co-owner of Ecologix.

"In the summer, people will often turn the thermostat down so they can make the second floor comfortable, but the air conditioner is working to also cool off the basement and other areas of the home not being used," he said. "It takes less energy to cool off one room."

The system also acts as a dehumidifier, which makes a room more comfortable at higher temperatures so homeowners won't have to crank the air conditioning, he said.

It is estimated the system will reduce the average annual household electricity consumption by a third. However, Davies said it all depends on how the homeowner uses the system. The homes are weeks away from completion and so far one unit has been sold.

Dana Senagama, market analyst with Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation said the increasing number of energy-efficient homes is a sign the housing industry has discovered baby boomers make up a huge pool of current home buyers.

"Home builders are responding to a growth in baby boomers who are typically wealthier and looking for homes with upgrades and ways to control energy efficiency," Senagama said.

"They are willing to pay the up-front costs of buying an energy-efficient home if it means savings down the road."

Doug Dukes, executive officer of the Hamilton Halton Homebuilders Association, said the entire industry is catching on to the energy-efficiency trend.

"With costs rising, people are looking for ways to maximize efficiency," Dukes said. "And the technology and knowledge is getting better and better every year."

Dave Wassmansdorf, president of Passport Homes -- the builders of the Durand Park project -- said baby boomers' concerns about energy costs come from experience.

"They have already bought a few homes so they know what it costs to heat a cool a house."

Toll Brothers CEO Sees Real Estate Growth

Predictions of doom and gloom in the housing market are overblown and there is still room for real estate to grow as long as mortgage rates stay near historical lows, according the head of Toll Brothers, the nation's largest luxury homebuilder.

"Last time I saw 6 percent was 1966, except for the last couple of years," Robert Toll, the company's chairman and chief executive, said Wednesday in an interview with The Associated Press. "If rates go to 7.5 percent, we'll take it. We can still do a whole lot of business."

This week, the average rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage came to 6.37 percent with 0.6 point, according to Freddie Mac. Rates have been in the 5 percent to 7 percent range since 2001. Before that, they were last around 6 percent in the early to mid-1960s, the mortgage agency said.

On Thursday, housing stocks also got a boost from news that the number of new homes under construction didn't fall as much as expected in February. The Philadelphia Housing Index rose by 1.4 percent in afternoon trading.

On the New York Stock Exchange, shares of Toll Brothers rose $1.29, or 3.9 percent, to close at $34.18; shares of homebuilder KB Home rose $1.62, or 2.5 percent, to $66.74; and shares of homebuilder Centex Corp. rose 90 cents, or 1.4 percent, to $64.90.

While the housing market has slowed in the recent months from its red-hot pace as prices have risen, demand has stayed healthy as the economy remained resilient.

With inflation remaining tame, Toll believes new Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke "will probably err on the side of caution and not overexuberance" when setting targets for short-term interest rates.

Toll, who has been in the real estate business for four decades, agrees with industry pundits who predict a "soft landing" ahead for housing.

He bases his belief on the mixed results he's seeing at his communities - he can still raise prices at certain properties in several markets. In past housing downturns, he said, pricing power generally was weak across the board.

"I truly believe it's going to be soft. In selected markets, for selected locations ... you still have pricing power," he said. "If this is a hard time, I'll take it. I'll keep it."

Toll also said his company is looking to enter new markets, such as Houston, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Portland, Ore., and Seattle.

Lawrence Horan, an analyst with Janney Montgomery Scott, said demand for housing is being fueled by an increase in the number of households.

"That is a secular demographic shift, which is not going to reverse unless we close our doors and not let anyone get into the country anymore," he said. "If you have a chronic shortage (of housing), prices tend to go up to the rate of inflation or a little more. You get to an equilibrium ... I think we're in that period now."

But what could put a snag in housing is NIMBY - Not In My Backyard - tensions.

Toll Brothers is in a quandary over the development of a new national veterans cemetery. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in January selected a 214-acre site in Upper Makefield Township, Pa.

Toll had agreed to sell the land to the VA for $7 million, which it says is a discounted price, with the agreement that it would get density concessions from local officials to build 235 homes on two adjoining properties. Not only will Toll have to rush to get through the approval process by Oct. 1 - the date when the VA wants the sale to close - but the developer has to appease residents as well.

"The opposition comes from those who are already there and don't want it in their backyard," Toll said. "I'm not bitter. I don't castigate or denigrate. It is what it is."

Last year, Toll Brothers began selling its luxury condominium complex in Philadelphia called Naval Square after overcoming community opposition to its development.

He also gets irked when people call his luxury homes "McMansions."

"It bothers me and I ignore it," Toll said. "They're not McMansions, they're mansions. The 'Mc' is a prefix put there by those who haven't got one."

City Refuses to Support Carp Dump Expansion

The city won't support the proposed Carp Road garbage dump expansion, despite a 2001 agreement committing the city to support landfill development, Mayor Bob Chiarelli said.

The agreement includes a provision that the city must deem the expansion environmentally sound before approving it, he noted, adding: "The present proposal is not environmentally sound. We are, therefore, proposing a resolution that essentially would oppose what is coming forward."

The landfill expansion plan must undergo an environmental assessment by the province and be approved by the environment minister. The city is hoping to influence the decision.

Chiarelli is one of three city councillors putting forward a motion next week to urge Waste Management of Canada Corp., which owns the Carp Road landfill, and the province to widen the scope of the environmental assessment.

They want the assessment to look into alternative forms of waste management, such as focusing on recycling efforts and using new technologies such as incineration.

"The reality is that it's a decision that's made by the minister of the environment," Chiarelli said, "and we need to address that reality."

A few days ago, Coun. Alex Cullen revealed a five-year-old agreement between the city and two waste management companies that required the city to support any zoning or permit applications necessary for expansion.

The document lists both Canadian Waste Services (now Waste Management) and its competitor Waste Services Inc.

Waste Management plans to nearly triple the size of its Carp facility by using land it already owns around the site. That would extend the life of the dump by 25 years.

Early this month, more than 1,000 angry residents packed into a Stittsville school gym to protest the plan.

"We welcome the input from the City of Ottawa and the community, and further look forward to continued dialogue," said Wayne French, a spokesperson for Waste Management.

But French adds the company has no intention of abandoning its proposed expansion.

In the end, if the province gives the green light and the city tries to oppose zoning changes, Chiarelli admits it's a lost cause.

Smart Implementation of Smart Metering

The government has indicated that they would like to have 800,000 Smart Meters installed on homes by 2007 and on all homes by 2010. This statement indicates that the government is planning sweeping changes to the way these assets and systems will work in the future. As the voice of Ontario’s Electricity Distributors, the EDA has taken a keen interest in these announcements and is working to ensure that the interests of Local Distribution Companies are considered as this process moves forward.

The EDA has prepared this Fact Sheet in an effort to help audiences understand this complex issue as well as to illustrate some of the challenges that need to be addressed to ensure this initiative is successful. The EDA strongly believes that the distribution companies are in the best position to ensure that these new policies are implemented properly as they have the relationship with the customer, have extensive experience in metering and billing, and have an in-depth knowledge of their communities.

The ideas and numbers that are reported here reflect the EDA’s attempt to start dialogue amongst a broader audience. As this debate moves forward and more information becomes available the ideas and figures will become more concrete.

What is a “Smart Meter”?

Currently in Ontario, most homes are equipped with a meter that only measures how much electricity was used by the customer in a billing period, typically one or two months. A Smart Meter will be able to record not only how much energy was used, but also when it was used. This will allow for introduction of different electricity rates for different times of the day and should encourage customers to regulate their own usage of electricity during peak times.

There are fundamentally two types of Smart Meters. The first is called a Time Of Use Meter (TOU) which measures how much energy was used in preset time blocks such as on-peak and off-peak times. These meters provide readings to the LDC and are typically read manually like today’s meters but may be equipped with additional technology for automated readings. These meters have lower costs to purchase and to read, and low-end versions cannot be remotely reprogrammed and cannot communicate in real time. Any changes to rate “buckets” requires the meter to be returned to the manufacturer and a new verification seal applied.

The second type is an interval meter, which measures how much electricity was used in various intervals (typically every 15 minutes). These meters produce many hundreds of sets of data and are usually read remotely due to the large amounts of data collected. Typically the data is read using radio frequencies, internet, phone lines, or by using power line data transfer. These meters are more expensive and may require new computer and billing systems to manage, however they can be reprogrammed easily and can communicate with the customer and billing systems on a real time basis.

While the term “Smart Meter” is still a focus of debate, Time of Use and Interval meters are the two most referred to.

There are various other types of meters that may be considered “Smart” such as pre-paid meters and meters with various other systems that educate consumers and interpret data. As well, various companies have developed different variations of these technologies for potential use by LDCs in Ontario.

Recently there has also been speculation around Net Metering. Net Meters and “Smart Meters” are not the same thing. Net Meters allow customers who generate their own electricity to sell excess electricity back onto the grid. Net Meters are different from Smart meters and represent another set of challenges and costs.

How Will Smart Meters Work in Ontario?

With the current price cap regime in Ontario, measuring when electricity is used is irrelevant because all electricity is priced the same. The time a person uses electricity does not change the price they are charged or the total amount of their bill. The Government has signaled that they will work towards an on-peak and off-peak pricing plan. In this case, a Time of Use meter would be sufficient and would measure these two pre-defined blocks of time, however the meters may have to be manually reprogrammed if these blocks of time were to be changed. Interval meters can measure many more blocks of time and can relay that information to billing systems, however they are more expensive and may not be worth the investment if Ontario is only going to have two pre-defined prices and if these prices are static for long periods of time. If these defined blocks of time are to be changed on a regular basis (critical peak days, seasons, or monthly) then the ability to remotely re-program meters would be an invaluable asset.

Typically, an interval meter is used for a customer who is subject to the spot market price for electricity, which changes regularly to reflect demand and available supply. While the EDA believes that customers should pay the true cost of electricity, the EDA strongly opposes any move that would see household customers in the province subject to the spot market price again.

Challenges

There are three primary challenges that need to be addressed to ensure that this initiative is successful.

First, consideration needs to be given to the role of Measurement Canada which has jurisdiction over metering in Canada. Any new technology that is contemplated for Ontario meters needs to be in compliance with federal legislation governing these issues. Also, smart meters have a more frequent verification requirement, a shorter lifetime than standard meters, and need to be inspected more often. If left unchanged, these Measurement Canada rules could add significant costs to the consumer.

Second, LDCs will need to undertake massive billing changes in the short term to accommodate the new information that they will collect and distribute from the meters to the customers. As LDCs are still carrying the costs of new billing systems purchased for the opening of the market, this additional cost could pose a significant challenge.

Third, the roll out of these new meters may need to be done in whole communities at once. Since there has been little experience in the wide-scale use of these meters in North America, this wide-scale deployment could be troublesome if the technology fails or if the customers are not educated.

Province-Wide Costs

With any initiative of this size, there are obviously significant costs. This is not to say that the initiative should not be contemplated. Rather it is only responsible to look at the costs to ensure a common understanding.

As stated at the outset, critical information about technology options has not been articulated and as such these numbers may require revision as the province moves forward. The costs listed represent minimum costs to be expected and also represent high density residential settings. The EDA has provided costing on two types of meters based on our best information in order to provide an idea of the costs.

These costs do not include consumer education, a rate of return on the capital asset, or in the case of Time Of Use Meters, they do not include manual changes to time blocks. Also, they do not include incremental costs of new Measurement Canada regulations, monitoring, or approvals or the cost of the installation of new communication systems in the case of interval meters.

In addition to these considerations, it is estimated that it will cost about $3.00 per customer per month for the incremental costs of the billing. Province wide this would be about $12.9M.

EDA’s 10-Point Policy Position on Smart Meters

The EDA has a 10-point policy position to support the smooth implementation of the Smart Meter initiative across the province.

1. The EDA believes that the LDC / customer relationship should be maintained throughout the implementation of this initiative. LDCs should continue to be responsible for the meters and the billing agent, regardless of what type of meter is used. LDCs may use third parties at their sole discretion for their individual business reasons.
2. The EDA believes that distributors should be properly compensated for the premature retirement of existing meters.
3. The EDA believes the distributors should be able to recover the amounts in their variance accounts for previous billing changes prior to any new billing changes being contemplated.
4. The EDA believes that customers should pay the actual cost of electricity, but opposes residential customers being exposed to the spot market price.
5. The EDA believes that base functionality for meters should be set, but also believes that individual LDCs should be able to choose which technology works best for them and their community.
6. The EDA believes that a phased implementation should be used for the Smart Meter initiative. Consideration should first be given to conducting pilot programs in willing communities and/or a requirement that all new connections require smart meters.
7. The EDA believes that questions surrounding the approach Measurement Canada will take on smart meters need to be answered prior to any Regulator mandate.
8. The EDA believes that province-wide consumer education should be coordinated to ensure consumers are educated on smart meters.
9. The EDA opposes the creation of additional variance accounts to implement this initiative.
10. The EDA believes that the capital cost of the smart meters and associated systems should be allowed to be fully recovered within a timeframe that recognizes the rapid change in technology and in accordance with proper business principles and be placed in the rate base.

Smart Meters Heading to Ontario Homes

Millions of "smart" meters that help hydro consumers calculate their energy use will be installed in Ontario homes and businesses over the next few years, but critics say the government isn't doing enough to reduce demand.

The meters, included in electricity conservation act amendments that passed into law Monday night, will replace some 4.5 million existing electricity meters by 2010 at a cost of $1 billion to hydro consumers.

The Ontario government claims it's a key part of the power-starved province's strategy to convince people to conserve electricity.

The meters are meant to help electricity users see just how much power they consume during various parts of the day.

The $1-billion price tag to buy, install and run the smart meters will be recouped through a $1 to $4 monthly charge on electricity bills.

But critics say the Ontario government's energy strategy doesn't go far enough to encourage residents to conserve, accusing the Liberals of ignoring the province's conservation potential in favour of the costly pursuit of new nuclear power plants.

A report by the Ontario Power Authority, released in December, estimated it would cost up to $70 billion to ensure Ontario has enough electricity to power the province over the next 20 years. More than half of that money would be spent on nuclear power.

"The OPA's supply mix advice is simply based on too many questionable assumptions to provide a sound basis for the future direction of Ontario's electricity system," said Dr. Mark Winfield, who led the Pembina Institute's evaluation of the OPA recommendations.

His institute claims the OPA "grossly underestimated" the potential for energy efficiency improvements to reduce demand for electricity.

"Proceeding on the basis of the OPA's recommendations without further analysis and meaningful public debate would mean enormous economic, environmental and safety risks for generations of Ontarians."

The OPA report established a "feasible" conservation target of 1,800 megawatts by 2025, in addition to the government's current target to reduce peak demand by five per cent, or 1,350 megawatts, by 2007.

Green groups scoff at that target.

"(Energy) Minister Donna Cansfield must send the OPA back to the drawing board," said Elizabeth May, executive director of the Sierra Club of Canada.

"This report is worse than useless in terms of being able to make decisions about Ontario's energy future."

May's group worries about the environmental impact of building more nuclear plants, in particular radioactive waste storage and their potentially catastrophic damage in the event of an accident at a plant.

The group is also worried about the cost: nuclear stations at the Darlington site east of Toronto, completed in the early 1990s, went billions of dollars over budget.

Cansfield said she has heard the concerns from anti-nuclear groups but insisted no decisions on new nuclear plants are in place.

"We feel that we've put in place a very exhaustive (review) process," Cansfield said. "They just have another perspective."

Manitonna Site Project Moves Ahead

An Ottawa company planning to build a retirement complex on the former Manitonna site is now a step closer to starting construction in the summer.

As city councillors approved a zoning bylaw amendment paving the way for the ambitious project Tuesday, planning director Maureen Pascoe Merkley said they may see a site plan application for the work submitted to city hall within the next two months.

"Things have been moving quite quickly on this project," she said.

Themis Hospitality Management Services wants to build a seven-storey, 109-unit retirement home on the former Manitonna Hotel site on Market Street East. The lot next to city hall remains the downtown core's most significant empty space.

A company representative told council's economic development and planning committee last week the owners hope to begin construction by June or July.

The seven-storey building would be the first phase of the project, with commercial space on the ground floor along King Street East and 109 retirement suites above. Phase Two would be an eight-storey building and would include a restaurant along Water Street.

The plan calls for only 22 parking spaces for the first phase, but Pascoe Merkley accepted the developer's contention that few of the residents will own cars.

"We're comfortable moving that recommendation forward."

Commercial space in the first phase will be limited, so it will likely not have a detrimental effect on downtown parking, said Pascoe Merkley.

Councillor Bob Huskinson credited the city's "community improvement plan," which offers tax incentives for downtown development, for making developments such as this one possible.

Meanwhile, councillors also paved the way for another residential development aimed at retired seniors.

They gave site plan control approval to Kemptville developer Rob Thompson to build an 11-unit townhouse development near the old Phillips Cables site on King Street West.

Developers plan to begin construction next month, with the homes ready for occupation this fall.

Thompson also plans to build residential units northward on Centre Street, a project that requires improvements to the street including the elimination of a hill near Baxter Drive.

This initial 11-unit block at the corner of King West and Centre can proceed without the improvements to Centre Street, said Pascoe Merkley.

A "swift uptake" of these first units will allow Thompson to proceed with the Centre Street improvements and the further units "shortly thereafter," Pascoe Merkley told council.

The developer hopes to build the next set of units this year, but their timing depends on the market, she said.

Councillor Stu Williams, who brought up the matter of the Centre Street homes, said he hopes Thompson will get around to them, since they represent a more significant investment than the 11-unit block.

Lights Go Out For Thousands This Morning

A blasting company accidentally damaged Hydro One lines this morning, leaving 65,000 homes without power for two hours.

The Hydro One circuit carrying 150,000 volts to Ottawa Hydro lines was interrupted at 8:30 a.m. when an airborne blasting mat from a nearby construction site landed on one of the wires.

Power was out from Maitland to Kanata, in Manotick, Nepean, the Limebank area, rural Winchester and Arnprior.

Hydro One eventually fixed the damaged section of line, restoring power at 10:30 a.m. Another Hydro One circuit on Merivale Rd., which could have re-routed the load to avoid the outage, was offline due to routine maintenance, said Hydro One officials, adding it’s too early to know whether they will sue the blasting company for damages.

Trash Deal Could Bury Opposition

The City may have no choice but to allow for the expansion of the Carp Rd. dump.

In a document obtained by the Sun yesterday, a 2001 Ontario Municipal Board settlement between the city and two landfill operators indicates the city may already have agreed to "expidite" and "support" an application to extend the life of the landfill site and others in the city.

The agreement was part of a contract negotiated after amalgamation and included an agreement to allow the expansion of the dump.

Waste Management (WM), the operator of the Carp Rd. facility, and the city are involved in an environmental assessment because WM is looking to extend the life of the dump by 25 years and may need rezoning approvals from the city.

'ENHANCING' PROCESS

The 2001 document says Canadian Waste Services (now WM) and its competitor Waste Services Inc. (WSI) plan to "undertake certain activities for the purpose of enhancing and improving their ability to collect, transport, process or dispose of waste."

The activities to which the document is referring include applying to the province and other agencies for the "expansion of existing waste management operations at landfills owned by CWS and WSI."

That's making Bay Coun. Alex Cullen wonder if the city will be forced to accept expansion plans, despite a growing outcry from nearby residents who complain about the smell and a promise that the site would not continue to operate after it reaches capacity in the next few years.

'EXPEDITE ... ZONING'

"Life has become more complicated," said Cullen. "It's not as simple as it once was."

Cullen is concerned about the part of the document that says the city "agrees that it will expedite the consideration of any necessary municipal zoning, official plan amendment, site plan or building permit applications as applicable and, provided an environmentally sound proposal is made, will support the strategic landfill and diversion activities of CWS (now WM) and WSI and any applications for provincial approval, including Certificate(s) of Approval or amendments thereto, pursuant to the Environmental Protection Act or Environmental Assessment Act as the case may be."

A company official said at a recent public meeting there was little chance the company would abandon its expansion plans once it clears regulatory hurdles.

Mayor Bob Chiarelli sent a memo to councillors yesterday calling for a special council meeting next week to deal with a motion about the dump issue, expected to be introduced by Goulbourn Coun. Janet Stavinga.

WM would not comment on the issue yesterday.

Contract Calls for City's Support in Landfill Expansion

A 2001 agreement between the City of Ottawa and two landfill operators may mean the city has no choice but to extend the life of the Carp landfill residents have been angrily protesting.

Bay Ward Coun. Alex Cullen says the document from the Ontario Municipal Board commits the city to supporting any permits or applications made by landfill operators to allow the processing of waste, even expansion if necessary.

The document will likely be used by Waste Management of Canada Corp., the operator of the Carp Road facility, in their bid to add 25 years of life to the site.

A company spokesperson said there is little chance Waste Management will back down from expansion plans once environmental and zoning barriers are removed.

The five-year-old agreement was part of a contract negotiated after amalgamation. It states that the city will "expedite" and "support" applications by two landfills to expand, as long as an environmental assessment is provided.

The agreement refers to both Canadian Waste Services (now Waste Management) and its competitor Waste Services Inc., which operates a landfill in Navan.

More than 1,100 angry residents packed into a Stittsville school gym Mar. 1 to oppose plans to more than double the capacity of the Carp facility.

Residents are concerned about the smell, the size and the environmental risks of what they call "Mount Trashmore."

Mayor Bob Chiarelli has called for a special council meeting next week to deal with the dump issue.

Slower Home Loan Market Worsens Fraud

After years of red-hot housing sales and refinancings, a cooling market this year is likely to uncover some problems, like a rocky seabed revealed by the ebbing tide.

There is growing concern, in particular, that a glut of mortgage brokers chasing diminished business will pressure them to "look the other way" in generating leads and underwriting loans. Brokers now originate nearly two-thirds of all residential mortgages nationwide.

Originations are projected to be 20 percent lower this year, yet the past five high-production years have swelled the ranks of operating brokerages to more than 53,000, according to an industry firm that counts them. By next year, it estimates that number will be halved. Until then, though, mortgage business practitioners worry that competition for receding business is creating a natural pressure on brokers to relax due diligence.

"Brokers have more financial incentive not to examine deeply all of the applicants and deal characteristics that they probably should," says Mark Clifford, chief information officer of GE Home Finance.

That laxity could reverberate up the funding chain to financial institutions and then out into the secondary market where loans are purchased by investors.

That's where, Clifford notes, "any claim that the loan source (broker) is solely culpable will not hold up under legal scrutiny. The argument that the lender did not gather information directly from the customer and thus shouldn't have any liability in the transaction is viewed with increased skepticism by the courts," he reports.

A case in point is the recently suspended, new ordinance in Montgomery County, Md., which would hold liable investors and buyers of a mortgage loan on the secondary market and be subjected to substantial monetary fines for violations of the law's anti-discriminatory requirements. The Mortgage Bankers Association argues that "as a result of this potential substantial monetary liability for violations, lenders, investors and buyers would have a great reluctance to make, sell or buy loans made in Montgomery County."

Mix of challenges

As if the natural arc of business expansion and contraction were not challenge enough, loan originators also have to labor in a market overshadowed by the federal Do-Not-Call law, enacted three years ago and now blanketing more than 40 percent of all U.S. households. It is significantly limiting brokers' previously unfettered telephone access to prospective borrowers.

Regulatory and legal issues aside, it is economic issues – notably tighter margins – that fuel the diligence problem, according to Chris Stimac, credit risk manager, Oak Street Mortgage. "It is only natural," he holds, "that with shrinking profits, there is less incentive to drill down in those mortgage applications and fewer personnel to do it.

"Obviously you're not going to pay more people to take longer to look at loans," says Stimac, who suggests brokers and loan officers ought to turn to technology for the heavy lifting.

This is especially important for the small- to mid-size originator who could be hurt by a slew of buybacks, or literally put out of business by serious litigation like a class-action lawsuit.

One mortgage company executive, who preferred not to be named, says he believes better data and more reliance on technological protections would enable lenders to take a more proactive stance on due diligence and fraud problems that might ensue. He claims today's originators do not have the same level of expertise they had 20 years ago and that could silently contribute to more fraud.

What's more, he alleges that lenders "are embarrassed when they've been taken in fraud, so a lot of (that) information is shrouded in secrecy…which makes it more difficult on organizations trying to originate for their own portfolios."

Where am I Going to Go?

92-year-old Florence Krusto fears she'll lose her home of 40 years because owner wants to sell.

A grandfather clause may save one grandmother from losing her home. Florence Krusto has called 146 Princeton Dr. home for the past 40 years. But she's afraid she'll lose her Mountain townhouse after the sale of the complex to a new owner.

Ron Wowk bought the nine-unit complex some time ago, converted it into a condominium corporation two years ago and has sold eight of the other units. Krusto's is on the market and she has been required to let potential buyers have a look at her home.

Wowk could not be reached for comment.

Krusto's church, the grocery store, bank and pharmacy are all within walking distance of the townhouse near Upper Ottawa Street and Fennell Avenue. Many of her friends live in her neighbourhood.

Krusto doesn't want to leave.

"I kept saying I'm not going to move," said the spry nonagenarian.

"Where am I going to go? I've been here so long I wouldn't know where to go.

"My friend says move to an apartment, but I don't want an apartment. I'm very comfortable here. When you go into the bank and they say, 'Hi, Mrs. Krusto,' it's a nice feeling."

The Ontario Rental Housing Tribunal says she won't likely lose that feeling any time soon.

"It appears she does have extended security," said Carol Kiley, manager of program development at the Ontario Rental Housing Tribunal.

"He (owner) will be able to sell her unit, but she will be able to stay there. The new owners will keep her as a tenant."

Krusto is a good tenant -- she takes good care of her tidy two-storey townhome, pays her rent on time and never throws any noisy bridge parties.

The 92-year-old is independent and does her own shopping and banking.

She cleans her house and fixes her own meals. She even volunteers at Good Shepherd.

The only cloud on the horizon is her health. She has spent brief stints in hospital for the treatment of ulcers, a problem her son says is probably caused by the fear of losing her home.

Real estate agent Al Cosentino, who is handling the listing, said Wowk left the sale of Krusto's unit to the very end to give her ample opportunity to buy the home or make other living arrangements.

"We never served her notice," Cosentino said.

"We never asked her to move. It's up to the buyer what they want to do with her."

Lawyer Jay Sengupta says a buyer will get the property, but they won't get to live there.

Krusto can stay put as long as she doesn't violate the Tenant Protection Act.

"Where the rental unit has been converted to a condominium, the tenant has lifetime protection against eviction by the owner," said the lawyer at the Mountain Legal Clinic.

Cosentino said Wowk doesn't want to move Krusto out. He's happy to sell it to her, even if she doesn't make the best offer.

"Even if we get a top offer we'll still give her an opportunity to buy it."

But Krusto doesn't want to buy. She pays $750 a month to rent and says she can't afford the $124,000 asking price. Nor does she want her children to have to take on the financial burden.

Matt Krusto worries for his mother's health if she moves out.

"I don't think it would do my mother's health any good to uproot," he said. "Psychologically, it would be a shock to her."

B.C. Construction Companies Recruiting Overseas

B.C.'s booming construction industry is going all the way to India and the Middle East to recruit skilled workers, to help contractors cope with their pre-Olympic people shortage.

One immigration consulting firm in Surrey is even providing training classes for would-be migrants in the Punjab, so they can learn Canadian construction techniques.

"The training we are providing in Punjab, we provide a database of candidates who already have experience in different trades," said Sanjeev Bhatta of Focus Immigration.

He says 15 new clients have come to him just in the last few months looking for help in bringing workers to Canada on short-term contracts.

"Every day we get new clients wanting carpenters, drywallers, even welders. We have a company in Alberta and Saskatchewan even, they want 50 welders," he said.

"We are going all over India advertising in newspapers and classified ads. We're inviting people to submit resumes on our website, and we maintain a database and present the database to clients and arrange interviews."

Bhatta says Canadian immigration rules make it difficult to hire people from that part of the world. A job here has to go unfilled for months, before a foreigner becomes eligible to fill it.

But construction experts in the Fraser Valley say with all the new pre-2010 building going on, short-term workers from overseas may soon be filling the gaps for many more local companies.

US Mortgage Rates Up ... Home Affordability Down

Mortgage rates have hit their highest level in nearly four years, and that has a direct impact on home affordability...and home prices.

The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage stands at 6.37 percent, up from 5.58 percent last summer.

"I think it's indisputable that demand in the housing market has declined in the past few months," says Richard DeKaser, chief economist for National City Corp., an Ohio-based mortgage banker. "It's very clear that rising interest rates figure very large in that decline."

Rising rates had already begun to take their toll in the fourth quarter of 2005, when the 30-year mortgage averaged 6.22 percent, according to a report released Monday from Global Insight, a financial information provider, and National City.

The report figures 71 of the 299 largest U.S. housing markets were "extremely overvalued" at year's end, up from 62 markets a quarter earlier (see table rankings below).

The report arrives at a fair market value based on population, income and interest rates and factors in historical premiums or discounts.

Rates have a direct affect on affordability. For example, a jump in interest rates from 6 percent to 7 percent on a 30-year loan adds about 10 percent to a monthly mortgage bill. A homeowner who financed a loan of $200,000 at 6 percent would pay about $1,200 a month. At 7 percent, the bill would come to $1,330.

As rates rise, homebuyers who were already stretched may start demanding lower prices. "Low rates had offset unaffordability in past years," said DeKaser.

California and Florida accounted for 18 of the 20 most overvalued markets, with Naples, Fla. leading the way. A median home in Naples now costs $367,100, according to the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO), nearly double what the study's authors estimate it should.

Undervalued markets are much less common and tend to be priced only slightly below where they should. They're especially common in Texas; eight of the top 10 are in the Lone Star State. College Station leads the way -- homes there cost 22.7 percent less than what the authors estimate they should fetch.

Spring Cleaning the Ottawa Capital

Show your community pride! Take part in the City’s 13th annual Spring Cleaning the Capital campaign. Clean up public property or an area in your neighbourhood to help keep Ottawa clean and litter-free.

Each year the Spring Cleaning the Capital campaign encourages and supports community involvement in the City’s spring cleanup efforts. Entire communities – including schools, neighbourhood organizations and associations, businesses, families, friends and individuals take up the Spring Cleaning the Capital challenge. In 2005, over 50,000 participants completed over 700 registered cleanup projects. With your help, Spring Cleaning the Capital can be bigger and better in 2006!

When: March 13 to 19

Great prizes to be won

Register early to win. The deadline for early bird registration is April 12. Register on or before this date and you could win one of several early bird prizes donated by our generous sponsors. Regular registration continues until May 14.

Saturday, April 29 – Capital Cleanup Day
Our sponsors will be patrolling the city giving out prizes to Spring Cleaning the Capital participants. Schedule your cleanup project for Capital Cleanup Day and you might win!

Wednesday, May 31 – Deadline to submit your cleanup report
Registered participants who complete and return their cleanup reports by May 31 are eligible to win more prizes donated by our sponsors.
Fall 2006 - Watch for the NEW “Fall Cleaning the Capital” campaign.

Farmers Fear Toxic Runoff From New Construction

Colin McNamara hopes the luck of the Irish is with him tomorrow as Gatineau city council meets to decide an issue that has plagued the Masson-Angers farmer for more than 30 years.

Mr. McNamara, whose land is marked with a billowing Irish flag, wants to delay construction of a Canadian Tire store north of his land on Lepine Avenue, in order to study the impact of water diversion.

"Seeing as it is St. Patrick's week, we do hope that the powers of St. Patrick will be bestowed upon the council to support the farmers," he said yesterday.

The plan for the new store includes an underground water basin below the parking garage that is supposed to hold runoff water and drain it into nearby Trepanier Creek, a plan Mr. McNamara doesn't think will work. "We don't want a basin, we want to stop the water from going into our water sources," he said.

Mr. McNamara's son, Terry, who is co-owner of the land, is concerned the basin will not hold the amount of water he regularly sees on their property. The situation will only get worse, says Terry McNamara, once a proposed 600-unit housing development gets under way across from the Canadian Tire, further reducing the amount of absorbent land. "Anywhere you put asphalt, you have no more natural source for your surface water to go," he said.

The McNamaras have company in their complaint. Neighbour Francois Page, who owns the land adjacent to Trepanier Creek, has confronted the problem for years.

He believes the location of the basin will only increase the amount of pollution in the water because of runoff from parked vehicles. "What do you have in a parking garage? Cars. And what do you have in cars? Oil and other stuff that can leak," said Mr Page.

His optimal solution, one that will be proposed to council, is to drain the water to the nearby Lievre River, which does not feed directly onto farmland.

While Colin McNamara's problems with drainage onto his land go back more than three decades, the big box store is just the latest and best chance he has had to do something about it.

Development of the area has raised issues of flooding and water quality since the early 1970s.

It all started, according to the McNamaras, after construction of a high school in Buckingham. The school was the anchor for a housing community and the area began to experience drainage problems as nearby land was paved over, allowing less water to be absorbed and more to flow toward the McNamara farm.

The runoff water floods the downhill farmland regularly, destroying crops and poisoning the land with contaminants that harm his cattle and crops, said Terry McNamara.

He said he lost $8,000 in damaged crops last year, and estimated that since the problem began in 1970, he has lost upwards of $70,000.

Mr. McNamara said he isn't opposed to development in the area, as it will draw more customers to his farm. He just wants to see it done properly so surrounding farmers are protected.

Project Debuts Air-Handling System

Funding from the Government of Canada is helping homeowners in Hamilton to conserve energy and reduce peak power consumption during summer heat waves. Today, a new air-handling system makes its debut at a new Hamilton townhouse development.

Developed by Ecologix Heating Technologies Inc. of Cambridge, with $400,000 in support from Natural Resources Canada and the National Research Council, the Zone Comfort System is a simple, inexpensive technology available to all residents. It allows combination-heating systems to operate with greatly improved efficiency year-round.

With its sophisticated compact boiler and forced air handler, there is less energy consumption in both winter and summer, with heating and cooling distributed to different parts of the house when and where needed.

"The Government of Canada is proud to be part of projects like this," said Gary Goodyear, Member of Parliament for Cambridge, on behalf of the Honourable Gary Lunn, Minister of Natural Resources. "We are working with industry to bring clean energy technologies to market and lay the groundwork for further innovation in the energy use and comfort of Canadian homes while reducing greenhouse gas emissions."

"In terms of cooling performance, the Zone Comfort System excels," said Ecologix president Steve Davies. "Its airtight, pre-engineered duct system and floor-by-floor airflow control ensures that the cool air produced by the air conditioner gets to where it is needed. A built-in dehumidification cycle delivers superior air-conditioned comfort. Together, these features lead to lower electricity consumption and ultimately savings for the homeowner."

A boon for the individual householder and the entire province, the Zone Comfort System will provide an estimated savings of 3,300 kilowatt-hours a year, per unit.

Duran Park Towers is a unique complex of six three-level vertical townhouses developed by Passport Homes of Burlington. With this type of townhouse comprising a growing portion of residential new construction in major urban centres, the Zone Comfort System can be an environmentally friendly, affordable way to provide excellent residential comfort, while still adhering to the principles of energy conservation.

Apartment Renters Looking For Help With Tax Fairness Campaign

A group of apartment tenants is tired of paying unfairly inflated tax rates, and is looking for support from apartment renters across Hamilton to help close the gap between residential and multi-residential taxpayers.

Andy Cranbury and the Governor's Green Tenants' Association has presented Councillor Art Samson with a 160-name petition, representing the majority of the building's 200 units.

Their municipal tax rate is currently 2.74 times that of residential taxpayers. Eighteen per cent of their monthly rent goes directly to municipal taxes.

"The municipal election is coming up this November," Mr. Cranbury said. "Tenants should be asking their councillors about this. Ask them why am I being suckered?"

The tenants believe they are being taken advantage of by a municipality afraid to increase the tax rate on homeowners, who are typically more active and likely to vote than apartment tenants. But Mr. Cranbury points out that about 30 per cent of Hamilton residents rent apartments. He figures those tenants can have a political impact.

"If we can rouse the population and have them informed before November then city hall has to do more than take our petition and file it," he said.

He believes the higher tax rate for apartment renters is a major contributing factor to the local homelessness problem. In just one year, there was a turnover of 78 out of 200 units. But he figures that transient nature contributes to the ability to take advantage of tenants.

Mr. Cranbury wondered aloud what tenants get in return for their 2.74 to 1 tax ratio.

"We get all the same services, except garbage collection," he said. "So we should be paying less than residential."

City of Hamilton taxation director Larry Friday says the situation isn't that simple. He agreed the current residential tax rate in Dundas is 1.56 per cent while apartment renters pay a tax rate of 3.77 per cent. But he said because that rate is multiplied by the assessed value of a home, or apartment unit, tenants actually pay less in taxes.

Mr. Friday estimated, based on approximate assessments, that an average tenant at Governor's Green pays roughly $2,700 in taxes while the owner of a house assessed at $200,000 pays $3,129 in taxes.

"When you look at taxes, next to tax rates, you can see (apartment tenants) pay less on average," Mr. Friday said. "Are they shouldering an unfair burden? I don't know. It's a fair question.

"The money is going to come from somewhere. From my perspective it's not an unfair burden. They're paying for their share of services. They still drive on the roads. Their garbage still gets trucked to a city landfill."

Those arguments didn't faze Joe Hoffer, a lawyer with Cohen-Highley law firm in London and expert on property tax assessment appeals and the tenant protection act.

"Indeed tenants typically pay a multiple of what residential taxpayers pay," Mr. Hoffer said. "It has been a tax grab for municipalities. It's buried in the rents so it's harder for people to conceptualize that tenants are in fact getting ripped off."

Mr. Hoffer pointed out that a reduction in the multi-residential tax rate would benefit apartment landlords, who are required by law to pass that savings on to their tenants by reducing their rent.

He's only aware of one successful effort to equalize tax rates. Landlords, tenants and the City of Ottawa all worked together to lower the gap.

"It takes volunteerism from tenants and organization of tenants, which is difficult to do," Mr. Hoffer said.

"They all have to work together. Most tenant groups don't like landlords. There's usually no will from the politicians and no organization of tenants."

John Dickie is a residential tenancy lawyer with Dickie and Lyman in Ottawa. He also chairs the Eastern Ontario Landlord Organization.

Mr. Dickie said the apartment tax ratio in Ottawa was reduced from 2.37:1 to it's current 2.15:1, saving capital city apartment tenants more than $20-million.

"The argument that apartments should be taxed at a higher rate because they are valued less than single-family homes is unsound," Mr. Dickie said. "No one looks at an ordinary home and says it should be taxed at a higher rate because it is valued less than a mansion. The comparison between apartments and houses should be no different."

Mr. Dickie agrees municipal councillors don't want to treat tenants fairly because they hate to raise taxes on homeowners, who vote more than apartment renters - renters who often don't realize they pay property taxes through their rents.

"The way we achieved progress in Ottawa was by tenants and landlords working together," he said, suggesting the Governor's Green group contact the Hamilton District Apartment Association, which represents landlords.

Arun Pathak, a Dundas resident and president of the apartment association, said its membership "is very strongly behind the principle of equalization" of the tax rates.

Mr. Pathak said fairness in tax rates would reduce apartment rents by about 12 per cent - or nearly $100 a month on a rent of $800.

"The impact of a rent reduction in the range of $100 on the poor people of our city would be immense," Mr. Pathak said. "These tenants are using the food banks and go without medications and basic essentials because they are taxed at a rate more than twice what more affluent homeowners are paying.

"Municipalities have generally not moved towards equalization because it will involve relatively minor increases to other property tax classes. However, the issue is one of fairness and it is indefensible to let tenants subsidize homeowners taxes."

2006 Rent Increase Guideline Released

The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing
today released the province's rent increase guideline for 2006. The 2006
guideline will be 2.1 per cent.
The annual guideline is the maximum amount that most landlords can
increase a tenant's rent without making an application to the Ontario Rental
Housing Tribunal. Most tenants in Ontario receive an annual rent increase that
is at or below the rent increase guideline. The 2006 guideline is effective
from January 1, 2006, to December 31, 2006.
The 2006 guideline reflects increases in landlord operating costs. The
table showing the individual operating cost increases in the 2006 Rent
Increase Guideline will be published in an upcoming edition of the Ontario
Gazette.

2006 RENT INCREASE GUIDELINE

The 2006 guideline is 2.1 per cent. This guideline is in effect from
January 1, 2006, to December 31, 2006.

Annual Rent Increase Guideline

The annual guideline is the maximum amount that most landlords can
increase a tenant's rent without making an application to the Ontario Rental
Housing Tribunal.
The guideline applies to most private residential rental accommodation
covered by the Tenant Protection Act, 1997. The guideline does not apply to
residential dwellings first occupied on or after November 1, 1991, nor does it
apply to social housing units and nursing homes.
In most cases, the rent for a unit can be increased if at least 12 months
have passed since a tenant first moved in or since his or her last rent
increase. The tenant must be given proper written notice of the rental
increase at least 90 days before the rent increase takes effect.
The 2006 guideline of 2.1 per cent is based on eight common costs
involved in the operation of rental housing such as maintenance, hydro,
heating costs and taxes. Each cost category is weighted according to its
proportion of the overall costs of running a multi-residential property. The
costs in these categories are averaged over a three-year period.
Landlords can apply to the Ontario Rental Housing Tribunal for an
increase above the guideline if their annual costs for heat, hydro or
municipal taxes have increased more than the guideline allowed for, or if
they have done major capital work.

Sample Rent Increase Guideline

The monthly rent for an apartment is $800 beginning May 1, 2005. With
proper written 90 days notice to the tenant, the landlord could lawfully
increase the rent 12 months later on May 1, 2006.
The guideline for 2006 is 2.1 per cent. The 2006 rental increase is 2.1
per cent of $800 = $16.80
Therefore, the new rent on May 1, 2006, could be up to $816.80
($800 + $16.80)

Tenant Protection Act

On June 17, 2004, the government amended the Tenant Protection Act, 1997
to remove the 2 per cent base from the guideline calculation. As a result,
the rent increase guideline reflects only increases in landlords' operating
costs. This was a time out measure while government is consulting with
stakeholders and developing revised legislation.

First Reading of Ontario Bill 21 Which Is to Legislate "Smart Meters"

AMENDMENTS TO THE
ELECTRICITY ACT, 1998

1. Subsection 2 (1) of the Electricity Act, 1998 is amended by adding the following definitions:

"smart meter" means a metering device that measures and records electricity consumption or use based on its time of use; ("compteur intelligent")

"smart metering data" means data derived from smart meters, including data related to the consumers' consumption of electricity; ("données des compteurs intelligents")

"Smart Metering Entity" means the corporation incorporated, the limited partnership or the partnership formed or the entity designated pursuant to section 53.7 to accomplish the government's smart metering initiative; ("Entité responsable des compteurs intelligents")

"smart metering initiative" means those policies of the Government of Ontario related to its decision to, over time, equip each household in Ontario with a smart meter and includes the commitment to meet interim and final goals for the installation of the meters; ("initiative des compteurs intelligents")

2. The Act is amended by adding the following Part:

PART IV.2
THE SMART METERING ENTITY

The Smart Metering Entity

53.7 (1) To accomplish the government's policies in relation to its smart metering initiative, the Minister,

(a) may cause the Smart Metering Entity to be incorporated as a corporation under the Business Corporations Act;

(b) may cause the Smart Metering Entity to be formed as a limited partnership under the Limited Partnerships Act;

(c) may cause the Smart Metering Entity to be formed as a partnership; or

(d) may designate an entity by regulation as the Smart Metering Entity.

Name of the Smart Metering Entity

(2) Subject to the Business Corporations Act, the Business Names Act and the Limited Partnerships Act, as applicable, the Smart Metering Entity shall have the name prescribed for it by regulation and the regulation may require that the Smart Metering Entity maintain the prescribed name.

Objects or nature of the business of the Smart Metering Entity

53.8 The objects of the Smart Metering Entity, if it is a corporation, or the nature of its business activities, if the Smart Metering Entity is a limited partnership or a partnership, include, in addition to any other objects or business activities, the following:

1. To plan and implement and, on an ongoing basis, oversee, administer and deliver any part of the smart metering initiative as required by regulation under this or any Act or directive made pursuant to sections 28.3 or 28.4 of the Ontario Energy Board Act, 1998, and, if so authorized, to have the exclusive authority to conduct these activities.

2. To collect, and to facilitate the collection of, information and data and to store the information and data related to the metering of consumers' consumption or use of electricity in Ontario, including data collected from distributors and, if so authorized, to have the exclusive authority to collect and store the data.

3. To establish, to own or lease and to operate one or more databases to facilitate collecting, storing and retrieving smart metering data.

4. To provide and promote non-discriminatory access, on appropriate commercial terms, by distributors, retailers, the OPA and other persons,

i. to the information and data referred to in paragraph 2, and

ii. to the communication system that permits the Smart Metering Entity to transfer data about the consumption or use of electricity to and from its databases, including telecommunication equipment and technology and associated technology and systems.

5. To own or to lease and to operate a telecommunication system that permits the transfer of data about the consumption or use of electricity to and from its databases and telecommunication equipment and technology and any associated technologies and systems, directly or indirectly, including through one or more subsidiaries, if the Smart Metering Entity is a corporation.

6. To engage in such competitive procurement activities as are necessary to fulfil its objects or business activities.

7. To procure, as and when necessary, meters, metering equipment and technologies and any associated technologies and systems on behalf of distributors, as an agent or otherwise, directly or indirectly, including through one or more subsidiaries, if the Smart Metering Entity is a corporation.

8. To recover the costs approved by the Board associated with the conduct of its activities.

9. To undertake any other objects that are prescribed by regulation.

Status of the Smart Metering Entity

53.9 The Smart Metering Entity is not an agent of Her Majesty for any purpose and, if the Smart Metering Entity is a corporation, its subsidiaries are not agents of Her Majesty for any purpose, despite the Crown Agency Act.

Powers of Smart Metering Entity corporation

53.10 If the Minister incorporates or designates a corporation as the Smart Metering Entity, it shall have the powers of a natural person except as limited under this Act.

Mandatory provisions in articles

53.11 (1) If the Smart Metering Entity is a corporation, its articles of incorporation and of such of its subsidiaries as may be prescribed by regulation must contain the conditions, restrictions, criteria or requirements that are prescribed by regulation.

Application of Business Corporations Act

(2) Despite clause 2 (3) (a) of the Business Corporations Act, the Business Corporations Act applies to the Smart Metering Entity, if it is a corporation, except that a regulation made under this Act may provide for the non-application of provisions of the Business Corporations Act to the Smart Metering Entity.

Smart Metering Entity participation in partnerships, etc.

53.12 (1) Nothing in this Part prevents the Smart Metering Entity, if it is incorporated, from participating in partnerships, limited partnerships, joint ventures or any other transaction or arrangement that may be prescribed by regulation, subject to such conditions or restrictions as may be prescribed by regulation.

Same

(2) For the purpose of subsection (1), the Smart Metering Entity may participate in transactions or arrangements directly or indirectly as a partner, limited partner, general partner or as a participant in a joint venture or may hold an interest in, directly or through one or more subsidiaries, a partnership, limited partnership, joint venture or any other transaction or arrangement.

Reporting requirements

53.13 The Smart Metering Entity shall provide the reports and information to the Minister that the Minister requires.

Collection of consumer information

53.14 In carrying out its objects or business activities, the Smart Metering Entity,

(a) may directly or indirectly collect information and data relating to the consumption or use of electricity from consumers, distributors or any other person; and

(b) may manage and aggregate the data related to consumers' electricity consumption or use.

Reciprocal obligations concerning information

53.15 (1) Distributors, retailers and other persons shall provide the Smart Metering Entity with such information as it requires to fulfil its objects or conduct its business activities.

Restrictions on the Smart Metering Entity

(2) If the Smart Metering Entity has provided access to a distributor, retailer or another person to information under this Part, it shall not engage in a business activity prescribed by regulation if,

(a) the person to whom access has been provided is also engaged in the business activity; and

(b) the access was granted for the purpose of the person engaging in the business activity.

Obligations of distributors, etc., re: installing meters

53.16 (1) If a distributor or any person licensed by the Board to do so installs a meter or replaces an existing meter, the distributor or person shall use a meter of a type prescribed by regulation, or mandated by a code issued by the Board or by an order of the Board for the classes of property prescribed by regulation or required by the Board within the time prescribed by regulation or required by the Board.

Same

(2) A regulation, code or order referred to in subsection (1) may require that a distributor or other person take certain actions and may require that the actions be taken within a specified time.

Prohibition re: discretionary metering activities

53.17 (1) On and after November 3, 2005, no distributor shall conduct discretionary metering activities unless the distributor is authorized to conduct the activity by regulation, an order of the Board or a code issued by the Board or it is required to do so under the Electricity and Gas Inspection Act (Canada).

Definition

(2) For the purpose of this section,

"discretionary metering activity" means the installation, removal, replacement or repair of meters or associated equipment, which is not mandated by the Electricity and Gas Inspection Act (Canada), by regulation, by an order of the Board or by a code issued by the Board.

Procurement contracts, transition

53.18 (1) The Minister may direct the Smart Metering Entity to assume, as of the date the Minister considers appropriate, responsibility for exercising all powers and performing all duties of the Crown, including powers and duties to be exercised and performed through an agency of the Crown,

(a) under any request for proposals, draft request for proposals, another form of procurement solicitation issued by the Crown or through an agency of the Crown or any other initiative pursued by the Crown or through an agency of the Crown, which relate to the government's smart metering initiative that was issued or pursued after November 3, 2005 and before January 1, 2008; and

(b) under any contract that relates to the procurement of any goods or service referred to in clause (a) that was entered into by the Crown or an agency of the Crown pursuant to a request for proposal, a draft request for proposal or another form of procurement solicitation.

Release of the Crown, etc.

(2) As of the day specified in the Minister's direction under subsection (1), the Smart Metering Entity shall assume responsibility in accordance with that subsection and the Crown and any Crown agency are released from any and all liabilities and obligations with respect to the matters for which the Smart Metering Entity has assumed responsibility.

Reimbursement of costs incurred by the Crown

53.19 (1) The Smart Metering Entity shall reimburse the Crown or, if so directed by the Minister, an agency of the Crown for costs relating to the Smart Metering Entity, a procurement contract or a matter within the objects of the Smart Metering Entity, if,

(a) the costs were incurred by the Crown or an agency of the Crown after November 3, 2005 and before January 1, 2008; or

(b) the liability of the Crown or an agency of the Crown for the costs arose during the period described in clause (a).

Payment of reimbursement

(2) The Smart Metering Entity shall make the reimbursement by making one or more payments in such amount or amounts at such time or times as may be determined by the Minister.

Minister's determinations final

(3) The determinations of the Minister under subsection (2) are final and conclusive and shall not be stayed, varied or set aside by any court.

Regulations

53.20 (1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations,

(a) designating an entity as the Smart Metering Entity;

(b) prescribing the name of the Smart Metering Entity;

(c) governing the smart metering initiative;

(d) authorizing the Smart Metering Entity to have exclusive authority to conduct the metering activities referred to in section 53.8;

(e) prescribing objects for the purposes of section 53.8;

(f) prescribing, for the purposes of subsection 53.11 (1), conditions, restrictions, criteria or requirements to be included in the Smart Metering Entity's articles of incorporation and in the articles of incorporation of such of its subsidiaries as may be prescribed;

(g) prescribing subsidiaries of the Smart Metering Entity for the purposes of subsection 53.11 (1);

(h) prescribing provisions of the Business Corporations Act that do not apply to the Smart Metering Entity or to any of its subsidiaries that are prescribed;

(i) prescribing transactions or arrangements for the purposes of subsection 53.12 (1) and conditions or restrictions that apply to them;

(j) governing smart meters and the installation and maintenance of smart meters, metering equipment and technologies and any associated technologies and systems;

(k) identifying actions to be taken by the Smart Metering Entity, distributors and other persons licensed by the Board in respect of the installation of prescribed meters at prescribed locations or for prescribed classes of properties in priority to other locations or classes of property and prescribing the time within which such actions must be taken;

(l) prescribing measures to be taken by the Smart Metering Entity to facilitate the achievement of the targets associated with the smart metering initiative;

(m) identifying specific objectives or criteria applicable to the Smart Metering Entity's metering and telecommunications technologies;

(n) approving meters or a class of meters to be installed by a distributor or a person licensed by the Board, including specifying criteria which a meter must satisfy, with respect to a designated class of consumers.

General or specific

(2) A regulation may be general or specific in its application.

Commencement

3. (1) This section comes into force on the day the Energy Conservation Responsibility Act, 2005 receives Royal Assent.

Same

(2) Sections 1 and 2 come into force on a day to be named by proclamation of the Lieutenant Governor.

SCHEDULE C
AMENDMENTS TO THE
ONTARIO ENERGY BOARD ACT, 1998

1. Section 3 of the Ontario Energy Board Act, 1998 is amended by adding the following definitions:

"smart meter" means a metering device that measures and records electricity consumption or use based on its time of use or a metering device as prescribed by regulation that measures and records gas consumption in the manner prescribed by regulation; ("compteur intelligent")

"Smart Metering Entity" means the corporation incorporated, the limited partnership or the partnership formed or the entity designated pursuant to section 53.7 of the Electricity Act, 1998; ("Entité responsable des compteurs intelligents")

"smart metering initiative" means those policies of the Government of Ontario related to its decision to, over time, equip each household in Ontario with a smart meter with respect to electricity consumption and includes the commitment to meet interim and final goals for the installation of the meters; ("initiative des compteurs intelligents")

2. The Act is amended by adding the following sections:

Directives re smart metering initiative

28.3 (1) The Minister may issue, and the Board shall implement, directives approved by the Lieutenant Governor in Council relating to the government's smart metering initiative.

Directives re licence conditions

(2) The directives may require the Board, in the manner specified in the directives, to amend conditions in licences issued by the Board that relate to the Smart Metering Entity, distributors, retailers and transmitters or licences issued pursuant to section 57, including the following:

1. Conditions granting the exclusive right to the Smart Metering Entity to carry out any or all of its objects set out in section 53.8 of the Electricity Act, 1998.

2. Conditions granting the exclusive right to store information and data derived from smart meters to the Smart Metering Entity, including conditions in respect of the manner in which the information and data is stored.

3. Conditions providing for performance standards to be achieved by the Smart Metering Entity.

4. Conditions identifying agreements, including service or operating agreements, to be entered into by the Smart Metering Entity with distributors, transmitters, retailers or others and providing that the agreements must contain specific conditions, restrictions, criteria or requirements.

5. Conditions providing for circumstances in which the Smart Metering Entity shall provide a person with access to information and data relating to consumers' consumption or use of electricity collected pursuant to paragraph 2 of section 53.8 of the Electricity Act, 1998.

6. Conditions providing the Smart Metering Entity with the authority to conduct its metering activities in relation to the distribution of gas.

7. Conditions providing the Minister with exclusive authority to approve the initial base design, requirements, specifications and performance standards for smart meters or classes of smart meters to be installed for prescribed classes of consumers.

Directives re amending conditions in licences

(3) A directive may require the Board, in the manner specified in the directive, to amend conditions in licences granted to the Smart Metering Entity, distributors, transmitters, retailers or others granting the Smart Metering Entity exclusive jurisdiction in Ontario with respect to some or all of the activities it is authorized to undertake under Part IV.2 of the Electricity Act, 1998.

Publication

(4) A directive issued under this section shall be published in The Ontario Gazette.

No hearing

(5) The Board shall amend the conditions as required by a directive without holding a hearing.

Directives re regulatory and accounting treatment of costs

28.4 The Minister may issue, and the Board shall implement, directives approved by the Lieutenant Governor in Council in respect of the regulatory and accounting treatment of costs in orders made under section 78 and associated with meters owned before January 1, 2006 to ensure that distributors, transmitters, retailers or other persons are not financially disadvantaged by the implementation of the smart metering initiative.

3. Section 36 of the Act is amended by adding the following subsection:

Order of Board re Smart Metering Entity

(1.1) Neither the Smart Metering Entity nor any other person licensed to do so shall conduct activities relating to the metering of gas except in accordance with an order of the Board, which is not bound by the terms of any contract.

4. Section 57 of the Act is amended by striking out the portion before clause (a) and substituting the following:

Requirement to hold licence

57. Neither the OPA nor the Smart Metering Entity shall exercise their powers or perform their duties under the Electricity Act, 1998 unless licensed to do so under this Part and no other person shall, unless licensed to do so under this Part,

. . . . .

5. (1) Section 78 of the Act is amended by adding the following subsections:

Order re the Smart Metering Entity

(2.1) The Smart Metering Entity shall not charge for meeting its obligations under Part IV.2 of the Electricity Act, 1998 except in accordance with an order of the Board, which is not bound by the terms of any contract.

. . . . .

Rates

(3.0.1) The Board may make orders approving or fixing just and reasonable rates for the Smart Metering Entity in order for it to meet its obligations under this Act or under Part IV.2 of the Electricity Act, 1998.

Orders re deferral or variance accounts

(3.0.2) The Board may make orders permitting the Smart Metering Entity or distributors to establish one or more deferral or variance accounts related to costs associated with the smart metering initiative, in the circumstances prescribed in the regulations.

OfficeOfTheLegislativeAssemblyOfOntario

Some Finding Perils in Online Real Estate

For the last few years, real estate transactions over the Internet — where buyers need never set eyes on the property they purchase — have become increasingly common.

On eBay, the biggest online marketplace, and dozens of other Web sites with names like Bid4Assets.com and Realestatesupermarket.com, sales involving tens of thousands of dollars can occur entirely online. EBay, for example, may have more than 1,800 residential properties listed on any given day — from multimillion-dollar vacation houses in Florida to thousand-dollar fixer-uppers in the rural Midwest.

But now, with plenty of buyers eager to get in on the real estate boom, such online sites have become perfect places for unscrupulous sellers who have bought dilapidated houses at, say, foreclosure auctions, to resell, or flip, them quickly for inflated prices. Many of the deals sound too good to be true. But the gullible are lured by nice photos and a belief that online transactions on big Web sites are generally safe.

Online flipping is happening in economically distressed cities in New York, Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania. The practice, local government leaders say, is destabilizing already weakened urban neighborhoods by displacing legitimate investment.

Buffalo has been particularly hard hit by online flipping, as the city's persistent population decline and high foreclosure rates have created a glut of some 20,000 vacant houses.

"Ninety-nine percent of these online ads have some kind of fraud or lies," said Tracy Krug, a building inspector in Buffalo. "They paint a nice rosy picture: 'on a bus line, near a nice market.' They don't tell you you're going to be across the street from a crack house."

Safeguards that protect buyers, like state laws requiring disclosures about a property's condition, are rarely effective when the transaction is online. Although such laws apply to most transactions, online or not, a long-distance buyer will not necessarily know about them.

This might help explain why Greg Tanner, who says he has a knack for "turning one dollar into two dollars," is now more than $30,000 in debt.

Three years ago, Mr. Tanner, a pawnbroker in Salida, Colo., hoping to make money in real estate, went to eBay and found low-price houses for sale in Buffalo.

One ad, for a house at 173 Paderewski Drive on the city's East Side, read: "Attractive, warm, two-story home has great potential."

Forty years ago, that might have been true. Through much of the 20th century, the residents of Paderewski Drive, most of them Polish immigrants, took pride in their hard-earned homes.

But since the 1980's, as working families fled the East Side, a neighborhood increasingly vulnerable to crime, many of the houses on Paderewski and the surrounding streets have been abandoned or demolished.

Although Mr. Tanner, 48, had never set foot in Buffalo, he called the seller, a real estate investor named Scott Burton, who had paid $1,000 for the house a few months earlier. Based on what he learned from Mr. Burton, Mr. Tanner said he believed that the house was in decent shape and needed only minor repairs. Mr. Burton, who has bought and sold dozens of houses in Buffalo, could not be reached for comment.

Mr. Tanner and his business partner paid Mr. Burton $3,000 for the house on Paderewski Drive, and $10,000 for two other houses in the same area, on Lombard Street. They paid with a credit card, using PayPal. Eventually, the deeds were transferred and recorded in the Erie County clerk's office.

Two of the houses were considerably run-down, Mr. Tanner said, but it was the 130-year-old two-story house at 173 Paderewski that was to become his albatross.

Over the next few months, he paid nearly $7,000 to a Buffalo contractor, recommended by Mr. Burton, who told him that all that was needed were a few thousand dollars in repairs. After a while, the contractor reported to him that the work had been completed, Mr. Tanner said, and the house was ready to be rented. The contractor e-mailed photos to Mr. Tanner to show his work.

Counting on a profit, several months after buying the Paderewski Drive house Mr. Tanner advertised it for sale on eBay. He quickly found a buyer in Britain: Claire Fennelly, a residential landlord in West Yorkshire who was looking for investment property in the United States.

Ms. Fennelly paid $14,900 to Mr. Tanner and his business partner, and $2,500 more to the same contractor for further repairs.

Then Ms. Fennelly decided to do what Mr. Tanner had not: she and her husband got on a plane and flew to Buffalo in November 2003. When they took a cab to Paderewski Drive and arrived at the house, the cab driver refused to let them out. The neighborhood was just too dangerous, he said. When she saw the house, Ms. Fennelly said, it had missing windows, holes in the roof and the siding was gone.

"You've never seen anything like it," she said. "We sat there in the cab thinking, 'What have we done.' "

Ms. Fennelly called Mr. Tanner immediately. He said hers was the first true description of the house he had heard. He promised to pay her back and called the county clerk's office to make sure that the title would not be transferred to her. Ms. Fennelly said she was still waiting for a refund and had not taken legal action against him.

A few months later, Mr. Tanner received a Housing Court summons for a lengthy list of code violations, so he drove the 1,600 miles from Colorado to Buffalo. He said he received little sympathy from the Housing Court judge. Mr. Tanner called Mr. Burton to demand his money back, but could reach only Mr. Burton's business partner, Stephen Fox, who, Mr. Tanner said, hung up on him.

Calls placed to Mr. Burton's home in Gulfport, Miss., seeking comment about his real estate transactions, were not returned. Mr. Fox, reached in Roseburg, Ore., said Mr. Burton had no interest in commenting. (Mr. Tanner said recently that he was not pursuing any legal action against Mr. Burton or the contractor. "I'm already too drained, financially," he said.)

Sam Hoyt, a Democratic state assemblyman and co-chairman of the Buffalo mayor's task force on real estate flipping, whose aim is to educate consumers on the destructive effects of the practice, blames eBay, saying it enables dishonest flippers to lure buyers.

Mr. Hoyt said he had repeatedly appealed to eBay officials, asking the company to make specific changes, like informing sellers that they must comply with New York State disclosure laws and requiring a copy of written sales contracts. But Mr. Hoyt said he had received little cooperation from the company.

"What eBay is doing, in my opinion, is immoral," he said. "They have a responsibility to not facilitate activity like this."

Representatives of eBay say the company has few legal obligations to buyers of real estate on the site. "The people responsible for house flipping," an eBay spokesman, Hani Durzy, said, "are the people selling these houses and the people buying them sight unseen. How these sellers and buyers are connecting is not as important as the fact that the buyers are not doing the proper due diligence when buying a property."

(Although eBay holds real estate licenses in many states, it does not act as a real estate agent and does not charge a commission. Instead, it charges a flat listing fee of $100 to $300 for residential property, depending on the duration and the type of listing.)

Joe Tseng, a real estate investor from San Marino in Los Angeles County, also saw what looked like a great deal on eBay — in his case, an apartment building in Youngstown, Ohio. Mr. Tseng did fly to Ohio to inspect the property, which turned out to be a run-down and nearly vacant 11-unit building.

He withdrew from the deal, lost his $5,000 deposit, and learned a hard lesson about buying real estate online. "It's very dangerous," Mr. Tseng said.

Richard W. Hayman, president of Bid4Assets in Silver Spring, Md., agreed with Mr. Durzy that buyers needed to be cautious. "Some of this actually amazes me," he said. "People seem to think 'caveat emptor' doesn't apply when you're sitting at your computer."

Yet Ms. Fennelly, who has been shopping on eBay for years without a problem, said it was the feeling of safety she got from eBay that made her buy property before setting eyes on it. "You get lulled into a false sense of security with the name eBay, then get scammed in a big way," she said. "If it wasn't eBay, I wouldn't have gone ahead with it."

She is not alone. Mr. Krug, who has been a building inspector in Buffalo for 18 years, said he was now dealing with online buyers as far away as Australia and Israel. "You're talking all over the world, people buying stuff in Buffalo, saying, 'Nine thousand dollars. I can't beat that.' "

Michele Johnson, a resident of Buffalo's East Side and one of the founders of the task force on flipping, said she had reported hundreds of misleading real estate listings to eBay, with little effect. Still, Ms. Johnson said: "It's hard to say that taking the listings off eBay would fix the problem. These sellers are just going to find another avenue."

The house at 173 Paderewski, which was claimed by the city for back taxes Mr. Tanner had not paid, was deemed a safety hazard and razed several weeks ago. The cost of the demolition, which Buffalo expects Mr. Tanner to pay, is $9,000.

Mr. Tanner's two houses on Lombard Street were also taken by the city. They, too, are in line for demolition. Mr. Tanner, whose business partner has declared bankruptcy, said he lay in bed at night, wondering where he went wrong.

Mr. Krug said Mr. Tanner had asked him the same question. "I told him the first thing he did wrong was buy a computer," Mr. Krug said.

Leaking Bubble

"Housing inflation is the American national religion," as the late market pundit Ed Hart of the late Financial News Network used to say. And as everyone knows, we've been going through a particularly pious phase for the past few years. But it's looking like the housing religion is on the verge of a crisis of faith.

By just about any metric, the past several years have seen the most extraordinary boom in the US housing market in history, rivaling the dot-com stock market madness of the late 1990s. In the third quarter of 2005, the average new house sold in the United States cost 4.9 times the average household's yearly income, up from 3.9 in the late 1990s and eclipsing the previous record of 4.3 set in 1989. But it's not just price that set records last year--it's also the rate of turnover. Turnover of new and existing houses in the third quarter of last year was more than 16 percent of
GDP, way above its long-term average of 9 to 10 percent, and easily beating the levels reached in the housing frenzies of the 1970s and '80s.

But that's not all, as they say on TV. People haven't merely been buying houses, they've been conducting scary experiments in financial innovation. Time was, you had to come up with a hefty down payment to buy a house. No longer: In 2005 the median first-time buyer put down only 2 percent of the sales price, and 43 percent made no down payment at all. And almost a third of new mortgages in 2004 and '05 were at adjustable rates (because the initial payments are lower than on fixed-rate loans). At earlier peaks interest rates were near cyclical highs, but the past few years have seen the lowest interest rates in a generation. So adjustable mortgages are likely to adjust only one way: Up.

But there's more! People haven't been borrowing aggressively merely to buy houses--they've been borrowing against the appreciated value to buy all kinds of other stuff. Americans have been using their houses as MasterCards, turning about $726 billion of their home equity into (Borrowed) cash between 2001 and 2005. That's a big number, even by the standards of the US economy; it's equal to almost 40 percent of the growth in personal spending, and a nice compensation for the failure of the economy to generate new jobs at a vigorous pace. But since we're saving nothing these days--the personal savings rate went negative in 2005 for the first time since the Great Depression--the cash had to come from abroad. Since 2001 US foreign debt has increased by a stunning $2 trillion.

One thing can be said for the housing mania: It's kept the economy afloat since the bursting of the stock market bubble in 2000. (Wall Street economists estimate that 40 to 50 percent of the growth in GDP and employment over the last several years has been driven by the housing boom.) When the dot-coms went up in smoke,
Alan Greenspan's
Federal Reserve drove interest rates down to 1 percent to contain the economic fallout. But that "cure" is what got the housing mania going; low interest rates made borrowing irresistible, and the nation's speculative spirits were diverted away from Wall Street and toward home sweet home.

But now that all looks like it's coming to an end, thanks in part to the Fed's round of interest-rate increases. Sales volumes are slowing, prices are flattening or even declining, mortgage demand is easing and the inventory of unsold houses is rising.

So what's next? Deflating the housing bubble is likely to take some time. The housing market isn't like the stock market; it's a lot slower, and its harder to dump one's house in a panic than 1,000 shares of Pets.com. But removing the stimulus responsible for about half the economy's recent growth has to have an effect. That effect could be anything from a mild drag on an already limp economy to a real financial crisis. What it is depends on whether other sectors pick up some of the slack--say, if businesses were to start hiring and investing rather than hoarding their plentiful cash or distributing it to their stockholders.

If they don't, things could get quite unpleasant. So many households have taken on so much mortgage debt that if prices merely stop rising, they're going to find themselves under water. And the broad economy has become so dependent on home-equity credit that its withdrawal could come as a terrible shock. Maybe the economy will finally have to face the consequences of the collapse of the 1990s stock-driven boom that it managed to avoid by speculating on housing instead. In fact, the main thing arguing against that possibility is the economy's stunning ability to evade its dates with destiny time after time.

No Boom, But No Bust

Local housing providers say market remains steady.

The Texarkana housing market seems to have slowed during the winter months, though local business people involved in the housing market say it’s steady even with that downturn.

An overall assessment seems to differ depending on who is talking, but Eddie Thornton, president of the Texarkana Board of Realtors and a Realtor with Coldwell Banker, said home sales between January and early March are down from 188 sales in 2005 to 155 this year.

“From what I’ve witnessed, we still have a lot of new homes being constructed but it’s somewhat less than what it’s been the last two prior years,” Thornton said.

She said new sales have probably slowed somewhat but she sees a bright future for Texarkana, noting a slight slowdown is inevitable with “interest rate scares.”

“The bottom hasn’t fallen out of our housing market here,” Thornton said, remarking on national indicators of a new housing slowdown and a housing bubble.

“We hope we don’t. We are very positive ... we seem to be doing fine,” she said.

Moody Miller, a real estate agent with RE/MAX Preferred, said sales are still holding pretty well and he hasn’t seen a large decline.

“I think a lot of the market with the first-time buyers is still pretty strong,” Miller said.

He said he senses there’s not as much inventory of new houses right now with some slowness in the market through the winter.

He said he senses there’s not as much inventory of new houses right now with some slowness in the market through the winter.

“It was slower through the wintertime than it had been for several years,” Miller said, adding that interest rates are still reasonable and “have not skyrocketed by any means.”

“There are some nice selections in more expensive homes,” he added. “I would say we’ve got as many choices as we’ve ever had.”

Bennie Estelle, Realtor with ERA Raffaelli Realtors, said they haven’t seen much of a slowdown in the market with new homes.

“There’s a lot of building going on, a lot of retail and commercial, which means people are coming to town and they need homes,” Estelle said, noting she thinks the winter slowdown was typical.

Builder Matt Barber said recent months have been real strong after the beginning of the winter. He said he has new contracts, including some spec homes he’s built.

He said he’s been selling new homes in the $250,000 range.

“As far as the housing market goes, it’s been really strong the last couple months,” Barber said about new homes, adding he doesn’t think interest rates will curb home sales a great deal.

Jeff Castle, another builder, said he’s been seeing success with more moderately priced homes in the $140,000 to $150,000 range, which he’s done with a new addition at Meadowridge on the Arkansas side of Texarkana.

But he said home builders are seeing increased construction costs.

“We’ve had so many increases just due to raw materials,” Castle said, attributing that to the hurricanes and industrial growth in China.

He said he’s heard the home market has slowed down otherwise but it’s picked up in the last three weeks. He points out that this winter’s weather also was comparatively mild.

Debra Moore, senior vice president at Century Bank, said November through January are typically slow for mortgages and construction loans but “we got a little spoiled” in Texarkana for about five to six years when that downturn wasn’t as apparent.

Moore said in the last two years they have seen that drop off during those months, though.

But she added that she’s seeing quite a bit of interest in new homes from customers coming in to Century Bank.

“I’m actually seeing things pick up,” Moore said about the last 30 days.

Positive thoughts were shared by Sharon Pace, senior vice president at Red River Federal Credit Union, who said the slowdown is seen from December to February.

“I really can’t say that we’ve seen a decline,” she said.

But she said RRFCU is also working to make buying more attractive, particularly with first-time buyers.

“It may be because we’re more aggressively pursuing real estate loans than we have in the past,” Pace said, adding Red River that has created a number of products to attract those customers.

“We are really striving to help them,” she said, adding she thinks it will be easier to judge the new housing situation farther into the season.

MacKAY House - 27 Unique Condominium Residences in Ottawa

MacKAY House - 27 Unique Condominium Residences in Ottawa

The old adage really rings true at Rideau Hall, home of the Governor General and your new neighbor. MacKay House, Uniform Urban Developments' luxury condominium in peaceful New Edinburgh, offers you not only the finest in high luxury, but the finest neighborhood - where history lies at your doorstep.

Designed by Barry J. Hobin and associates, Architects, MacKay House makes a statement about who you are and how you live.

Priced from $302,000 to $835,000

By UniForm Urban Development

Unstable Housing Boom in Canada

New home construction numbers were stronger than expected last month, but experts warn Canada's housing market is ready to take a rest.

Housing starts slipped 2.9% to 240,900 on an annualized basis in February, from 248,100 in January, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. figures released yesterday.

But industry observers had been expecting starts to drop to 231,000, BMO Nesbitt Burns chief economist Sherry Cooper said in a research note.

"After an incredibly warm January, February's chillier temperatures only managed to cool housing activity modestly," Cooper wrote.

Despite the month-over-month slippage, starts for the first two months of 2006 were 16% above the same period last year, Scotia Economics analyst Sarah Hughes observed.

Ottawa housing starts for the first two months of 2006 were up 8% from the year-ago period.

LOSING STEAM

February's strong performance, "combined with the blockbuster reading of January, (means) starts in the first quarter of 2006 are on track to be their highest level in the current housing cycle," said TD Bank economist Sebastien Lavoie.

He noted that strong national numbers mask a wide divergence in regional performance. But, overall, Canada's housing market is expected to lose steam.

"Don't get used to it," Benjamin Tal, senior economist at CIBC World Markets, said of the numbers.

Tal said it's important to keep in mind that housing starts are declining. And he believes the current strength is a sign that homebuilders and homebuyers are jumping into the market before it softens further.

"It's what we usually see at the end of the cycle," Tal said.

Along with higher prices and mortgage rates, a rising inventory of unsold new homes is expected to temper activity, Scotiabank's Hughes said.

Fuel Cell in the Minto 'Phantom' house

It's actually a fully automated research house built on the Ottawa campus of the National Research Council (NRC) to study various energy conservation and environmental technologies and materials for new-home construction.

It just happens to be occupied by a phantom family of two adults and two children.

It was also the first home in Canada to get its heat and electricity from a fuel cell. The home was even able to feed its excess electricity back into the city's electrical grid.

Twin homes were built on the NRC campus in 1998 by Minto Developments Inc. and nobody lives in either.

One house keeps getting new technology. The other is called the reference house and remains as it was built, so researchers can measure the differences.

The Canadian Centre for Housing Technology is a $1.5-million facility that comprises the twin homes and the CCHT InfoCentre, built by Minto in 1999.

The centre is a joint venture by three government agencies: the NRC, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. and Natural Resources Canada, according to research manager Mike Swinton, who also works as a researcher at the NRC.

A computer in the research house runs a teenager's shower for 15 minutes a day. It doesn't pound on the bathroom door, but merely shuts the water off. It allows two traditional showers a day, lasting five minutes each. And the computer fills the bathtub once a day with hot water. Researchers have decided the phantom family will share the bath water.

The lights stay on all night in the bedrooms because researchers use 60-watt light bulbs in various rooms to simulate the heat given off by an adult body. Each child produces heat equivalent to a 40-watt bulb. When the lights are on in the bedrooms all night, it means they're sleeping.

Even the family dog is represented, but that lonely light lives in the basement.

Swinton says the dog light also serves as a safety feature for researchers, who head down into the windowless basement to read meters.

Many companies test their new ideas in technology and materials for building in the experimental home before deciding if it is ready for the open market.

Fuel Cell Technologies Ltd. of Kingston installed a fuel cell in the test house last March for a three-month experiment.

Vikram Varma, director of corporate development at the Kingston firm, is not permitted to fully disclose the results of the experiment, but admits, "We are very happy with the results we got. They were beyond what we anticipated."

He notes there are no homes operating in Canada today with a fuel cell, which uses hydrogen and oxygen as fuel.

The chemical reaction of combining oxygen and hydrogen produces electricity and heat, and the exhaust is merely water.

Swinton says the fuel cell in the Ottawa test house produced spatial heat, hot water and electricity for the home, and also dumped excess electricity into the city's grid system.

Varma says the firm will conduct further testing of its residential fuel cell at the Hydrogen Village on Mississauga's Erindale campus of the University of Toronto.

The village is a joint venture of academia, business and government, designed to accelerate the commercialization of hydrogen fuel cells.

Each test house in Ottawa has more than seven kilometres of wiring and is crammed full of monitoring devices.

The two-storey twin homes are fully bricked and are 2,100 square feet in size, with four bedrooms and an attached two-car garage.

Swinton says Minto built many of the same model, called the Sierra, at one of its housing projects on Ottawa's east side.

"One of our researchers liked the test house so much that he went out and bought the same house from Minto on the east side," he says.

Swinton notes heating, cooling and ventilating technology are the most studied procedures in the test home. Windows are changed regularly, as manufacturers produce new window technology and designs to be tested.

He says a variety of new technologies to reduce energy use are being tested, but he can't be more specific because confidentiality is another big part of the government/business relationship in the studies.

A Japanese firm is currently testing a geothermal ventilation system it installed in the house. The device draws outside air into an underground tube, which heats or cools the air, depending on the season, before it goes into the house.

Water in the tube cleans impurities from the air.

The phantom family also play host to visitors from throughout Europe and Asia, who come to study Canada's world-leading house construction and design techniques.

Swinton says the test house welcomes an average of one delegation a week.

Dip in Housing Starts Signals Slower Growth

Housing starts on an annual basis slipped to 240,900 in February from 248,100 in January and CMHC is predicting more moderation this year as prices and interest rates rise.

"Despite the modest decline, the rate of housing starts in February continued to be very strong," said Bob Dugan, chief economist at the federal housing agency's market analysis centre. "However, we expect activity to moderate over the course of 2006, as higher mortgage carrying costs due to rising house prices and modest mortgage rate increases contribute to a softening of demand for both existing and new housing."

The seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts fell 3.3 per cent to 208,300 units last month, with decreases in both single and multiple starts. Multiple starts eased by 2.0 per cent to 101,400 units and single starts fell back 4.6 per cent to 106,900 units.

The agency said a vibrant economy in Western Canada pushed starts higher in both British Columbia and the Prairies.

Urban starts on the Prairies rose 11.5 per cent to 45,400 units while in British Columbia they surged 22.6 per cent to 39,100 units. In the rest of the country, urban starts were down, with the sharpest declines in the Atlantic region (down 16.8 per cent to 10,900) and Ontario (off 15.1 per cent to 73,700 units).

Meanwhile, in another possible sign of a housing market cooldown, a recent survey by the Royal Bank suggests fewer Canadians are "very likely" to buy in the near future.

The Royal Bank survey of buying intentions over the next two years found the share of those people saying they were very likely to buy had dropped to 10 per cent — down from 13 per cent last year and at the lowest point in more than five years.

The percentage of those who plan to buy a home in the next six months also fell — to 8 per cent, down from 10 per cent last year.

Yet, overall intentions to buy a home within two years remained the same as in 2005 at 29 per cent, with 90 per cent of current homeowners saying they thought their home was a great investment.

New Project in Ottawa by Charlesfort - Hudson

The Hudson is a new comdomonium project by Charlesfort.

The Hudson is all about urban living — Manhattan style. That means being close to everything that is great about this city.

The Hudson stands at the southern edge of Ottawa's Upper Town, close to the heart of the business district as well as fine restaurants like renowned Beckta's, friendly pubs and funky tapas bars, shopping from Holt Renfrew to record stores, shady parks and classic architecture.

Wake to the sound of church bells on a quiet Sunday morning, walk to work or dinner, or hop on your bike to connect with the Ottawa River Parkway.

Priced from only $157,500 and located on Kent St between Nepean & Lisgar. Fall 2007 occupancy.

Early Occupancy Bonus at West River Park

Just take a look at Phase One of West River Park. This enclave of brand new condominium parkside terrace homes and elegant freehold townhomes is tucked inside a well-established west Ottawa neighbourhood. All around, majestic deciduous trees and shrubs have been preserved. A mature apple-tree grove is right behind it, providing sensational fragrances and visual delights in the springtime. A wonderful bicycle trail and footpath right besides West River Park connects the neighbourhood of mainly single-family homes to NCC parklands which surround the Ottawa River Parkway, and many other amenities, including access to the transit system.

Construction is well underway, drawing growing interest from area residents and others who love the community and appreciate the beauty of these homes. Fifty per cent of the Parkside Terrace homes are already sold out. There are only a limited number of homes remaining for summer occupancy, so don’t wait!

The remaining two- and three-bedroom parkside terrace homes are available in four different styles. They range from 1,090 to 1,225 sq. ft. and are priced starting at $216,900. The two remaining semi-detached homes are approximately 1,526 sq. ft., and are priced at $303,900. There is also one 1,995-sq.-ft. freehold townhome which is an end unit featuring a dramatic western exposure. It is available for June occupancy and is priced at $344,900. One parking space is included with every home, and now, you also get great early occupancy bonuses. Consider that in addition to six free appliances, each home also gets a fireplace. Furthermore, there is an additional $3,000 parkside terrace Home early occupancy bonus! In fact you can top off this great deal by moving in quickly. Occupancies are available for this summer – by the end of June 2006!

Why wait? Homes are sure to sell quickly. The beautiful designs are spacious inside and outside. They reflect updates of traditional Cape Cod architecture, with plenty of windows, dormers and no-maintenance brick exteriors. They are attracting young professionals, singles, 30-something couples and active people wishing to be in a convenient central location, close to recreation and entertainment opportunities and who want to live maintenance-free. Many are already familiar with the neighbourhood and nearby Westboro Village, having grown up there or lived close by.

West River Park is enveloped by expansive NCC lands which stretch as far as the eye can see in both directions. West River Park is wrapped on one side by the Ottawa River Parkway just north of Carling Avenue (the Western Parkway). Residents can simply lock-and-leave, enjoying travel and recreational lifestyles without the worry of security or upkeep.

Shopping and other services are plentiful along Carling Avenue. You’ll find big-box stores, the Lincoln Fields Shopping Centre in one direction, the Carlingwood Shopping Centre i