Category: Economic

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Economic

Bank of Canada publishes 2017 schedule for policy interest rate announcements and release of the Monetary Policy Report


Available as: PDF

The Bank of Canada today published its 2017 schedule of the key dates for policy interest rate announcements and release of the quarterly Monetary Policy Report, and it reconfirmed the scheduled announcement dates for the remainder of this year.

The scheduled announcement dates from September 2016 through December 2016 are reconfirmed as follows:

  • Wednesday 7 September
  • Wednesday 19 October*
  • Wednesday 7 December

The scheduled announcement dates for 2017 are the following:

  • Wednesday 18 January*
  • Wednesday 1 March
  • Wednesday 12 April*
  • Wednesday 24 May
  • Wednesday 12 July*
  • Wednesday 6 September
  • Wednesday 25 October*
  • Wednesday 6 December

*Monetary Policy Report published

All rate announcements will be made at 10:00 (ET), and the Monetary Policy Report will continue to be published concurrently with the January, April, July and October rate announcements.



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Alberta Economic Ft Mac Health

Nutrition North Canada Program Adds Dozens of Communities Including Fort Chipewyan

The Nutrition North Canada Program has added dozens of communities to the food subsidy program, and Fort Chipewyan is one of those added. The program helps subsidize the cost for food shipments because the communities are remote or difficult to access so the cost of shipping food in must be considered in the final cost. A number of tehse communities can only be reached by air during much of the year. According to Grand Chief of Treaty 8 First Nations of Alberta and the Mikisew Cree First Nation leader Chief Steve Courtoreille “It’s been a long time coming and disappointing it’s been overlooked for so long, holding us at the mercy of high food prices. In a community as far north as ours, getting nutritious food has been a struggle for seniors, for the sick and for those on fixed-incomes. It’s unfortunately been like that for years.”

Fort Chipewyan is the only Alberta community to be added to the Nutrition North Canada program, the rest of the added communities are from other provinces. Chief Courtoreille said “I can’t stress how vital this is for us. Our next step is to look at how this will work and how we can distribute cheaper healthy food, but this is a big deal.” The Fort Chipewyan community will hopefully gain better access to fresh foods which are healthy, like fresh fruits and vegetables, which can be offered at reasonable prices. It is hoped that this in turn will help lower the rate of diabetes and obesity for the entire community, promoting better choices and a healthier style of eating.

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Alberta Economic Ft Mac

Fort McMurray First Nation Chosen as Cleanup Contractor by SPECS

SPECS has made a choice for cleanup contractor who will help Fort McMurray recover from the wildfire, and the contractor chosen was the Fort McMurray First Nation #469. The group will serve as the primary contractor responsible for all demolition and clean up operations in the Beacon Hill, Abasand, and Waterways neighbourhoods. Christina River Construction Ltd. Is owned by the band and the company beat out over a dozen candidates for the project. The First Nations group announced that they were awarded the project on their Facebook page. Many local residents and contractors were pushing for local companies to be involved in the clean up and recovery, and the news that the project was given to locals was met with enthusiasm.

Chief Ron Kreutzer released a statement about the First McMurray First Nation being awarded the project by SPECS, saying “We have no illusions about the magnitude of the job that lies ahead. FMFN 468 is both extremely honoured and proud to have been provided the opportunity and responsibility to contribute to and support the reconstruction and recovery efforts.” Also being considered were the Fort McKay First Nation Bouchier Group of Companies and the McMurray Métis Group, as well as several other local contractors. All of the candidates were required to meet certain criteria before they could even be considered. Any company had to have a minimum bond amount of $10 million, and must be able to oversee up to 8 sites at a time as part of the project. A site could consist of one or two home or an entire neighbourhood.

Categories
Economic Ft Mac Politics

A Property Tax Cut approved by Wood Buffalo Council

The Wood Buffalo council has approved a property tax cut, with councillors voting to set the property tax rate for 2016 at 2% lower than the 2015 property tax rate levels. Residents and businesses both could use a little relief right bow after everything that has happened, and though 2% may seem small it is a step in the right direction to get Fort McMurray and Wood Buffalo back on track for the future. Many lost their homes and most if not all of their possessions when the wildfire swept through Wood Buffalo, but some have homes and buildings that are damaged but that can be repaired. The costs may be high though, and a property tax bill that is smaller could be seen as a big plus for those who must come up with the money to pay these bills.

Some question whether a property tax cut is the right thing for the Wood Buffalo council to do at this time though. The municipality has a current cash flow problem, understandable after everything that happened, and a cut in property tax rates will not address that issue right now. Councillor Germain explained that the tax cut would not impact the core budget for 2016 and this was enough to sway enough councillors for the tax cut to pass. All five of the property tax classes which cover the municipality will see a small break on their 2016 property tax rates. Hopefully this small break will help residents and businesses in Wood Buffalo recover a little sooner while not taking too much of the revenue that the municipality needs to get things back to the way they used to be.

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Economic Ft Mac

$140,000 Samsung Donation to Fort McMurray Public School District for New Technology

A recent Samsung donation in the amount of $140,000 will go towards helping improve classroom technology at the Fort McMurray Public School District. In addition to the donation for local schools Samsung is also donating $100,000 in cash to the Canadian Red Cross to help in efforts to rebuild the community and get things back to normal once more after the wildfire and evacuation. A news release by Mark Childs, the Chief Brand Officer of Samsung Canada, stated “The teamwork, strength, and spirit demonstrated by Fort McMurray residents since the tragedy stuck in May continues to be an inspiration for our entire team.” Schools which had a close proximity to the fire lost much of their technology resources, and the budget is not enough to cover replacing all of the technology that was lost in time for the school year to start.

Fort McMurray Public School District director of technology Ali Syed was grateful for the Samsung donation. According to Syed “We sustained some heavy losses due to smoke damage. We’re really excited about this, it’s a fantastic opportunity,” he said. “[Teachers] can use it in language arts, math, science and geography. It’s just all about the kids.” The donated technology will be used in local schools which have technology trade academies and STEM camps first. These schools include Westview Elementary, Fort McMurray Islamic School, Dr. K.A. Clark, Fort McMurray Christian School, Greely Road, and the Timberlea and Christina Gordon combined schools. Syed explained that “We see the greatest impact of this donation in these particular schools. They were the most affected by the wildfire.”

Categories
Alberta Economic Ft Mac

Insurance Costs for Fort McMurray Wildfire Claims Already $3.58 Billion

Insurance costs for wildfire claims in Fort McMurray are already estimated to be around $3.58 billion, making this wildfire the costliest so far in the history of Canada. 2,400 buildings were destroyed and thousands of people were displaced because of the wildfire, not to mention the evacuation of the entire area. A recent Insurance Bureau of Canada report gives this amount, and the report includes initial disaster estimates based on insurer surveys collected so far. Insurance Bureau of Canada vice-president Bill Adams explained “While this event is largely an insured one, the numbers fall well short of measuring the real tragedy of this wildfire – one that has taken an immense toll on thousands of individuals and families.” According to Adams the recent wildfire was one of the “most horrific and damaging natural disasters in Canadian history.”

The insurance costs for Fort McMurray wildfire claims are enormous, but what does this mean for policyholders and those who buy insurance in the near future? Will rates skyrocket because of the huge losses that insurance companies are facing because of the wildfire damage and claims? While the cost to insurance companies will be massive what happens to those who lost everything and had no insurance to cover these losses? Many in Fort McMurray are now facing this harsh reality. These costs are also probably in the millions or more, but individuals will have to cover these expenses on their own. There are programs and hotlines that can be used for those who have nothing left and who did not have insurance to cover their losses.