Category: Economic

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Economic Ft Mac

Downtown Fort McMurray Now Offers Back to Business Resource Centre

A new Back to Business Resource Centre is finally open in downtown Fort McMurray, giving local businesses and companies a single centralized location where they can find resources and information that they need. The centre was funded by the Alberta province and it is located at 9816 Hardin St. on the first floor of the building. In a press release Minister of Economic Development and Trade Deron Bilous explained that “We want to be there with owners and workers through the challenges ahead and this one-stop-shop will make it easier for them to get tools and support from local organizations who understand their unique needs.” Mayor Melissa Blake stated “We want to thank the Government of Alberta for their generous support. These funds will allow us to make sure our local business owners can get back to a new business as usual.”

The downtown Fort McMurray Back to Business Resource Centre was made possible because of a partnership between many different entities. The provincial government took care of funding concerns, and the centre was coordinated by Wood Buffalo Economic Development. Other partners involved in making the centre a reality included the Fort McMurray Chamber of Commerce, the Northeastern Alberta Aboriginal Business Association, Community Futures Wood Buffalo, the Fort McMurray Construction Association, and the Insurance Bureau of Canada. The centre is intended to be a portal which allows local businesses to access resources which can help them return to operation after the fire and evacuation. There are also business specialists who can offer guidance and support as well as business planning help.

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Economic

Statement of G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors


We, G7 Ministers and Governors, respect the intention expressed today by the people of the United Kingdom to exit from the European Union. We are monitoring market developments following the outcome of the referendum on the UK’s membership of the EU.

We affirm our assessment that the UK economy and financial sector remain resilient and are confident that the UK authorities are well-positioned to address the consequences of the referendum outcome.

We recognize that excessive volatility and disorderly movements in exchange rates can have adverse implications for economic and financial stability.

G7 central banks have taken steps to ensure adequate liquidity and to support the functioning of markets. We stand ready to use the established liquidity instruments to that end.

We will continue to consult closely on market movements and financial stability, and cooperate as appropriate.

We remain united and continue to maintain our solidarity as G7.



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Economic Entertainment Ft Mac Sports

More Spots Opened at MacDonald Island for Free Summer Camp

An additional number of spots for the free summer camp program at MacDonald Island for Wood Buffalo children have been opened up due to the high demand for the program. The program is possible because of a partnership between MacDonald Island Park and Scotiabank. The RRC struggled to keep pace with the demand as the initial spots were rapidly filled up for the first camp session so 350 more spots have been opened to the program. The Anzac Recreation Centre also offered an extra 270 spots as well. According to RRC CEO Annette Antoniak “We’re really excited about it. We had a huge turnout for the first session of registrations.” Increasing the spots open to local children will ensure that kids who qualify will have an opportunity to attend summer camp for a week.

The free summer camp program at MacDonald Island Park offers kids in the area a chance to be kids again after everything that they have gone through and lost. Adults and children both have had to leave their homes, face uncertainty and instability, and struggle just to get by while they were under an evacuation order. Many people lost property, belongings, and even their homes when the wildfire swept the area. This can be a big source of emotional trauma for children. Many parents could not afford summer camp tuition because of all the other unexpected expenses. The program gives kids the chance to be with other kids, to run and play, and to forget even if only for a little while how their world has changed for the worse in recent months.

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Alberta Economic Ft Mac Politics

Alberta Will Receive $300 Million in Federal Disaster Funds

Alberta will receive an advance payment of $300 million in disaster funds in early July, with the payment coming from the Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements program according to a recent announcement about the payment. This payment is an interim funding payment which is based on a preliminary review of the wildfire damage in the province. According to a press release from federal Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale “The Government of Canada is moving quickly to make federal funds available for Alberta to alleviate the financial burden of recovery from the northern wildfires.” In addition another $90 million in Red Cross donations will be matched by the federal government and $30 million in donations to the Red Cross will be matched by the provincial government. The news release also detailed the fact that “Both governments are working closely with the Red Cross to determine how the funds can be best used to support recovery efforts in the impacted communities.”

Danielle Larivee, Municipal Affairs Minister for Alberta, discussed why the disaster funds alone are not enough to prevent future wildfire events in Alberta. “Alberta appreciates the support of our federal government and all Canadians as we continue to deal with a difficult situation. Much work remains ahead in the recovery of Fort McMurray. An even greater challenge is mitigating the risk of similar disasters in the future. We look forward to working with the federal government and other partners across Canada to make this happen.” Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo Wildrose MLA Tany Yao called for a review of logging and firefighting practices, saying “It is just about time to start taking a look at reviewing our strategies for how we do logging and fight forest fires. That’s something I want to see the province work with the federal government on. Hopefully we learn, because we obviously did not learn from Slave Lake.”

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Alberta Canada Economic Ft Mac Politics

Pay Dispute Causes South African Firefighters to Leave Early

A group of South African firefighters are leaving Canada earlier than expected because of a pay dispute, and Alberta Premier Rachel Notley is vowing to ensure that these firefighters receive every penny that they were initially promised. According to Notley “I can say right now that every hour that every firefighter from South Africa — or anywhere else — has worked on these fires will be compensated in accordance with our laws in this province. Alberta engaged in a contract that was constructed with the understanding that it would facilitate minimum levels of pay to those firefighters. We were disturbed to learn very recently the reports that that has not carried through to the firefighters. While it is a dispute between the firefighters and their agency … it’s not acceptable to me and to my government that we would have people working for wages in our province that do not align with our labour laws.”

The pay dispute between South African firefighters and their agency has led to a government investigation. Notley explained that the contract the province entered into with the agency called for firefighters to receive approximately $170 per day, or $21.25 per hour for an 8 hour shift. Travel, lodging, and food costs were also covered for the firefighters by the government. The agency involved, Working On Fire, disagrees that it was supposed to pay the firefighters $21 per hour, saying that they were instead supposed to receive the usual stipend that they get in South Africa plus any overtime, as well as a $50 payment per day for going to Canada and working. The agency also claims that the additional $50 per day was to be paid in two parts, with $15 in advance and $35 once the firefighters returned home.

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Economic

Unlocking fintech’s promise requires collaboration, says Senior Deputy Governor Wilkins


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Technological innovation in financial services could transform the financial system, Bank of Canada Senior Deputy Governor Carolyn Wilkins said today. But realizing the benefits of fintech, while guarding against the risks it could create, requires strong collaboration among actors in the financial system.

“By working together, we can unlock the full promise of fintech to ensure a smooth evolution to tomorrow’s financial system—safe, sound and serving the people who rely on it,” Senior Deputy Governor Wilkins said in a speech to Payments Canada in Calgary, Alberta.

Senior Deputy Governor Wilkins said she expects fintech to lead to an evolution across a broad range of financial services, rather than the revolution some predict. A combination of factors points to the potential for change: customers are more demanding, large non-financial players are entering the space and the inefficiency of some financial services is opening the door for competition. But, despite the hype, “incumbent financial institutions will adapt, new players will join the financial ecosystem and those with strong business models will survive,” she said.

“While fintech innovations promise to solve some current problems, they could also create new ones,” Senior Deputy Governor Wilkins noted. These include operational and financial risks, moral hazard and “too big to fail.” Authorities must assess these innovations in light of their impact on consumer protection, financial inclusion, market integrity, competition policy and financial stability. “Authorities should support innovation, but the bar will be high, especially for core financial services, and appropriately so,” she added.

The Bank of Canada’s priority is to see upgrades made to the core payment systems that the financial system relies on and that the Bank oversees. “Now is the time to make our core systems more efficient and competitive,’’ Senior Deputy Governor Wilkins said.

One area that is attracting attention is distributed ledger technology (DLT), the protocol that underpins Bitcoin. DLT may hold great potential, but important technical, governance and regulatory issues must be resolved before its benefits can be realized.

The Bank has an ambitious research agenda dedicated to fintech questions and has formed a partnership with Payments Canada, Canadian banks and R3, which leads a consortium of financial institutions, to conduct applied research into a DLT-based payment system. This experimental project will be an opportunity to deepen our understanding of the technology’s mechanics, limits, risks and possibilities, she said.



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