The Buzz
LATITUDE
SUSTAINABLE LIVING Edmonton’s new Blatchford community will be one of the largest sustainable communities on the planet. It will boast abundant park spaces, multi-use roadways to encourage walking and cycling, accessible transit, and high-efficiency buildings fueled by renewable energy. -artist rendering courtesy City of Edmonton
and the contractor. The line was originally scheduled to open in April 2014. -Caitlin Crawshaw
road projects, two disaster mitigation projects, one public transit project, and a solid waste management project round out the list. The funding was awarded using a merit-based scoring system that looked at factors like public safety, environmental stewardship, and economic development. The need for infrastructure improvements is still great — there were nearly 300 applications submitted totaling $1.1 billion. -Corinne Lutter
were laid off in recent months, the result of sustained low oil prices. The numbers show that Canada’s gross domestic product (GDP) has declined for the past two quarters. It fell by an annualized rate of 0.5 per cent between April and June, after dropping by 0.8 per cent from January to March. There’s some good news, though. StatsCan also reported 0.5 per cent growth in June, thanks to exports, house- hold consumption, and international trade. A TD Economics report released earlier this summer predicts that Alberta’s economy will shrink by 0.9 per cent in 2015, after growing by 4.5 per cent in 2014. The company pointed to a decline in the construction sector, a reduction in oilpatch capital spending, and a 10 per cent drop in new homes being built. -Caitlin Crawshaw
FUNDING APPROVED FOR 56 MUNICIPAL INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS
New funding for 56 municipal in- frastructure projects in Alberta will help smaller communities improve drinking water and wastewater systems, road- ways, disaster mitigation, public transit, and solid waste management. The total combined federal, provincial, and munici- pal investment in the 56 projects is nearly $414 million. The funding, announced in July, comes from the Small Communities Fund, which offers grants to municipali- ties with fewer than 100,000 residents. Of the 56 projects, 24 are for pro- viding drinking water and another 24 are for handling wastewater. Four major
RECESSION CONFIRMED BY STATSCAN
It’s official. Statistics Canada announced earlier this month that the country is in the midst of a recession. That won’t come as a surprise to the many oil industry employees who
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