In this edition:
- Monday declared a National Day of Mourning, provincial holiday not required
- Port Colborne approves affordable housing strategy and Niagara Regional Housing partnership
- Welland seeks input on Transportation Master Plan
- Group plans high speed hovercraft link from Niagara to Toronto
- Building homes next to dry docks a no-go with St. Catharines council — again
- Manufacturing sales decline for third month in a row
Monday declared a National Day of Mourning, Province will not require holiday
The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, has announced that September 19, 2022, will be a National Day of Mourning in Canada, to mark the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. This coincides with Her Late Majesty’s State Funeral in London, United Kingdom, and the end of the official period of mourning in Canada.
However, Ontario Premier Doug Ford stated in a separate announcement that Monday would not be a provincial holiday, although he said the people of Ontario could observe a moment of silence at 1 p.m.
Statutory holidays in Canada can only be granted through legislation, which must pass through the House of Commons and the Senate, and receive Royal Assent.
For a list of federally-regulated industries that would observe the holiday, click here.
Port Colborne approves affordable housing strategy and Niagara Regional Housing partnership
The City of Port Colborne is taking action to create more affordable housing units and more housing supply through a new strategy and partnership.
At its Sept. 13, 2022, council meeting, Port Colborne council approved report 2022-201, an affordable housing strategy and action plan presented by Tim Welch Consulting (TWC). At the same meeting, council also approved report 2022-168, a partnership with Niagara Regional Housing (NRH) that will provide a surplus city property to NRH for the development of affordable housing units.
Welland seeks input on Transportation Master Plan
The City of Welland has initiated the development of a Transportation Master Plan (TMP) to provide the City with a long-term road network and active transportation strategies that will support existing needs and accommodate further projected population and employment growth. Residents and stakeholders are invited to provide feedback and ask questions at every stage of the study.
The City will hold two public open houses during the study to share information and receive input from the public. Details, including the date, time, and how to participate in each public open house will be announced in a subsequent notice and posted on the project webpage at www.engagewelland.ca/transportation-master-plan-study.
Click here to read more (PDF link).
Group plans high speed hovercraft link from Niagara to Toronto
A high speed hovercraft commuter service is on the way for Niagara.
Hoverlink Ontario is promising to launch a 30 minute service next summer that will link Ontario Place in Toronto to Port Weller in St. Catharines.
The group says it will be the first of its kind in North America and will hold up to 180 passengers.
Building homes next to dry docks a no-go with St. Catharines council — again
A developer who wants to build a residential community next to the Port Weller Dry Docks and lost an appeal at the Ontario Land Tribunal when the city said no, was again told Monday night it isn’t going to happen.
St. Catharines city councillors unanimously denied an application to convert the property at 406 Lakeshore Road from employment, or industrial lands, to neighbourhood residential.
“This council, as well as the city and the Region, have been very consistent in our decision-making moving forward that this site was to remain an employment area,” director of planning and building services Tami Kitay said.
Manufacturing sales decline for third month in a row
Manufacturing sales fell 0.9% to $71.6 billion in July, the third consecutive monthly decline, on lower sales in 12 of 21 industries, led by the primary metal (-9.9%), petroleum and coal product (-5.3%), and furniture and related products (-11.2%) industries. Meanwhile, sales of food (+2.5%), motor vehicle parts (+10.7%), and paper products (+8.1%) industries increased the most.
Focus on Climate
Amazon’s cloud CEO says sustainability efforts and profits ‘don’t have to be at odds’
CNBC
Making profits and doing right by shareholders and working on ways to protect the environment and mitigate climate change are not mutually exclusive, Adam Selipsky, CEO of cloud leader Amazon Web Services (AWS), told CNBC on Monday.
In an interview for “Mad Money” with Jim Cramer, Selipsky said the entire company of Amazon is aiming to be net-zero carbon by 2040, a decade earlier than set out in the Paris climate agreement.
Sustainability and profits “don’t have to be at odds,” Selipsky said, pointing to examples at Amazon and AWS that make good business sense by the sheer fact that they are better for the environment such as cloud data centers that are energy efficient.
Coalition on climate adaptation says Canada needs hard targets on disaster resilience
CBC News
A broad coalition on climate adaptation and disaster resilience says air conditioning should become a human right on par with winter heating — one of a series of hard targets it says Canada needs to meet in the next few years as climate change impacts increase.
“We’re focusing on the immediate term,” said Blair Feltmate, head of the University of Waterloo’s Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation.
“What is still missing with the federal government is a lack of a sense of the need to act with urgency.”
Through the Daily Updates, the GNCC aims to deliver important business news in a timely manner. We disseminate all news and information we feel will be important to businesses. Inclusion in the Daily Update is not an endorsement by the GNCC.
