Plans are in place to transform lands northeast of Edmonton - Alberta's Industrial Heartland - into a bitumen-upgrading, petrochemical-producing, industrial mecca! How will this impact our community?

Some reflections on how the top 20% of earners (including Alberta’s politicians) are growing the gap between themselves and the rest of us.   And further what this growing gap says about how our society increasingly values some types of work over other types of work.

Meanwhile, social assistance clients and seniors' benefits received a zero increase in recent provincial budget, and AISH recipients received an increase on January 1 that lagged behind inflation.

Statistics Canada released the 2006 numbers from its annual survey of the incomes of Canadian families today. At first blush, the low income (poverty) numbers for Alberta and metro Edmonton look good. As it turns out though much of the improvement was due to the one-off Ralph Bucks sent to each Albertan that year.

Most immigrants to Canada settle in Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal.  What effect does this choice of location have on their economic well-being?

 In a dramatic turnaround, the Canada Mortage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) released figures yesterday showing that new home construction starts in March 2008 are down a whopping 61 per cent compared to the same month last year.   Both single family and condo construction are down sharply.