The Official Moncton, NB Project Thread

[ErickMontreal]

Challenges face Greater Moncton's booming economy

May 24, 2007 - 1:33 pm
By: Allan Dearing - News 91.9 Staff

MONCTON, NB - Greater Moncton is driving New Brunswick's economy according to a new workforce survey, but the region still faces challenges.

Enterprise Greater Moncton launched the survey last year to gather detailed knowledge about employers and their needs.

With a low unemployment rate, aging population and companies needing more skilled workers, the region faces challenges to sustain growth.

Spokesperson Patrick Goguen says Greater Moncton needs to roll out the welcome mat.

"We say we are culturally diverse and open but when we compare to other regions, honestly we don't know what multiculturalism is. When you walk down the street you can tell. When you walk down the street in Montreal it is different. So we have to adjust to the changing times, we have to be open to that."

Besides stepping up immigration, Goguen says the region needs to keep young graduates here, bring back former residents and bring in workers from other parts of Canada.

More than 700 companies representing 40 percent of Greater Moncton's workforce took part in the survey.

[ErickMontreal]

New plan for $47M Metro justice centre

Province to seek public-private partnership for downtown project; Location to be announced 'in next few weeks

Times & Transcript Staff
Published Tuesday May 29th, 2007
Appeared on page A1

Premier Shawn Graham announced here yesterday that his government will engage private developers to build a $47-million justice building for downtown Moncton and that the project could start before year's end.

Breaking the big news to the Moncton Rotary Club at its regular weekly luncheon at the Beauséjour Hotel, the premier described a more ambitious project than the $28-million facility announced by the previous government two years ago for the northeast corner of Boulevard Assomption and Westmorland Street.

No location was named yesterday but in a subsequent meeting with The Times & Transcript's editorial board the premier intimated, as he has done previously, that the original site might be off the table due to concerns over possible environmental contamination there.

Government will now study various models for a public-private partnership for the facility and choose one in about two weeks, said the premier.

A news release accompanying yesterday's announcement said details on a location "will be released in the next few weeks."

The premier said that he expects to issue a request for proposals for construction by early September, adding that ground could be broken before the end of the year.

What all that means is that government will spend the next two weeks deciding whether or not to use a site already owned by the province or to increase the options by looking at privately owned land, said Nicole Picot, the premier's communications director.

Picot added that the province wants to make the process of choosing the site "as open as possible."

That means Monctonians will likely know where the justice building is going to be located by the end of June or early July and that they will know who is going to built it by the end of September or early October.

Former Premier Bernard Lord had envisioned a building dedicated for the most part to courthouses but Graham's 133,000-square-foot facility - which presumably will require at least two stories - will include other branches of justice-related government.

In addition to 15 court rooms and their associated offices, the new justice building - there's no name for it yet although the premier seemed to like the idea of naming it for famed Moncton-born jurist and Rand Formula architect Ivan Rand - will also contain the Sheriff's Department, the Probation Office, Victim Services, Family Support Services, the Crown Prosecutor's Office and a new law library.

Moncton Mayor Lorne Mitton said yesterday he is "elated" with yesterday's announcement and he's content to let government work out the details. On the issue of location, all that really matters is that the premier has committed to seeing it built in the city's downtown area, the mayor added.

Only a couple of big names have come forward to talk either directly or indirectly about a possible new site since the government changed after last September's provincial election.

Assomption Vie CEO Denis Losier - a former cabinet minister in the 1987-97 Liberal government of Frank McKenna - has simply hinted he is open to any proposals and that his company owns plenty of land in the downtown, including a sizeable property behind Place Assomption which adjoins the Beaver Lumber Property long thought to be the main location for a convention centre complex.

Prominent local developer Dick Carpenter was interviewed by the newspaper a couple of weeks ago about a possible site right beside Codiac RCMP headquarters on the south side of Main Street. That building is owned by the city and rented to the RCMP, which has complained recently that it is running out of space in the building constructed 20 years ago for the old municipally-operated Moncton Police Force.

The mayor deflected questions about whether the city is looking at expanding the current HQ instead of building a new police station, or whether police headquarters could be joined to a new justice building.

Premier Graham meanwhile said the RCMP are part of the discussions about the justice building but he did not go into any detail.

Meanwhile, the mayor isn't the only one happy with yesterday's announcement.

"This has been a long time coming," said Marc-Antoine Chiasson, president of the Moncton Area Lawyers Association, "so we're very pleased to finally see not only a firm commitment for the project but also what appears to be a firm commitment to a time-table."

Whichever developer is chosen, Chiasson said the successful bidder will have to ensure the building addresses accessibility, parking needs, security and public safety and a number of other concerns, "but this is a great day not only for the legal community but so many other people who work with the justice system."

[ErickMontreal]

Rogers adds jobs, services
Communications Nearly 250 call centre positions, expanded Internet, television options for province

Telegraph-Journal
Published Thursday May 31st, 2007
Appeared on page A1

Rogers Communications Inc. will announce today it is creating nearly 250 new jobs at its downtown Moncton call centre, the Telegraph-Journal has learned.

The province will provide financial assistance to the company to grow the call centre. Details will be unveiled today at a press conference where Edward Rogers, the president of Rogers, Premier Shawn Graham and other dignitaries are expected to attend.

The call centre is expected to grow to more than 1,000 employees by this time next year.

This is the second major call centre funding announcement by the provincial government this year.

In January, it provided a forgivable loan to create 300 call-centre jobs in Saint-Basile. TeleTech Holdings, Inc. is slated to receive nearly $1.6 million, which will be forgiven if the company maintains 302 jobs for a period of three years.

Moncton has positioned itself as the call centre capital of New Brunswick in recent years, with major companies ranging from the Royal Bank of Canada to America Online setting up in New Brunswick's second largest city.

And according to a recent survey, the sector has the potential to grow to 9,309 jobs in 2008 from 8,171 jobs in 2006. A Enterprise Greater Moncton study, released in January, revealed call centres contributed $293 million in wages to the region in 2006 and are projected to pump $375 million by 2008. Beyond their payrolls, call centres contributed $423 million to the local economy in 2006 and could contribute as much as $541 million in 2008.

Rogers is expected to make a second announcement today, but the company revealed few details Wednesday.

"All I can say is Rogers will be expanding its services in New Brunswick," said Christiane Vaillancourt, a Rogers spokeswoman. "Yes, it will include things like television and wireless Internet."

Recently, Rogers main competition, Bell Aliant Regional Communications Income Fund went on the offensive with their president and chief executive officer Stephen Wetmore, saying "the gloves are off" in the fight to keep Atlantic customers from switching from Bell to Rogers services.

Rogers has put increased pressure on Bell Aliant since moving into the home phone market in New Brunswick last summer.

Bell Aliant had a monopoly on phone services in this province until Rogers moved in. At Bell Aliant's recent annual meeting Wetmore said the company "will continue to focus on value packs" in a bid to stave off the increasing competition from Rogers.

[ErickMontreal]

Rogers announces $109-million NB expansion

May 31, 2007 - 12:43 pm
By: Allan Dearing - News 91.9 Staff



MONCTON, NB - Rogers Communications announced today it will spend $109-million in New Brunswick.

At the Rogers call centre in downtown Moncton, officials provided details of the investment, which includes the creation of 244 new jobs.

It also includes an extension of the Rogers Wireless network and an upgrade of the Cable network.

"I am pleased that we are able to partner with Rogers as it continues to expand in New Brunswick," Premier Shawn Graham says.

The premier announced his government will provide a forgivable loan of just over $1.3-million toward the expansion.

"As we move toward self-sufficiency, it is essential to improve the telecommunication infrastructure of our province and to partner with companies that want to expand and invest in New Brunswick," Graham pointed out.

Edward Rogers, the president of Rogers Cable says the investment is another sign of the companies commitment to the province.

"As a leading Canadian telecommunications company, we will continue to ensure that our customers in this province receive the most advanced products and services available,'' Rogers says. "In addition, we are very pleased that we can draw on the skills of people in Moncton to expand our Customer Care Centre."

The Rogers call centre, which opened in September of 2002, is a state-of-the-art, bilingual facility that already employs more than 800 and supports Rogers Cable, high speed Internet and Wireless customers across Canada.

The centre will be expanded by 15,000 square feet.

As well as the expansion of the downtown facility, Rogers will expand its Wireless network in the Province by over 50 per cent.

This includes increasing existing coverage in all major urban areas and connecting highways while adding coverage in several areas of New Brunswick, including Campbellton and the Acadian Peninsula.

The Campbellton region, Acadian Peninsula and the Western side of the province will also benefit from a significant cable network rebuild, which is now underway.

The investment of $109 million is in addition to the more than $140 million Rogers has already invested in New Brunswick.

[kirjtc2]

Originally Posted by HalifaxMtl666

Rogers announces $109-million NB expansion

May 31, 2007 - 12:43 pm
By: Allan Dearing - News 91.9 Staff

And who owns News 91.9, folks? That's right, Rogers!

Gotta love shining examples of journalism like this...

[ErickMontreal]

Originally Posted by kirjtc2

And who owns News 91.9, folks? That's right, Rogers!

Gotta love shining examples of journalism like this...

Irving do this kind of business on a day to day basis

I agree with you on this fact though

[mmmatt]

yep, the media in NB is certainly not something to be proud of, however that new call center addition definitly is! it looks like it will improve the look of the building greatly, which I appriciate, they could have just as easile made it plain concrete like the rest of the building.

PS sorry for my hiatus... I currently dont have the internet at home (Im home from university for the summer) Im currently using a computer at work. Hope everything was peachy while I was gone! (I assume there was signifigantly less tension) lol

[mmmatt]

also, I hope you are enjoying your time in Moncton HalMtl666

[ErickMontreal]

Of course, I really appreciate Moncton and the Maritimes as well

Thank you and welcome back !

[ErickMontreal]

Moncton will be the host of International Water Association and the Council of Federation as well.


http://www.iwabiosolidsmoncton2007.c...index.cfm?id=3


http://www.councilofthefederation.ca/index.html

[mmmatt]

cool! I knew about the IWA conference because of all the signs they have up downtown but the CotF conference sounds really cool too! good to see Moncton will continue to be the major conference champ of the area. all the more reason for us to get a new convention center to hold large events like this

[mmmatt]

Moncton embraces multiculturalism
June 06, 2007 - 3:32 pm
By: Allan Dearing - News 91.9 Staff

MONCTON, NB - Music, dance and food from around the world can be sampled in Greater Moncton during the Multicultural Rendezvous Festival from June 28th to July 1st.

The event is being staged by the Multicultural Association of Greater Moncton and its partners.

Coordinator Angelique Reddy says the event provides a unique opportunity for everyone in the community.

"This is actually one of the only multicultural festivals in New Brunswick and I think for the Greater Moncton area, it's really a time for everyone to get together and experience different cultures to bring everyone into one place."

Reddy says the festival provides a chance to help newcomers feel welcome in Greater Moncton and help them integrate into the community.

[ErickMontreal]

Metro construction heads for record year

Big-ticket projects lead the way as 'lots of stuff going on'

Published Monday June 18th, 2007
Appeared on page A9
The construction boom continues in Metro Moncton.

"We're swamped. We've got lots of stuff going on," said Bill Budd, executive director of the Greater Moncton Planning District Commission.

While Budd's staff may be knee-deep in development plans, that doesn't necessarily mean he can disclose the projects of private interests. Though he couldn't talk recently about any projects that don't yet have shovels in the ground, he could say the region was on track for a record construction season.

"I'm predicting a record year in overall value," Budd said. Though he added that is largely the result of rising construction costs more than greater numbers of projects, it is still bright news because it means record numbers of dollars being spent here.

The City of Moncton has been posting record construction numbers each month to date this year. A $1.8-million warehouse under construction in the Caledonia Industrial Park and a couple of high-priced demolitions -- $1.5 million for the Villa du Repos and $860,000 for the former Keddy's Motor Inn -- are just a few big ticket items from May.

In the bigger picture, the total regional permits to the end of April, the last month for which complete figures are available, shows more than $52 million worth of development happening in the area covered by the GMPDC.

The lion's share of that, almost $47 million, is commercial and residential building in Moncton, Dieppe and Riverview.

Big projects under way in Dieppe include a new RBC bank and Jean Coutu, both on Champlain Street, as well as the usual strong residential development in the province's fastest growing city.

Riverview has a new Scotiabank and new funeral home both going up in the Findlay Business Park area.

Meanwhile, though she warned the sale is not yet finalized, Riverview's director of corporate services and economic development said the old fire hall on Coverdale Road should soon have a new owner. The town issued a request for proposals for the property a couple years back, and after a couple false starts, Brenda Orchard believes the town has found a winning development.

"It'll be a nice use for downtown," Orchard promised.

Not quite a commercial development, but of public interest nonetheless, the toboggan hill the Town of Riverview is building is being shaped this summer, to offer varying slopes for people of different ages come next winter. Orchard asked for the opportunity to set the record straight because there are rumours the town had backed away from the idea. She said the hill wasn't open last winter because without the landscaping, it represented a danger to the public and an insurance liability to the municipality. It will open this winter.

In Moncton, apart from the high profile projects downtown like the Marriott Hotel and Vaughan Harvey Boulevard Sobeys, as well as the Mapleton Power Centre at the northeast corner of Mapleton and Wheeler, there are also significant multi-unit residential buildings going up In Royal Oaks and on McLaughlin Road near the Elmwood Cemetery. The McLaughlin project will be a third high-end apartment building on a site roughly across from Sunny Brae Laundry and Dry Cleaning.

As well, a new office building for War Veterans Avenue will become part of the Emmerson Technology Park across Vaughan Harvey, which has just seen its third multi-storey office building completed this spring.

[ErickMontreal]

Moncton's 1st mosque opens to Muslims, non-Muslims

Members of Moncton's multicultural community say the weekend opening of the city's first mosque will help promote ethnic understanding and acceptance among Muslims and non-Muslims.

More than $400,000 was raised to convert a former downtown Baptist church to a place of prayer for Moncton's growing Muslim community of 130 people.

Riaz Akhtar, president of the Greater Moncton Muslim Association, led both Muslims and non-Muslims on tours of the mosque Saturday, explaining the significance of what was inside and the customs associated with being in such a place.

Akhtar said the mosque serves as a focal point for Muslims now in the city, and as a selling point for those planning to move to Moncton.

"There are some professionals that have come to Moncton and they've moved on after a few years on the basis that there is no mosque over here," Akhtar. "My hope is that it will provide some incentive for people to stay."

Sarah Mahmud, who moved to Moncton from Toronto eight months ago, admitted she didn't know what to expect when she arrived in the New Brunswick city.

"When I came here, I was really surprised because [Moncton is] kind of small, but the fact that we have a mosque here is great because it shows that [Muslims] have like a standing as a community."

Alcide LeBlanc, a former director of race relations for a multicultural group in Moncton, said everyone benefits from the mosque and a Muslim community.

"It makes us better understand the world community because when we have different groups in Moncton, religious groups, linguistic groups, it creates a better understanding of the entire planet."

LeBlanc, a retired university professor, said he was impressed to see so many people from outside the Muslim community touring the building and learning about another religion and culture.

City has history of troubled race relations

LeBlanc said the mosque's opening also closes the door on a dark period in history.

In 1992, Moncton was the fourth most violent city in Canada, with regular confrontations between skinheads, and various other gangs and minority groups.

LeBlanc was invited by the city's multiculturalism association to help stop the violence, and became director of a race relations program in public schools.

LeBlanc said that when he met with groups and individually with gang members, the dialogue was amazing.

"Many of them quit the leadership of their groups and became speakers with me in the schools."

Moncton has also been plagued by language tensions among English and French communities. LeBlanc said now that the two cultures are flourishing side by side, it bodes well for multiculturalism.

"The attitude of the people of Moncton has improved, so that's a major step. Just that little element is hope for better understanding between the different groups. It's the open mind that we are creating in the Moncton area."

[ErickMontreal]

Major construction projects underway in Greater Moncton

June 19, 2007 - 1:32 pm
By: Allan Dearing - News 91.9 Staff

MONCTON, NB - Summer is almost here and that means driving is not always easy in Greater Moncton with a number of major construction projects underway.

Be prepared to slow down and take detours in the tri-communities this summer.

Moncton Traffic Coordinator Stephan Thibodeau says expect possible bottlenecks downtown with two streets closed to traffic.

Water main renewal projects have closed Foundry and Westmorland Streets to through traffic.

Work on the roadbed has begun for the Vaughan Harvey extension and Thibodeau expects the new section of road from Main Street to the Gunningsville Bridge will open to traffic in late September.

In Dieppe, Public Works Spokesperson Richard Gallant says expect slowdowns with repaving and sewer work in the Champlain-Acadie and Gauvin Road area.

And in Riverview, Ken Sharpe says both phases of the East-West Corridor from the Gunningsville Bridge to Pineglen Road and on to Findlay Boulevard should be completed and open to traffic by this fall.

[ErickMontreal]

Dp

[ErickMontreal]

Dp

[ErickMontreal]

Labour Market Review: March/April 2007

Southeast and Moncton

The labour market deteriorated in March 2007 in Southeast New Brunswick. The region lost jobs and the number of people in the labour force plummeted. The unemployment rate also dropped because the number of people looking for work went down.

Compared to March 2006, the Moncton labour market deteriorated significantly in January 2007. The city saw a significant decrease in the number of jobs. The unemployment rate and the number of people in the labour force also both fell, because the number of people actively looking for work went down.

[ErickMontreal]

Developers ready, and waiting, to submit justice centre proposals

Times & Transcript STaff
Published Wednesday June 20th, 2007
Appeared on page A2

Two of Moncton's top developers have already declared their interest in submitting proposals for a new justice building for the city but they are still waiting for word from government about when to proceed.

Denis Losier of Assomption Vie and Dick Carpenter of Heritage Developments met with The Times & Transcript's editorial board yesterday to talk about their involvement with the New Brunswick Business Council but were also asked about the city's long-awaited justice building.

Former Progressive Conservative Premier Bernard Lord announced a $28- million project for the corner of Westmorland Street and Boulevard Assomption, bordering the former Beaver Lumber Property, two years ago but that project went by the boards when the government changed last fall.

Late last month, new Liberal Premier Shawn Graham announced a larger, $47-million justice building. He didn't identify a site but did say Lord's choice might not be in the running due to environmental problems.

The premier said he would chose a model for a public-private partnership to build the project in two weeks, however.

Three weeks hence there is still no word from government on either a site or a model.

Carpenter said this spring he has lots of land all over the downtown and discussed one possible site on land he owns beside the Codiac RCMP HQ on Main Street. Losier has also said his company owns several potential sites in the downtown.

Both men said yesterday they're ready to submit proposals.

While the wait is frustrating for them, just as it is for any other developer with available land downtown, the frustration is likely also being felt by taxpayers, Losier ventured.

It has not, after all, been a two-year wait but more like seven or eight years since the municipal government first identified a justice building as a logical and much-needed component for downtown redevelopment emanating from the Beaver Lumber locus.

"That's seven years of lost property tax revenue for the city," said Losier, "so that is likely as frustrating for the city as it is for developers."

[ErickMontreal]

It's time to 'go it alone' on convention centre

With little indication federal funding forthcoming, Brian Murphy suggests city should move on project without it

Published Tuesday June 26th, 2007
Appeared on page A1
With an Ottawa culture that ignores us, it's time to go it alone on a convention centre, says Moncton-Riverview-Dieppe MP Brian Murphy.

Murphy, who is also the former mayor of Moncton, has seen the convention centre file go essentially nowhere from the vantage point of both of his political posts. With the new round of the federal government's infrastructure program set up to the tune of $30 billion, but with no information on how anyone can even apply or what the criteria for funding are, "we're a long way, I would suggest, from having an announcement about a convention facility," Murphy told a meeting of Rotarians at the Crowne Plaza Hotel yesterday.

Nevertheless, Murphy believes there is an attitude in Moncton that makes even a loss leader like a convention centre possible.

"We can do it and you can help," he told his audiemce, which also included current Moncton mayor Lorne Mitton.

Some in the audience took Murphy's remarks as a direct challenge for him to act.

The member of parliament cited several municipal projects carried out without a single dollar of federal or provincial funding while both of them served on previous city councils -- the city hall, the water treatment plant and the fourplex.

"Now Mr. Mayor, it might be time to do it again," Murphy said, adding that at least this time the province has offered $4.5 million toward a convention centre.

When Murphy's speech ended and questions were invited from the floor, the room erupted in laughter as only Mitton rose to speak.

If he was put on the spot by his former council colleague, Mitton didn't seem to mind. He said he too had grown weary of the limbo the uncertainty was causing and that he wanted an answer -- any answer -- too.

"I want it particularly -- I hope it's a yes, but if it's a no -- I want it particularly so people can stop blaming me for it," Mitton said, to more laughter from the audience.

While the tone was lighthearted and Murphy took pains to make his speech to prominent Liberals and Conservative a non-partisan one, the serious stagnation caused by federal inaction on this particular file, and central Canadian contempt for the Atlantic provinces generally, were messages a business audience like Rotary could take seriously too.

And there was apparently no convention centre answer for Mayor Mitton or anyone else from Prime Minister Stephen Harper when he visited the province yesterday. While Murphy was speaking in Moncton, Harper was meeting with Premier Shawn Graham, but a member of Graham's staff said afterward the discussion did not include that topic.

Murphy made a point of blasting Ontario's Liberal premier for remarks he made about Ontario footing the bill for federal transfer payments, repeating economist Donald Savoie's retort that the federal government spends more per capita overall on Dalton McGuinty's Ontario than anywhere else.

Murphy also spoke of the anti-Atlantic provinces culture in Ottawa that, for instance, denigrates the 20-year success story of ACOA even though, "it has been honoured by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development as one of the most effective public sector bodies of its kind anywhere in the world."

"Now Sheila Fraser is usually a name that makes everybody in Ottawa stand up straight and jolt," Murphy said of Canada's auditor general, "but she and her office have continuously concluded that ACOA produces net benefits for the region and is one of the most fiscally responsible economic development agencies in the country. You don't hear that very often," Murphy said.