Government

Fuelled by energy savings and some financial help from Natural Resources Canada, architects across Canada and Northern Ontario are signing on to a unique incentive program aimed at promoting the design of better energy-efficient buildings.

After several months of strong growth, the Canadian economy slowed to a more moderate level and analysts anticipate the trend to continue throughout the year. Canada’s gross domestic product made no increase in May.

Falconbridge Ltd. has been facing soaring electricity prices during the warm summer, while independent electricity market operators have been making pleas to the public to reduce hydro consumption.

Several First Nations communities in the North were beneficiaries of a $1.7 million federal package for economic development projects.

The federal government is soon to announce new mandatory training and a funding review that will curb serious liabilities posed by unqualified staff at water treatment plants, and aging water treatment plants on reserves.

The Wawatay Native Communications Society has received $500,000 in funding from FedNor for the upgrading of their telecommunications and information technology (IT) capacity, according to a June news release.

NDP leader Howard Hampton is disgruntled with the provincial government for not spending $44 million in leftover Northern Ontario heritage funds on telecommunications, sewer and water infrastructure and other economic development projects in the Nort

Officials with the City of North Bay say a revenue loss of about $84,000 is a small price to pay to keep home construction costs from escalating as a result of an index rate structure.

A proposal to commission a strategy for growing the health research industry in Northern Ontario is rapidly picking up steam, says Jim Gordon, mayor of the City of Greater Sudbury. Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corp.

Chukuni Communities Development Corp. has become the first community futures development corporation (CFDC) to receive long-term funding, which will enable it to do more planning for the future. The CFDC is getting a $1.