Rumours and things

Millions of farmers are cutting back on fertilizer because it is too expensive. That creates a slowdown in potash production in Saskatchewan. One farmer’s son that I talked with said his dad was cutting back seventy five per cent because the price is too high. Our farmers are holding back on the fertilizer purchases.

What this all means is that like Venezuela where they have already done that to their crops, they are showing a smaller yield from their fields. Now does this mean we are going to see less from producers this year? If so, then look for the price increase of the food for your table and who knows by how much? It is a scary thought isn’t it? Right now it costs us $150 for the two of us a week at the grocery store...

Last month Business in Vancouver did their annual list The Biggest Construction Starts in 2008.

Leading the list is an Okanagan development Lakestone Resort Development at $1.5 billion in Lake Country. It was a big plan and I don’t know what has happened to the project that just sits there although a lot of the infrastructure has been completed. It is a beautiful piece of land and I suppose it will be developed by someone in the future. I believe the owners of the project have already gone on to other projects but there is no word on their plans for Lake Country.

Number 26 on the list is the UBC- Okanagan Engineering Management Building. Total cost $74 million. Twenty-seventh on the list is Kelowna Sewage Treatment Plant Upgrade at $61 million...

Beginning June 1, all Canadians over 19 visiting the United States will be required to show a passport or other government-approved documents with enhanced security if they want to cross the border. Are we not supposed to get a new drivers license that will carry enough information for those traveling by car?

Just like last time, when the rules change people wait for the rules to change or some miracle to happen and they realize they don’t have any paper work for the trip they were planning and hurry to the passport office with last minute applications.

The real impact could be felt by the tourism sector because Americans who visit Canada will be required to present passports at the border to return home.

It is estimated that thirty per cent of the Americans own a passport. Can you imagine the trouble that could be caused at the busy border points in B.C. and Ontario in June 1 trying to explain to people you can’t go there and now you’re going to have to turn around and go back? It could be quite a mess...

Colliers have issued their latest Canadian Hotel Report and Western Canada led the country in hotel transactions with thirty-six. Kelowna changeover from The Grand Okanagan Resort to the Delta brand was major for the property. It finally ties that hotel into a reservation system across the country and a sales force that works the major markets that it never had before...

Things are changing for Walmart in Western Canadian as they prepare for more of their stores to carry a bigger grocery line through their Supercentres across the west. Many of the original stores are being remodeled to increase their floor space by upwards of 40,000 sq ft to accommodate all the new fresh items in the stores. The $115 million 400,000 sq ft facility is being built just outside of Calgary. Lots of truck traffic. Stuart Olson Construction of Calgary who has done a lot of work in the Valley is building the monster. It will house 5,000 products and will handle about one million cases of product a week. The largest refrigerated warehouse in Western Canada will service 120 stores.

Both Safeway and Superstore have major warehouse operations in Calgary servicing their stores in the west...

Who would have thought it that little sleepy city in Eastern Washington, Spokane has been chosen by Forbes magazine as the scam capital of the United States with the cheap stocks and the fake companies and the rip-offs.
Then when you dig into the situation you find that many if not all of the connections to these scam artists have ties to Vancouver and the always-scummy Howe Street. People lose so much money and keep coming back for more because they think they are going to win the big one...

Business In Vancouver published their Top 100 high-tech companies in B.C.
and Kelowna Flightcraft Group of Companies is twelfth place, up one from last year. There are 900 people employed. With new contracts coming through the door everything seems good at Barry LaPointe’s place.