The Official Saint John, NB Project Thread

[Ottawa]

AIR CANADA SCHEDULES INCREASED CAPACITY AT SAINT JOHN AIRPORT

24 June 2008

Saint John Airport is pleased to announce that the Air Canada fall service to Toronto includes a larger plane. The mid-day flight, which leaves Toronto at 8:05 a.m., arrives in Saint John at 10:58 a.m., leaves Saint John again at 11:35 a.m. and arrives back in Toronto at 12:43 local time, will be upgraded from a 50-seat regional jet currently to a 70 seat regional jet. The larger plane will operate from September 01 to Oct.31, and complements the three other daily flights to Toronto....

This is interesting news considering the recent news from Air Canada about layoffs there.

[kwajo]

Originally Posted by Ottawa

Saint John Airport is pleased to announce that the Air Canada fall service to Toronto includes a larger plane. The mid-day flight, which leaves Toronto at 8:05 a.m., arrives in Saint John at 10:58 a.m., leaves Saint John again at 11:35 a.m. and arrives back in Toronto at 12:43 local time, will be upgraded from a 50-seat regional jet currently to a 70 seat regional jet. The larger plane will operate from September 01 to Oct.31, and complements the three other daily flights to Toronto....

This is interesting news considering the recent news from Air Canada about layoffs there.

Indeed. When was the last time Saint John was riding so high that it found itself above the waterline when it came to layoffs and cutbacks?

Things sure are changing around here....

[nwalbert]

This is fantastic news for me as I am always trying to book one of those flights last minute. I am taking the redeye from San Francisco tonight and will take the 8:00 AM to SJ in the AM, should be interesting to see if it is the new larger plane.

[PostModernPrometheus]

Originally Posted by Ottawa

AIR CANADA SCHEDULES INCREASED CAPACITY AT SAINT JOHN AIRPORT

24 June 2008

Saint John Airport is pleased to announce that the Air Canada fall service to Toronto includes a larger plane. The mid-day flight, which leaves Toronto at 8:05 a.m., arrives in Saint John at 10:58 a.m., leaves Saint John again at 11:35 a.m. and arrives back in Toronto at 12:43 local time, will be upgraded from a 50-seat regional jet currently to a 70 seat regional jet. The larger plane will operate from September 01 to Oct.31, and complements the three other daily flights to Toronto....

This is interesting news considering the recent news from Air Canada about layoffs there.

True....but keep in mind, they are competing with daily TO flights from Westjet & thus have an incentive to offer more reasonably sized aircraft...a good example of healthy competition resulting in overall growth....

[PostModernPrometheus]

from the news889.com site.

New air quality health index unveiled
By: Jeff Lansng - News 88.9 Staff



SAINT JOHN, NB - The federal government has chosen Saint John to be a part of a new 30-million dollar national initiative to monitor air quality.

The new index is closely linked to the impact it will have on the public's health.

"It's refreshing to have Saint John lead the way in health initiatives," said regional medical health officer Dr. Scott Giffin

Giffin says the one-to-ten index tells both the general public, and at-risk population when air quality will have a low to very high risk to a persons health.

Provincial health minister Mike Murphy says the new index is far superior than the current method used.

"Because it measures multiple pollutants, the air quality health index is the first of its kind in the world," said Murphy.

Murphy says it's a helpful tool for Saint John.

"I think that Saint John has always been somewhat concerned about their air quality," Murphy added. "This might be able to assist them in evaluating what they can expect from day to day."

The new index is part of a six month pilot project which is being used in communities in B-C, and Alberta, as well as Greater Toronto and Saint John.

You can find the air quality health index by visiting www.airhealth.ca.

[PostModernPrometheus]

Originally Posted by Wrightguy0

They could at least remove the bars from the bottom windows of the customs building

lol..true....perhaps they'd be more fitting on revenue canada's buildings?!?!?

[SJTOKO]

http://urbanplans.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2008-06-20T11%3A24%3A00-04%3A00&max-results=10

[kwajo]

Stolen from the St. John's thread:

Originally Posted by Architype

A Report on Business article notes that the St. John's office vacancy rate is very tight, the lowest of the surveyed cities in class A buildings:

"Energized ... maybe too energized
As Newfoundland rides resources wave, St. John's grapples with one of the tightest office markets in country"




Office market snapshot

Vacancy rates in Class A buildings in central markets.

2nd quarter 2nd quarter
2008 2007
Vancouver 2.3% 2.1%
Edmonton 2.1% n/a
Calgary 2.3% 0.6%
Winnipeg 6.3% 6.3%
Toronto 3.9% 5.2%
Ottawa 2.9% 3.8%
Montreal 4.7% 7.0%
Fredericton 0.4% 3.0%
Saint John 5.4% 12.7%
Moncton 9.0% 10.6%
Halifax 2.2% 5.7%
St. John's 0.1% 1.1%
National 3.4% 4.3%

SOURCE: CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD LePAGE

Complete Article here:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080624.PRSTJOHNS24/TPStory/Business

Look at that, Saint John's office vacancy rate dropped from 12.7% to 5.4% in just one year - by far the biggest change in the country. Also, Fredericton and Moncton saw notable vacancy rate drops as well. Yet another indication of the economic upturn in [southern] NB.

[thebrad]

Does anyone think this is strange? Has something already happened that we do not know about? Wasn't this postponed until after the summer and someone did not get the memo? I think this was supposed to be run had council decided to put it through and not sit on it. Yea, missed the memo.

[thebrad]

So, I take it no one can read that...

It says...

The Saint John Board of Trade would like to extend our warmest congratulations to our friends at The Saint John Port Authority and Irving Oil.

Together they have worked hard to make the exciting plan for Long Wharf a reality. With these folks at the helm, this new development will surely become a catalyst for further waterfront development.

It is from page A6 in today's TJ.

[PersonPlaceorThing]

It became clear in the Telegraph Journal today that Ivan Court would rather play politics and "prove" he is more important than the community he represents.

"This council is walking into a situation very similar to four years ago," the mayor said, referring to the tax deal for the liquefied natural gas terminal, a factor in the civic elections last month. "This time we have to make sure that we do it right."

Court would rather score points with the anti-LNG crowd (the large minority of citizens that elected him) than give proper consideration to the development of the IOL HQ.

"We're talking about changing the skyline of the city of Saint John," the mayor said. "This is not going to be an 11th-hour decision. There's going to be consultation."

This is not an eleventh hour decision - the public is aware, the mayor and council are aware. They should discuss the topic and make a decision over the next few months. Instead they have decided to not discuss the topic until August.

This is the line that really gets me:"We need the people who look after our books to give us some input."

Terry Totten has been involved in making this deal and suggests it strongly. The book-lookers have given input.

[ErickMontreal]

WestJet cancels winter flights out of Saint John

Last Updated: Friday, June 27, 2008 | 5:05 PM AT
CBC News

WestJet will be dropping its winter flights from Saint John to Toronto.

There wasn't enough traffic on the three weekly flights last winter to warrant continuing the service, airlines spokesman Robert Palmer said.

"We do our homework, we watch the numbers very closely and we do what we can to stimulate the market and help move things along but in the end if the demand isn't there we have to make these sorts of decisions," Palmer said.

WestJet will continue to serve Saint John from May until October, he said.

The cancellation of the winter flights is a disappointment, said Bernard LeBlanc, president of the Saint John Airport.

LeBlanc said he is also concerned that WestJet not offering the winter service will have an impact on airfares in the port city where Air Canada will now be the only year-round carrier.

"It's always nice to have competition," LeBlanc said. "It does make for a bit more realistic or competitive fares ... but hopefully Air Canada will see an opportunity to increase capacity and keep the fares reasonable."

The three weekly flights were offered for the first time this past winter to see if there would be enough demand.

Saint John Mayor Ivan Court said he is disappointed the flights won't be offered anymore in a city that is trying to attract workers and business.

"We don't want people even thinking we're not going to improve air travel into Saint John," Court said. "It's very important as an energy hub to make sure people can travel here very conveniently."

It is also a disappointing development for the city's tourism industry, said Ellen Tucker, a travel agent with Freedom Travel and Tours.

"We know that it's important to have that choice for our clients," Tucker said. "So we are certainly very supportive of it and are terribly disappointed."

The airline will continue to offer flights from Moncton to Toronto all winter.

[Helladog]

Originally Posted by HalifaxMtl666

WestJet cancels winter flights out of Saint John

Last Updated: Friday, June 27, 2008 | 5:05 PM AT
CBC News

WestJet will be dropping its winter flights from Saint John to Toronto.

There wasn't enough traffic on the three weekly flights last winter to warrant continuing the service, airlines spokesman Robert Palmer said.

"We do our homework, we watch the numbers very closely and we do what we can to stimulate the market and help move things along but in the end if the demand isn't there we have to make these sorts of decisions," Palmer said.

WestJet will continue to serve Saint John from May until October, he said.

The cancellation of the winter flights is a disappointment, said Bernard LeBlanc, president of the Saint John Airport.

LeBlanc said he is also concerned that WestJet not offering the winter service will have an impact on airfares in the port city where Air Canada will now be the only year-round carrier.

"It's always nice to have competition," LeBlanc said. "It does make for a bit more realistic or competitive fares ... but hopefully Air Canada will see an opportunity to increase capacity and keep the fares reasonable."

The three weekly flights were offered for the first time this past winter to see if there would be enough demand.

Saint John Mayor Ivan Court said he is disappointed the flights won't be offered anymore in a city that is trying to attract workers and business.

"We don't want people even thinking we're not going to improve air travel into Saint John," Court said. "It's very important as an energy hub to make sure people can travel here very conveniently."

It is also a disappointing development for the city's tourism industry, said Ellen Tucker, a travel agent with Freedom Travel and Tours.

"We know that it's important to have that choice for our clients," Tucker said. "So we are certainly very supportive of it and are terribly disappointed."

The airline will continue to offer flights from Moncton to Toronto all winter.

If they are to be around any winter, this is one of the winters they should stick it out. Things are a bit busier now since last winter and even Air Canada has offered bigger planes.

[random11]

Originally Posted by PersonPlaceorThing

It became clear in the Telegraph Journal today that Ivan Court would rather play politics and "prove" he is more important than the community he represents.

"This council is walking into a situation very similar to four years ago," the mayor said, referring to the tax deal for the liquefied natural gas terminal, a factor in the civic elections last month. "This time we have to make sure that we do it right."

Court would rather score points with the anti-LNG crowd (the large minority of citizens that elected him) than give proper consideration to the development of the IOL HQ.

"We're talking about changing the skyline of the city of Saint John," the mayor said. "This is not going to be an 11th-hour decision. There's going to be consultation."

This is not an eleventh hour decision - the public is aware, the mayor and council are aware. They should discuss the topic and make a decision over the next few months. Instead they have decided to not discuss the topic until August.

This is the line that really gets me:"We need the people who look after our books to give us some input."

Terry Totten has been involved in making this deal and suggests it strongly. The book-lookers have given input.

Court is not an Irving supporter and thats not a secret however, at the end of the day, he represents one voice on council. This development will be put to a vote and the majority of council have already stated their support. My fear is that Ivan Court, who campaigned on items such as NLG and the Irvings not paying their fair share for water, may attempt to send a message to them via this proposed development. I'm sure many of you already read the article in the TJ this week stating that both Rothesay and Quispamsis would take this development with open arms if "Saint John doesn't want it". Given this story I think it's a good idea to send some emails and let your voice be heard - it's never a bad idea:

[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]

And last and most importantly:

[email protected]

The more noise that is made in support of development the better.

[random11]

Originally Posted by HalifaxMtl666

WestJet cancels winter flights out of Saint John

Last Updated: Friday, June 27, 2008 | 5:05 PM AT
CBC News

WestJet will be dropping its winter flights from Saint John to Toronto.

There wasn't enough traffic on the three weekly flights last winter to warrant continuing the service, airlines spokesman Robert Palmer said.

"We do our homework, we watch the numbers very closely and we do what we can to stimulate the market and help move things along but in the end if the demand isn't there we have to make these sorts of decisions," Palmer said.

WestJet will continue to serve Saint John from May until October, he said.

The cancellation of the winter flights is a disappointment, said Bernard LeBlanc, president of the Saint John Airport.

LeBlanc said he is also concerned that WestJet not offering the winter service will have an impact on airfares in the port city where Air Canada will now be the only year-round carrier.

"It's always nice to have competition," LeBlanc said. "It does make for a bit more realistic or competitive fares ... but hopefully Air Canada will see an opportunity to increase capacity and keep the fares reasonable."

The three weekly flights were offered for the first time this past winter to see if there would be enough demand.

Saint John Mayor Ivan Court said he is disappointed the flights won't be offered anymore in a city that is trying to attract workers and business.

"We don't want people even thinking we're not going to improve air travel into Saint John," Court said. "It's very important as an energy hub to make sure people can travel here very conveniently."

It is also a disappointing development for the city's tourism industry, said Ellen Tucker, a travel agent with Freedom Travel and Tours.

"We know that it's important to have that choice for our clients," Tucker said. "So we are certainly very supportive of it and are terribly disappointed."

The airline will continue to offer flights from Moncton to Toronto all winter.

I personally think a big part of the issue is that last summer when WestJet began the service from Saint John to Toronto, the daily flight arrived at 1 pm and departed around 145 pm. When WestJet added the continuation of the winter flights 3x weekly, the times changed to an arrival at 605 pm and a departure to Toronto at 645 pm. I think if they ran an early morning flight out at around 7 or 8 am things would have been different. Just my two cents.

[Alberta Bound]

Originally Posted by random11

I personally think a big part of the issue is that last summer when WestJet began the service from Saint John to Toronto, the daily flight arrived at 1 pm and departed around 145 pm. When WestJet added the continuation of the winter flights 3x weekly, the times changed to an arrival at 605 pm and a departure to Toronto at 645 pm. I think if they ran an early morning flight out at around 7 or 8 am things would have been different. Just my two cents.

I agree and also offer my two cents on the timing of flights from western Canada. I know when I flew to western Canada on Westjet last year, the outgoing connection in Toronto was fine, but coming back it was impossible to schedule a flight from Calgary to Saint John on Westjet without having a layover of many hours (e.g. 7 hours). In the end, I flew out on Westejet and back on Air Canada. I didn't have the same problem this year though.

[alex1]

not sure where else to post this type of message but my gf and I are heading out to the Maritime Provinces next week and we know very little.

can anyone who knows the area well please PM any info they may have? We're planning on heading up from Bar Harbor, Maine and perhaps swinging around to Halifax, then heading back north to visit our good friend in Quebec City. Is Saint John pretty great? Fundy National Park? Halifax? Moncton? anything else that needs to be done between Halifax and Quebec city?

thanks in advance. Looking forward to visiting this part of the world!

[kirjtc2]

Originally Posted by alex1

not sure where else to post this type of message but my gf and I are heading out to the Maritime Provinces next week and we know very little.

can anyone who knows the area well please PM any info they may have? We're planning on heading up from Bar Harbor, Maine and perhaps swinging around to Halifax, then heading back north to visit our good friend in Quebec City. Is Saint John pretty great? Fundy National Park? Halifax? Moncton? anything else that needs to be done between Halifax and Quebec city?

thanks in advance. Looking forward to visiting this part of the world!

Depends on what you're in to....

Saint John has some nice historical buildings (it was one of Canada's largest cities in the 19th century and a lot of the early architecture reflects that). It's an amazingly beautiful city, set on some hills overlooking the harbour and the Bay of Fundy.

Moncton is more "modern" (a lot of it developed post-war) and less industrial than Saint John. Most of the "touristy" stuff in Moncton are small theme parks and gimmicks like Magnetic Hill and the Tidal Bore.

Pretty much every major city in the region still has a vibrant downtown.

St. Andrews (about 10 minutes off the main highway between the border and Saint John) is fairly reminiscent of Bar Harbour, but slightly less commercialized. If you're in to that sort of thing, I'd also suggest Mahone Bay and Lunenburg, both about 40 minutes west of Halifax.

For scenery, Fundy National Park and nearby Hopewell Cape are great, but I'd also suggest a side trip to the caves at St. Martins (about 20 miles up the coast from Saint John). The best scenery in the Maritimes in my opinion is in the Cape Breton Highlands, but that's probably too far off your route.

On the way up to Quebec City, I'd suggest getting off the main highway around Fredericton and taking the old highway (102 and/or 105) up the Saint John River to Edmundston. Not only is it a beautiful drive the whole length, there are a couple of sights that may be worth seeing, like the Hartland covered bridge or the Grand Falls.

Hope this helps...

[random11]

Originally Posted by random11

Court is not an Irving supporter and thats not a secret however, at the end of the day, he represents one voice on council. This development will be put to a vote and the majority of council have already stated their support. My fear is that Ivan Court, who campaigned on items such as NLG and the Irvings not paying their fair share for water, may attempt to send a message to them via this proposed development. I'm sure many of you already read the article in the TJ this week stating that both Rothesay and Quispamsis would take this development with open arms if "Saint John doesn't want it". Given this story I think it's a good idea to send some emails and let your voice be heard - it's never a bad idea:

[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]

And last and most importantly:

[email protected]

The more noise that is made in support of development the better.

Well, it's a new council and I took the opportunity to email each of them. Granted, it's the weekend however, I did receive some responses that I thought I would share.

Peter McGuire completely supports the project and he made that clear. Chris Titus responded but his message was automated. Joe Mott responded with an empty email body (perhaps he is not in tune with email?). Donnie Snook responded with the best email of all and indicated that he personally has received a lot of feedback against the development and he did not indicate either way as to what his position is except to state that the delay in discussion until August is justified. Bill Farren responded with an automated email indicating he is out of the office. No responses from the remaining four I emailed (Stephen Chase, Gary Sullivan, Carl Killen & Bruce Court) and of course, one seat in the North end is still not determined.

[PostModernPrometheus]

Originally Posted by kwajo

Stolen from the St. John's thread:


Look at that, Saint John's office vacancy rate dropped from 12.7% to 5.4% in just one year - by far the biggest change in the country. Also, Fredericton and Moncton saw notable vacancy rate drops as well. Yet another indication of the economic upturn in [southern] NB.

Thats a reallty impressive relative - and absolute - drop...any guesses on what happened between 07 & 08 to fill up comercial / office vacancies to that degree??