FALL/WINTER 2014-15 / Vol 44. No 3 2 NEWS BRIEFS Floating Solar Farms Mid-Rise Wood, Jan 1 Brownie Awards New Duty of Honest Performance NEW MEMBERS 3-5 POINT / COUNTER POINT Report Digest / Expert Commentary The Economist: THE THIRD GREAT WAVE 6 THE NEW TRANSIT: CONNECTING HOME TO WORK AT LAST? 7 NEW MAYORS / NEW FOCUS 2012-13 AOLE BOARD 8 LEGISLATIVE UPDATE Fall Economic Statement Asset Recycling ECO—Water Pricing AFP Track Record 9 ANNUAL MEETING PROFESSIONAL JOURNAL ASSOCIATION OF ONTARIO LAND ECONOMISTS 55 St. Clair Ave West, Suite 205 Toronto, ON M4V 2Y7 Tel: 416-283-0440 (messages) Fax: 1-866-401-3665 (toll free) Email: [email protected] Transition’ in Region Strategic Regional PHOTO: Research ‘A fromGuilhem Vellut, Website: www.aole.org Transit is a key issue for the GTA and for many other regions in Canada and around the world. It was the focus of Real Estate Research Corp co-founder Iain Dobson’s speech after Journal Chair: Keith Hobcraft dinner at the Association’s recent 2014 Annual General Meeting. See page 6 for details, Editor: [email protected] NEWS BRIEFS In Canada, researchers at MIRARCO— Mining Innovation and Laurentian Uni- Welcome FLOATING SOLAR FARMS versity, Sudbury, have developed thin- The United Kingdom’s first floating film flexible floating PV panels which New Members! solar installation went in this year on a they say could float on the surface of Berkshire farm’s reservoir, The Guard- tailings ponds, and “have game- Carl Geiger, MCIP, RPP, PLE ian reported this fall. The 800-panel, changing implications for the mining Town of Whitby 200-kw array is expected to start pro- industry”, especially in remote areas 905-430-4306 x 2355 ducing a return on its £250,000 invest- like the Ring of Fire. [email protected] ment within six years. Surya Pulickal, LEED AP BD+C, PLE 647-780-5579 MID-RISE WOOD: [email protected] JAN 1, 2015 In September, Ontario Steven Radenic, AIMA, AMAA, PLE filed O Reg 191/14, to Town of Milton amend the Building 905-878-7252 x 2161 Code to allow wood [email protected] frame construction to six storeys for office, Emma West, MCIP, RPP, LEED AP, residential and mixed PLE PHOTO: Floating SolarPHOTO: Floating UK Ltd. use buildings, starting Planning Alliance January 1. The change 416-583-1525 Farm owner Mark Bennett has estab- has been welcomed by builders and [email protected] lished Floating Solar UK Ltd. to dis- developers. They expect it to increase tribute French firm Ciel et Terre’s pan- the variety of living choices, realize Kam Yuen Cheng, MRICS, PLE els-on-pontoons technology to agricul- cost savings for new home construction Sinopek HK tural, reservoir and utility companies. and homebuyers, and represent a major [email protected] In areas where “working” water bodies step in achieving planned intensifica- are available and land is very costly or tion goals of the Provincial Policy Statement (PPS) and the Growth Plan not available at all, floating solar panels NEW CONTRACT DUTY OF may be the next “in” thing — at small for the Greater Golden Horseshoe. Other expected benefits include job “HONEST PERFORMANCE” scale and large. For example, last No- Several law firms have commented on vember Renewable Energy World re- creation, increased tax base for munici- palities and decreased carbon footprint. the Supreme Court of Canada’s Nov 13 ported on a 1.18 MW, 4,500 panel sys- decision in Bhasin v Hrynew. That case tem that had become operational in Details were discussed in The Land Economist Vol 44, No 1. involved a company that provided edu- Okegawa, Japan that summer. The city cation saving plan investments and one has shifted reservoir maintenance re- of its retail dealers - and whether the sponsibility to the project developers, BROWNIE AWARDS former has a responsibility to be honest and charges them a usage fee, plus about its intent to terminate the con- property taxes. Clean Technica.com The Canadian Urban Institute presented the 15th Annual Brownie Awards at the tract. The court has held that there is recently reported that India’s National both the traditional general organizing Hydro Power Corp had announced end of October. Best Overall Project and People’s Choice awards both went principle of good faith contractual per- plans for a 50 MW floating solar pro- formance and a new duty of ‘honest ject in July, “but we have not heard to Kitchener projects: The Breithaupt Block and The Tannery District. Other performance’ of the contract. In other much from them since then”. A 2.9 words, the parties must not lie or know- MW project in Nishihira, Japan was Ontario projects honoured include: Reprogram (policy): Horizon Utility ingly mislead each other. While the announced in September, Clean Tech- judge said this does not imply a duty of nica said, but may not hold onto the Infill Development Incentive in Hamil- ton; Remediate (technology): Green- disclosure, and would be clear and easy “World’s Largest” title for long, as a to apply, lawyers say it leaves a num- 7.5 MW system has been announced by wich Mohawk Site’s In Situ Steam- Enhanced Remediaton in Brantford; ber of questions open. See Borden the government of Kawajima-machi, to Ladner Gervais at www.blg.com/en/ begin construction next year. Reinvest (financial): Guelph Market Commons; Rebuild (Building Scale): NewsAnd Publications/Documents/ Proponents claim the systems can im- Bridgepoint Active Healthcare in To- Publication_ 3895.pdf and /orBennett prove energy performance of solar pan- ronto, and Renew (Neighbourhood Jones at http://blog.bennettjones.com/ els because they are cooled by the wa- Scale): Sault Ste Marie Waterfront Re- 2014/11/13/new-good-faith-duty- ter below, and may decrease evapora- vitalization. See www.canurb.org/ honesty-contractual-performance- tion loss. publications-archives/cui-news.html recognized-supreme-court-canada/ #page=1 FALL/WINTER 2014-15 / Vol 44, No 3 2 THIRD GREAT WAVE (Digest) POINT/ The Third Great Wave: Why the third wave of industrial revolution may prove far more divisive than the first two COUNTER “In the past new technologies have usually raised wages by boosting productivity,” the article says, with real gains spread across classes and income levels. Exponential growth POINT in computing power has opened up opportunities considered impossible only a few short years ago. But one study says 47% of jobs in America could be automated within a decade A key goal of this Association or so. So far “the digital revolution is opening up a great divide between a skilled and is to increase members’ under- wealthy few and the rest of society.” standing of issues by sharing insights from different special- Technology Isn’t Working: The digital revolution has yet to fulfill its promise of ties. So, we have designed a higher productivity and better jobs new kind of article / report in Not only have industrialized economies been going through slump or stagnation recently, this issue of The Land Econo- the digital technology and globalization are keeping wages flat for the mass of workers. mist Journal. It starts with a Productivity growth has slowed instead of increasing. Some experts claim the innovation isn’t brief description of an interest- powerful enough to offset demographic change, inequality and sovereign indebtedness. Others ing new report — and then pre- say the real impacts are only just beginning. Today, the glut of cheap labour displaced by sents commentary from several technology “has given firms little incentive to make productivity-boosting investments”. experts in different fields. To Those That Have Shall Be Given: Labour is steadily losing out to capital Development of the car displaced horses, breeders and carriage makers, but gave drivers greater productivity. Development of driverless cars funnels efficiency gains away from the human operator. Over the past 30 years, the share of income going to labour has fallen Focus on: steadily the world over. There is a rise in income from wealth and capital. Low-income service jobs are growing, but the middle class is being hollowed out. Technology has cre- The Economist ated a reservoir of less-skilled labour, who are forced into competition against each other and machines, for low wages. Magazine Special Report Home Economics: Sky-high house prices in the most desirable cities are holding back growth and jobs In the 20th century, many manufacturers left cities for cheaper land and labour on the out- skirts. ICT industries have helped stagnating cities turn around, with demand for both of- The World fice space and housing. But cities with restrictive zoning and other regulations now have skyrocketing housing costs. Many people can’t afford to live there. And instead of the new Economy high-paying careers creating new service jobs, more of the gains are being captured by landlords and existing homeowners. Arrested Development: The development-through-industrialisation model in The Economist’s Special Report emerging economies is on its way out is a fascinating read, bringing Attracting manufacturing industries for low-cost production has been good for many together information from differ- emerging economies. They offered unskilled workers better wages than agriculture, and ent sectors and how they are be- enabled progress to more sophisticated economic activity with widespread trickle-down ing or may be affected by the impacts. However, that model is breaking down as technology allows manufacturers to new technologies of computeri- “unbundle” supply chains and locate in ever-lower wage locations. Physical assembly zation, the internet and robotics. itself is representing less and less of the “value added” calculation. Automation is also The Report consists of seven decimating the number of potential jobs.