On November 16th, the first day of London’s first transit strike in almost three decades had a mild affect on the commute for Londoners, according to London police. Those who usually take the bus were forced to walk, take a taxi, bike, carpool or work from home. Taxi companies in the city stated that they were prepared for more calls, but they didn’t come. People seem like they were prepared for the strike and have adapted to alternative modes of transportation so far, but the question is how long will this last and how did we get to this point?

Last-ditch efforts to avert a bus strike broke down the morning of November 15th before the strike occurred and no new talks are scheduled. At a news conference on the 15th of November, Mayor Anne Marie DeCicco-Best stated the London Transit Commission (LTC) offer was “more than fair,” at a time when London has Canada’s second-highest unemployment rate. Later,  the LTC released documents showing it had offered the union a 9% increase during a three period, including an 8.3% wage hike and improved dental, and disability benefits, and working conditions. The LTC claims that the union demanded a 20% increase in wages and benefits, during the three years. DeCicco-Best slammed the demands as irresponsible, with the city still mired in a recession. DeCicco stated; “These numbers are staggering, I have people who have trouble putting food on the table, who have trouble finding a place to live”.

On the other side of the table Pat Hunniford, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 741, said it was the LTC management that refused to budge. “We made some pretty big concessions from where we started,” he stated. Hunniford said the 20% increase in wages and benefits demanded by the union was an “old” offer, although the union made a verbal offer closer to 12% by the time talks broke off. He said the union’s wage demands were flexible and the two sides were only about 50 cents apart before coming to terms. While the talks stalled on benefit issues, including short-term disability and the dental plan. Hunniford said even with the union demands, the LTC workers are well behind their counterparts in other cities in wages and benefits. Hunniford stated; “it comes down down to how long the citizens will tolerate this and when the city hall will step in to stop this.” About the only thing the two sides agree on, is that the strike will cause hardship for thousands of students, seniors and working people who rely heavily on the transit system.

With no talks scheduled it’s tough to say how long the strike may last so the city has set up some alternative programs to help people get around:

For general information

Carpooling

Bike and Walking Maps

Both the University of Western Ontario and Fansawe College, whose students pay mandatory fees for LTC bus passes, are putting contingency plans into place. Here are the websites they have set up to pertaining to the strike.

The University of Western Ontario

Fanshawe College

(Most of the information for this article came from London Free Press article LTC update: Strike is on by Sun Media dated Novemeber 16th)

The Bank of Canada has decided to hold it’s overnight lending rate steady at 0.25 per cent as of  Nov 12,2009 the day I wrote this article. Which  means this  is the trend-setting Bank rate, which is set 0.25 percentage points above the overnight lending rate, remains at 0.5 per cent. This is great news for buyers in the London, Ontario Home market along with other buyers in other markets across Canada. What this means for buyers is that interest rates will stay at there current low levels which should continue to make it easier for more people to purchase.

The Bank recently acknowledged that recent indicators point to the start of a global recovery, and that economic and financial developments have turned more favourable than previously expected. While recognizing that the Canadian economy is rebounding, it expects the recovery to be weak by historical standards. One sign of this is that the Bank downgraded its forecast for Canadian economic growth this year, while keeping its forecast unchanged for 2010. It also lowered its forecast for economic growth in 2011. Another sign is the Bank previously forecast that inflation would return to its two percent target in the second quarter of 2011. The Bank  has moved that date out to the third quarter of 2011.

The Bank’s commitment to keep interest rates on hold until the second half of next year is conditional on the outlook for inflation. Since inflation is not expected to pick up sooner than it previously expected, the Bank repeated its commitment to keep interest rates on hold. “Conditional on the outlook for inflation, the target overnight rate can be expected to remain at its current level until the end of the second quarter of 2010 in order to achieve the inflation target.

The Bank pointed to the rapid rise in the Canadian dollar in recent weeks as a risk to the Canadian economy recovery, saying “Heightened volatility and persistent strength in the Canadian dollar are working to slow growth and subdue inflation pressures.” The Bank now expects that the domestic economy will be a greater source for economic growth, at the expense of weaker net exports.

“The Bank threw cold water on recent speculation that it may raise interest sooner rather than later,” said CREA Chief Economist Gregory Klump. “By highlighting the recent rapid rise in the Canadian dollar while intentionally failing to mention the rebound in the Canadian housing market as sources for concern, the Bank aimed to end recent speculation that it will hike rates before its repeated pledge of not doing so until at least July 2010.

As of October 20th, the advertised five-year conventional mortgage rate stood at 5.84 per cent. This is down 1.36 per cent from one ear earlier, but stands 0.35 per cent above where it stood when the Bank made its previous interest rate announcement on September 10th.

Improving credit market conditions have enabled lenders to reintroduce discounts off posted mortgage interest rates. Discounts of up to a percentage point can be negotiated, depending on lender-client relationship.

The budgets were made available to the public in advance of the formal tabling at the November 4th Board of Control meeting. The budget recommendation is a nine per cent increase to wastewater and treatment rates and an eight per cent increase to water rates. “At the proposed rates the typical home will see an annual cost of $ 317 for water, an increase of $24 over last year. Wastewater services, including both sanitary and storm sewers, will increase $38 per year, with the average home incurring an annual cost of $460.”

The city lists a number of factors that were taken into account in this year’s water budget. The first is an increase in the cost of water purchased from both the Lake Huron and Elgin Area Water Supply Systems, at a rate of seven per cent and six percent respectively. In addition, a significant amount of funds have been dedicated to increasing our water distribution maintenance system, as part of the phased-in 20 year plan. Funds have been identified to align with stimulus projects, initiated by funding from both federal and provincial programs.

“We realize the difficulties homeowners face in the current economy but must continue to address the infrastructure gap and forge ahead with capital programs which maintain jobs in the construction sector and support senior government stimulus measures,” says Pat McNally, General Manager of Environmental and Engineering Services and City Engineer.

One fact that we can all be proud of is average household usage in London has declined 18 per cent from 2001 to 2008, this has contributed to the relatively low annual household increase for both sewer and water in previous years.

Official tabling of the city’s 2010 Water and Wastewater budgets will take place at Board of Control November 4. Board of Control will then hold a public participation meeting on November 10, 2009 commencing at 2 p.m. in Council Chambers to hear delegations from the public regarding the proposed budgets.

Anyone interested in participating in this meeting should provide written submissions to be included on the agenda by no later than 4:30 p.m. on November 6,2009, either delivered or mailed to the City Clerk’s Office. Click on the link above for more info.