Monday Morning News Round-Up: The Housing Bubble, What's On Parliament's Agenda, Fossil Fun, B.C. Mayor Summit, and the U.K.-Canada Embassy BFF Agreemnt

Some attention-grabbing Canadian headlines.

Canada’s Housing Bubble Is Bursting—and This Time We Mean It!  Canadian Business on why, this time, Canadians really should worry about the housing bubble:

People have been predicting a crash in Vancouver for years, of course. What’s different now is the growing number of trends suggesting its imminence. The poor global economy is souring foreign investors’ appetite for expensive property overseas. The federal government, meanwhile, is trying to tame the market by tightening mortgage lending standards and warning the public at every opportunity that Vancouver is a risky city for buying real estate. Interest rates are still low, but the Bank of Canada keeps promising to raise them, which would quickly lower affordability. All of which leads David Madani, an economist with Capital Economics, to conclude: “The Vancouver market has cracked.”

Vancouver won’t be the only one. The next market to crack will be Toronto, starting with the city’s overheated condo segment. Overall sales of existing homes were down by 12.4% this August over last, and condo sales have fallen by double digits for three months in a row. The pre-construction condo sector is also weakening, with sales down 21% in the second quarter. Overbuilding is a major concern: a record 52,695 units are currently under construction, with another 35,000 in the pipeline, a rate that economists say is well ahead of demographic trends in the region. Investors also play a big role in the Toronto condo market, raising concerns that waves of them will try to cash out at the same time.

The Talk of Ottawa this Week (and Beyond).  The Hill Times lays out the Parliamentary schedule in brief here.  Items on notice:  house committees will meet to elect their chairs, some criminal law debates, and the Senate talks conflict of interest and Canadian language rights in the Facebook-era.   To get the low-down on this parliamentary session’s ‘hot topics,’ read the Library of Parliament’s 41^st Parliament Current and Emerging Issues.

Fossil Fun.  A group of scientists exploring the world-renown, fossil-filled Burgess Shale preserves in Canada's Rookies has found a new bevy of fossils! For fossil lovers, this is big news:  the newly discovered site might be the most important ‘fossil find’ in the last three decades, reports the Calgary Herald.

BC Mayors Talk ‘Tax Fatigue’ (and Marijuana Decriminalization) at Victoria Meet-Up.  Mayors from British Columbia (B.C.), drained for cash but swamped with federal demands to provide public services, are gathering today at the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention, reports the Vancouver Sun.  This isn’t just a group therapy session:  the mayors will be sharing ideas on how to prioritize public services, and get more bang for their buck (along with some less heady topics--scroll down for more.  From the Vancouver Sun's report:

“Spending has gone up for local governments over the past 10 years but predominantly because the province and federal governments are asking more of local governments through policies or regulations,” Moore said. “It affects everything from core utilities to police services.”

The convention comes on the heels of a business taxation report that suggests provincial and federal government decisions have had negative financial implications for local government.

The report by an expert panel also suggests the province doesn’t have any more money to dole out, Moore said. But he takes heart in a recommendation that the province work with municipalities to find alternate forms of funding to provide services.

“We really feel there hasn’t been a lot of cooperation,” he said.

Learn more about the Convention—whose annual theme is In Conversation—at the Convention’s website.  Right now, the Convention is likely wrapping up its Marijuana Decriminalization debate (assuming a bit of real-time lag-time from the published schedule available here). 

Canada and the United Kingdom Become Embassy BBFs.  In a cost-cutting and diplomacy-maximizing move, Yahoo! News Canada reports that the U.K. and Canada will agree today to sharing one another’s embassies in nations where one nation has an embassy and the other does not.  But not everyone is thrilled with the move.  From yesterday’s Globe and Mail:

Paul Heinbecker, the former Canadian ambassador to Germany and permanent representative of Canada to the United Nations in New York, warned that the relationship with a former colonial power in many parts of Asia and Africa could be a net negative.

“We have an incompatible brand with the U.K.,” said Mr. Heinbecker, citing past disagreements, including Canada’s support for sanctions to fight apartheid in South Africa, and Britain’s reluctance to get involved in Bosnia militarily.

The agreement, according to sources, will include not just sharing real estate, but working together in other areas – representing civilians abroad, providing passports and visas, and dealing with emergencies such as revolutions, disasters and evacuations. The two countries will not share diplomatic representation, sources said – so British diplomats would not present Canadian views to foreign governments, or vice versa.