Lots of reasons to look back at 2015 -- locally and beyond

My Blog publishes real estate stats and lots of buying / selling hints
I'm a Realtor who sells homes, but also my community

By Mark Schadenberg

A car is the sum of its parts.

Any sports team winning a championship will talk about the role each and every person played from the athletes to the trainers.

At the chamber of commerce awards banquet last month, every winning company talked about its employees and the people power it takes for success in the business world.

Real estate and the community you live in are no different. Everyone plays their role in creating a home – whether that is the house or the municipality you reside in.

I most certainly do my part through the Lions Club of Woodstock, Relay For Life for the cancer society, and the city’s recreation advisory committee.

As a Realtor, I believe it’s equally important to sell the fantastic Woodstock I live in just as important as finding you the correct house in the neighbourhood you want to reside in, and also possess knowledge about real estate stats in the marketplace, school zones, local history, local sports associations, and . . . current events such as city budgets, new subdivisions and parks, emerging local industries, and plans for the future.

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       "Individual commitment to a group effort--that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work." --Vince Lombardi

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    "Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much." --Helen Keller

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Unity is strength... when there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved.

Mattie Stepanek (Died from from a rare form of muscular dystrophy at age 13 back in 2004)

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I write about these topics and much more right here at: www.markroyallepage.blogspot.com

As 2015 evaporates and everyone shares excitement for a new year, I’d like to look back quickly at some topics I have covered on my blog. It’s a recap, but it’s also proof positive in all the glowing comments I have already made about why I should be the Realtor you contact when it’s time to buy and/or sell anywhere in Oxford County.

In just about every month I have posted the latest sales stats, but the numbers always include additional analysis such as average sales prices, the number of current listings and historical background on years previous. My totals usually date back to 2005 because that can always be used as a benchmark calendar as Toyota (TMMC) announced that year it would be building a massive manufacturing facility in Woodstock. The factory began driving cars outs off its assembly line in the fall of 2008.

Real estate trends, my listings, Royal LePage news, and my thoughts on items ranging from CMHC fees to interest rates to reverse mortgages to preparing your home for the market to the importance of hiring a competent and effective inspector as condition of your home purchase.  

I also like to discover interesting area real estate stories as anything happening for residential growth in London or Kitchener has an overall effect on real estate in Woodstock and Oxford County. It’s also interesting to follow such ‘coffee shop stories’ like a golf course in Cambridge which goes out of business and a developer purchases the acreage to convert the lands into a subdivision, or the conversion of a Pan-Am Games athletes’ village to a condo complex in Toronto.

Here is a summary list of a few additional topics I wrote about in 2015:

  LOCAL EVENTS

Relay For Life (Several times leading up to event in June)

Cowapolooza (August)

CP Holiday Train in Woodstock (December)

Big Night Out for Big Brothers (November)

Terry Fox Run (August and September)

Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show (September)

WCI High School Reunion (June)

Annual Rec & Leisure Fair (March)

Doors Open Oxford (May)

Ingersoll’s Canterbury Folk Festival (July)

Tillsonburg’s Turtlefest (June)

  LOCAL BUILDING PROJECTS

Sierra Construction residential 5-storey project (November)

Tri-Car apartments in Woodstock (October)

New apartment building at Nellis & Lansdowne planned (June)

Claysam Homes is now Holmes On Homes approved (October)

Unique construction called TiltWall in Woodstock (February)

  LOCAL NEWS

Development Office members and mayor visit Japan (November)

Northeast Woodstock recreation centre under construction (October)

Sports Wall Of Fame (December)

Woodstock hospital update (May)

Subsidized housing projects in Oxford County (March)

Habitat For Humanity (May)

Theatre Woodstock stage (March)

Woodstock working hard to attract new businesses (January)

  LOCAL FACILITIES

SouthGate Centre (November)

Local Legion is listed for sale (August).

Former Beer Store listed for lease (August)

WDDS in middle of expansion plans at facility (January)

  LOCAL HISTORY

‘Klondike’ Joe Boyle (September)

James ‘Tip’ O’Neill (August)

Oxford Remembers – a look back at two world wars (June)

Importance of fire trucks to local economy historically (August)

Woodstock Skating Club celebrates 80 years (February)

  GENERAL CONSTRUCTION UPDATES

Renovations planned at 24 Sussex in Ottawa (October)

Why Kitchener-Waterloo is growing so quickly (June)

Woodstock’s Sierra Construction to re-develop McCormick’s in London (July)

Re-developing SoHo district in London (March)

Re-vitalizing Thames River neighbourhoods in London (October)

  NATIONAL HISTORY

John A Macdonald’s 200^th birthday (January)

150 years (2017) since Confederation (April)

Canada’s Walk of Fame (March)

LINKS:
http://markroyallepage.blogspot.ca/2015/04/i-concentrate-on-selling-in-oxford.html

www.canada150.ca

www.oxfordremembers.ca

www.woodstockmuseum.ca

www.cityofwoodstock.ca

www.cometothecrossroads.ca

www.outdoorfarmshow.com
www.cowapolooza.com

www.woodstocksentinelreview.com

Carey Price is the best of the best in hockey in 2015

Canadiens goalie wins Lou Marsh Trophy as Canada's top athlete & Lionel Conacher award too 
Montreal loses again today; struggle with starting goalie injured

By Mark Schadenberg

The greatest goalie currently in the NHL is the Habs’ Carey Price.

Without Price in the lineup, the Montreal Canadiens have just one win in their past 11 starts.

I actually will go one farther in my assessment of Carey Price. When he is healthy, he’s the best player in the National Hockey League – ahead of Jamie Benn, Alex Ovechkin, Drew Doughty and even Patrick Kane.

There really is no debate and when Carey Price was named the Lou Marsh winner this year as Canada’s top athlete that news simply solidified the notion. He is the first goalie to be voted to that honour – named after a former sports editor of The Toronto Star newspaper. 
As the 2015 calendar winds down, arrives news that Price is also Canada's top male athlete in voting for the respected Lionel Conacher Award.
Price won the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s MVP last season and also earned the Vezina Trophy as top goalie, and earned the Jennings Trophy with the lowest goals against average (GAA). When the NHL players voted for the most valuable player in their collective opinions, Price was also then named the Ted Lindsay Award winner.

I’m not a Montreal fan and actually I would list the Leafs, Kings, Capitals and Penguins on my list of favourites, and the Canadiens would have difficulty making my personal top 25.

Why has Carey Price won me over?

Remarkable career stats, including getting better and better with a lifetime goals against average of 2.43, but he’s at 2.06 this year and earned a remarkable 1.96 GAA last season with nine shutouts and a .933 save percentage. He also averages more than 55 starts per season. This year, he is 10-2 in 12 appearances.

The Habs, who don’t play at home until Jan. 6 and have a crazy road schedule including the Winter Classic in Boston on Jan. 1, have struggled lately with six straight losses and just one victory in their past 11 starts since Dec. 1. Their only win this month was 3-1 in Montreal over Ottawa on Dec. 12. Montreal is not scoring with just 16 goals in those dozen contests, but their confidence evaporated when Carey Price was placed on the injury list.

There’s a bucket full of pucks in listing reasons to say Price is the best goalkeeper in the world, but the top one would be who he is and where he came from.

Price has climbed the ranks from a difficult beginning and quite truly a remarkable Canadian story.

Price grew up in Anahim Lake in northern British Columbia. His mother Lynda is a former Ulkatcho First Nation chief on the reserve the family calls home. Carey Price – like a lot of Canadians – grew up skating on a pond, but it’s the true lack of minor hockey structure in his hometown, which makes his rise to the top such an inspiring story.  

Price and his dad Jerry would travel several times a week to Williams Lake for minor hockey practices and games – a mere 3-hour drive each way. Jerry Price, by the way, was drafted in 1978 by the Philadelphia Flyers, but according to www.hockeydb.com only reached as high as the Milwaukee Admirals, which today would be equivalent to the ECHL.  

This past off season, Price made a significant contribution to the school in Anahim Lake as a way to give back. The links below include the video aired on CBC and Hockey Night In Canada. In an interview with Peter Mansbridge, Price talked about learning about his First Nations heritage from his mother and grandmother.

Peter Mansbridge

Reaching the NHL was also difficult for Price because of the distance he played in the WHL away from home as he spent four seasons with the Tri-City Americans based in Kennewick, Washington.  

The WHL star (He was CHL goalie of the year in 2007) was drafted fifth overall by Montreal in 2005 (Sidney Crosby was first overall that year). In his 2004-05 season with Tri-City, Price made 63 appearances in the regular season and had a 2.34 GAA.

Price’s impressive resume also includes world Juniors Gold in 2007 with Team Canada in Sweden (6-0 with a 1.14 GAA and IIHF tourney top goalie), winning a Calder Cup AHL crown with the Hamilton Bulldogs in 2007, and Gold at the 2014 Sochi Russia Winter Olympics. In the Olympic finals, Price earned a 24-save shutout as Canada topped Sweden 3-0. His numbers in the Olympics were more than outstanding – 5-0 with 2 shutouts and just 3 goals against with a 0.59 GAA and .972 save percentage.

When the World Cup of Hockey is contested in 2016, I’m sure the 28-year-old Price will be Canada’s starting netminder.

A true Canadian, who competed in rodeo in his youth, and travels to northern B.C. every summer to spend hours upon hours with nature and a fishing rod. Growing up in a remote area, he now donates to the local school breakfast program in Anahim Lake and Williams Lake, and provides hockey equipment to the youth there.

As a hockey fanatic, my eyes are focused closely to the TV at this time of year to watch the World Juniors – this year with the tourney in Finland. The end of the calendar is a great time to look back, reminisce about the last 12 months and honour the best of the best in 2015. In hockey – the best of the best is Carey Price.  

LINKS:
http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/canadiens-price-wins-lionel-conacher-award-as-canadas-top-male-athlete/
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/canadiens-goalie-carey-price-a-country-boy-at-heart-peter-mansbridge-1.3014918

http://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2663862829

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/carey-price-lou-marsh-1.3366226

http://stats.hockeycanada.ca/roster_players/4208752

www.hockeydb.com

http://loumarsh.ca/en/loumarsh

Mark Schadenberg, Sales Representative

Senior Real Estate Specialist (SRES designation)

Royal LePage Triland Realty Brokerage

757 Dundas St, Woodstock

www.royallepagetriland.com

(519) 537-1553, cell or text

Email: mschadenberg@rogers.com

Twitter: markroyallepage

Facebook: Mark Schadenberg, Royal LePage Triland

Discussion . . . Direction . . . Determination . . . Destination

Woodstock sports wall to be re-introduced in new format

Community complex is site for sports recognition wall
Woodstock sports wall took a hiatus for new inductees in 2015

By Mark Schadenberg
There are so many possibilities, but an improvement must be and will be found.
The Woodstock Sports Wall Of Fame has existed since 1996 when the Southwood Arena twin-pad facility opened its doors at the Woodstock District Community Complex (WDCC) in 1996. Around that same time Stub Harper passed away and thereby became the first inductee to the sports wall -- sort of a foundation to the house to be built around him.
As the years went on, the concourse or foyer or mezzanine at the WDCC quickly became filled with plaques to recognize athletes and teams, coaches and founders, and even those to be placed on a local pedestal called 'lifetime achievement'. The foyer under its current format became full and more plaques are now affixed to the walls in the hallway with the glass viewing of the secondary ice pad -- the hallway of fame -- which leads to the office for figure skating and minor hockey, and eventually to the breezeway to Fanshawe College.

The Woodstock Sports Wall of Fame has grown to be exactly what it was meant to be -- honouring significant accomplishments of local people in their arena of sports, whether it be badminton, weightlifting, hockey, football, golf, bowling, gymnastics, figure skating, baseball / softball / fastball, track and field, and even kayaking. Those bestowed their earned place on the wall include world champions, a Stanley Cup champ, and many many many national and provincial-level winners, and Olympians too.
City council members at the time who were 'champions' of the wall idea were Dave Nadalin and the late Phil Poole. 
The update to today -- as 20 years have now passed through the hourglass -- is to improve the wall's format and layout by creating an interactive display monitor with a touch screen, so if you wanted more biography on Catherine Bond-Mills (pictured) or Brian Paton or Klondike Joe Boyle or Penny Parkes or Bill Gillespie, all you have to do is scroll through the names and touch a monitor. Teams will be focused on as well, including the 68-69 Junior C Navy Vets which won an OHA title. 

The Woodstock recreation advisory committee (WRAC), which I chair, along with the City of Woodstock events manager Brad Janssen and museum curator Karen Houston, have already been working for almost a year on researching and re-researching and verifying bios on the current inductees. The idea is to have a terrific photo of each honouree, but if, for example, a computer scanning of a newspaper clipping could add more script, and at the same time more background data on the various accomplishments -- great -- add the clipping. 
Today's plaques simply have the inductees name, their category (male or female athlete, etc) along with the about six words about their sport and resume. Further, over time, photos have faded, so it's now time to shuffle the deck and re-introduce the sports wall locally. 
Sometime in 2016, which is also the 20th birthday of Southwood Arenas, along with its adjoining gymnastics centre and community hall, the WDCC will celebrate a birthday party, and before or after the candles are extinguished, the local sports hall of fame will be re-introduced with a new look, but the same focus of recognizing the people who have created our strong local sports community.
The previous nominations submitted but not yet inducted, are still on file, but new nominations will be accepted again in the new year with strongly defined criteria, but keep in mind the WRAC and its sports wall committee will continue its efforts in looking at all nominations for overall deserving quality and their contributions.
Just this past week, I spoke as a delegation at city council as WRAC chair with our advisory committee's annual report.
Also this past week, I stopped by the Wayne Gretzky Centre in Brantford (See a different post on this terrific facility) and had a long chat with Sandy Jackson there. Sandy is from Woodstock originally and continues to reside in Oxford, but is the facility manager for the stunningly renovated Gretzky building, which has four arenas and an expansive aquatics department, a gymnasium, and a fitness centre. 
My main discussion with Sandy though was about the sports recognition museum there inside the lobby of the multi-use facility.

BRANTFORD Touch-Screen

About one-quarter of the hall or museum honours Wayne, but there are also closed-in glass cases with memorabilia of many Brantford area athletes in countless sports, they have an interactive recording machine which permits participants to do play-by-play of famous sports events, and there is also a photo of each previous inductee, but most importantly a touch screen monitor which you can access by sport or in alphabetical order to see an impressive biography on all those previously honoured.
By the way, the display created to highlight the current-year honourees includes badminton player Mike Beres, who was not only a world ranked badminton player, but also a long-time member of the Woodstock Badminton Club because of the quality facility our city has for that racquet sport.
I look forward to 2016 for many reasons, including the renovated, re-focused, re-invented, re-introduced Woodstock Sports Wall of Fame.
If you have ideas on a 'look' or 'theme for the sports wall, you may certainly contact me anytime or email Brad Janssen at bjanssen@cityofwoodstock.ca. If you have old photos of current inductees, nostalgia albums of stories, or even historic trophies in your possession, you can contact Brad Janssen about these items as they could be offered to the City "on loan" for a specific time period. 

LINKS:
www.cityofwoodstock.ca
http://www.cityofwoodstock.ca/en/living-in-woodstock/resources/Applications_and_licences/Sports_Wall_Application_Form.pdf
http://www.woodstocksentinelreview.com/2014/10/14/seven-athletes-and-one-team-will-be-inducted-into-the-woodstock-wall-of-fame-oct-25-as-part-of-the-2014-class
www.waynegretzkysportscentre.ca

Mark Schadenberg, Sales Representative

Senior Real Estate Specialist (SRES designation)

Royal LePage Triland Realty Brokerage

757 Dundas St, Woodstock

www.royallepagetriland.com

(519) 537-1553, cell or text

Email: mschadenberg@rogers.com

Twitter: markroyallepage

Facebook: Mark Schadenberg, Royal LePage Triland

Discussion . . . Direction . . . Determination . . . Destination

Annual report time for Woodstock Recreation Advisory committee

I'm part of a delegation on Dec. 10 city council agenda
Presentation is about parks, trails, ball diamonds, community events and a study by a consultant 

By Mark Schadenberg
You would think having a resume with television broadcasting experience would result in not being nervous when speaking in front of Woodstock City Council, but I still have butterflies for public speaking.
As chair of the Woodstock Recreation Advisory Committee (WRAC), I will be part of a delegation along with Dan Molinaro at Thursday's (Dec 10) council meeting. It is, of course, aired live on Rogers TV.

The WRAC annual report is an update on items which council certainly already know about and often know more than our committee does. Naturally it's City Council which passes both the operations and capital budget for municipal facilities and they dissect the numbers line by line with explanation from department heads such as parks and recreation, police, fire, library, museum, transit, and the works department (building roads, maintaining storm water sewer system, snow removal, recycling, etc)
Topics for the WRAC report will range from parks and trails to ball diamonds and outdoor pickleball courts. Our volunteer group, which includes city council members Todd Poetter and Shawn Shapton, and parks and recreation manager Brian Connors, meets as many as 10 times a year and you could say we're a group of adults discussing playground equipment and splash pads.
Annually, we are known for two specific municipal events.
The Recreation & Leisure fair is Sunday, March 6 in 2016. This information fair is an opportunity for sports groups (and others) to set up a table and tell the community about their membership opportunities and activities ranging from martial arts for kids to tai chi for adults. The Rec & Leisure event includes more than a dozen sports groups like badminton, cycling, sailing, curling, baseball, dragon boat racing and kids football, but also featured are leisure activities such as dance, coin collecting, scouts, model airplanes, spinning and weaving, and acting and singing. Many city services plug their upcoming activities such as the library, art gallery, museum, summer camps (city run and operated by other groups), and the aquatics centre.

'Exciting Times' will be the theme of my power point, which includes discussion on the new recreation complex on Devonshire Avenue and the expected expansion of trails on city-owned land around Pittock Lake. It is safe to consider that myself and others from the WRAC have spoken to council more than five times with our opinions on the overdue necessity of the ball diamond complex for Woodstock, which was only confirmed when a consulting company named Monteith Brown completed its needs assessment report for council.

The 'Exciting Times' idea continues into the Woodstock Sports Wall of Fame discussion as WRAC along with Brad Janssen in the community events department is revamping the wall of fame to a new format -- an interactive touch-screen monitor with updated profiles and photos on those already inducted. This display will be in the foyer at the Southwood community complex and will also provide the city a secondary opportunity to promote its upcoming events and public meetings.
As for the sports wall of fame itself, there will also be new honourees in 2016 as the community complex (twin pad arena, gymnastics centre, fitness club and community hall) celebrates its 20th birthday. I was sports editor at The Sentinel-Review when the complex was completed in 1996 and it was only within the past year that the City completed its commitment to paying back a debenture for its construction. In the meantime, the complex's Southwood Arenas have see the addition of several new dressing rooms.
Dan Molinaro, who is current vice chair of WRAC, will join me at the podium in the middle of the council horseshoe. The focus of his announcement will be a park naming for Woodstock for the newly planned park in the Havelock Corners neighbourhood, which is an area best known as Senator Homes subdivision. The first phase of playground equipment and hard-surface trails at that park includes a budget of about $125,000, but keep in mind the City uses development dollars to build and design most activity features in residential areas, so much of the funding comes from the builders and developers.  

Dan Molinaro

The City's website notes that delegates are permitted only five minutes to speak. It's a jam packed agenda as it's December's only meeting, but we will have difficulty adhering to that time limitation. Most speakers at City Council, who must give the city clerk notice to appear on the agenda, are there to discuss variances, building permits, community events or site plan approvals.
The WRAC is a very active group of community-minded volunteers, and we're just one of many advisory groups to council as others include -- environment, library board, community grants, accessibility, police services and sister cities (Sylvania, Ohio).
Wish me luck as I am confident and prepared, but also nervous and antsy. Here I am discussing parks, and I'm utilizing words like antsy and butterflies.

LINKS:
www.cityofwoodstock.ca
www.markroyallepage.blogspot.com
http://www.markroyallepage.blogspot.ca/2015/09/building-woodall-farm-recreation.html
http://www.markroyallepage.blogspot.ca/2015/09/woodstock-wants-to-expand-trail-system.html
http://www.rogerstv.com/page.aspx?lid=237&rid=15&sid=3780&gid=242378

Community-minded volunteer and full-time Realtor

Mark Schadenberg, Sales Representative

Senior Real Estate Specialist (SRES designation)

Royal LePage Triland Realty Brokerage

757 Dundas St, Woodstock

Discussion . . . Direction . . . Determination . . . Destination

11 months in 2015 exceed 12 months in 2014

WIDREB sales strong in November; inventory improves slightly
I'm curious what local real estate market would be like if there were actually more listings? 

By Mark Schadenberg
There are 12 months is a year -- everyone knows that, but WIDREB real estate sales for the 12th month will all be gravy as the Woodstock-Ingersoll board geographical area has already topped 2014 sales totals.
While people often think about family and Christmas tinsel in December, sales in November were very brisk with 108 units sold.
If you look at the year-end numbers dating back to 2005, you can see that 2015 with 11 months completed is a strong year in the local market as sales totals so far for this year are: 1287, which tops last year (first 11 months) by more than 11%, but also tops year-end totals for every year dating back to 2007.
FINAL Year-End Totals
2014: 1180 2013: 1252
2012: 1066 2011: 1158          
2010: 1216 2009: 1080
2008: 1176 2007: 1359  
2006: 1278 2005: 1473 (Correct)                            
Average for past 10 years: 1224

Another good news item -- this time specifically for buyers -- is that new listings were numbered at 109, which means the inventory actually increased by 1 (one) in November.
The number of active listings continues to be quite low -- in reality very low when you look back to recent years.
The WIDREB website does delve into more particular stats such as seasonaly adjusted reports, average prices of detached homes versus condos, and calculating when and if we have a blanced market.

WIDREB Press Release

LONDON - ST THOMAS
Down the road, the story is a mirror as November of 2015 topped the 11th month of 2014 by more than 8%. (626 versus 577)
The LSTAR numbers are posted below in a link, but the trend all year has seen impressive sales numbers, which in-turn are driving up average sale prices, which in November were $282,348, which is a 12-month increase of 4.4%.
When the stats average in all residential sales, including condo apartments, the overall average is $264,654, which marks a rise of 4.1% over November of 2014.

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The headline on the LSTAR website describes sales as robust. Also from LSTAR:

According to recent research conducted by the Altus Group, one job is created for every three real estate transactions and approximately $55,000 in ancillary spending is generated every time a house changes hands in Ontario.

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CHATHAM AREA
In Chatham-Kent, Realtors are expecting their best year since 2008.
November of 2015 was an astounding 32% higher than 2014. The association's president notes that November of 2015 was terrific, but the same month in 2014 was well below average.
“Home sales activity is currently running right in light with historical averages, with November’s big year-over-year really just a reflection of how quiet things were in the same month last year,” said association president Jamie Winkler in a Chatham Daily News story.

KITCHENER-WATERLOO
Steady was the word used in the KWAR news clipping for November results, but reported MLS sales totals were actually up 9.8%. (413 compared to 376).
KWAR press Release:
Single detached homes in November sold for an average price of $412,581 an increase of 8.2% compared to last year. The average sale price for a condominium was $225,341, an increase of 7.3%, while townhomes sold for an average of $313,015 (up 13.8%). The average sale price of all residential sales through the KWAR’s MLS system increased 6.7% to $350,703 compared to November 2014. The full release of numbers from the K-W region are noted in the link below.

GUELPH
See www.gdar.ca for the entire details, but the Guelph market is always interesting to watch as it reflects the fact that many people are departing the edges of Toronto to instead live in the vicinity of Toronto, so new subdivisions are exploding. Home buyers think there's too much commotion in Mississauga so they drive down the 401 and find Guelph.
The Guelph district had 302 sales in August, which was the highest number ever for that particular month, and overall sales after 8 months was almost 14% higher than 2014. Not to be a pundit, but I'm curious why the association's site doesn't report more current data.

NIAGARA REGION
A lack of listings is the story in Woodstock-Ingersoll, but you could paint a similar picture in the Niagara Region as new listings in October were down by about 70 units when looking back to 2014, but sales were 93 higher. The chart is below.

NORTH BAY
Just for the fun of it, here's a link to latest results in the North Bay area -- a good November there too. http://creastats.crea.ca/noba/


LINKS:
www.widreb.ca
http://www.lfpress.com/2015/12/07/robust-real-estate-sales-continued-in-the-london-st-thomas-area-in-november
http://www.lstar.ca/news/sales-continue-robust-november
http://www.kwar.ca/home-sales-remain-steady-in-november/
http://www.chathamdailynews.ca/2015/12/07/c-k-home-sales-on-track-for-best-year-since-2008
www.gdar.ca
http://www.guelphmercury.com/news-story/6084697-guelph-unemployment-rate-climbs-but-still-lowest-among-canadian-cities/
http://creastats.crea.ca/guel/
http://creastats.crea.ca/natl/index.htm

Mark Schadenberg, Sales Representative

Senior Real Estate Specialist (SRES designation)

Royal LePage Triland Realty Brokerage

757 Dundas St, Woodstock

www.royallepagetriland.com

(519) 537-1553, cell or text

Email: mschadenberg@rogers.com

Twitter: markroyallepage

Facebook: Mark Schadenberg, Royal LePage Triland

Discussion . . . Direction . . . Determination . . . Destination

More seats added to Queen's Park for 2018 election

Oxford County riding boundary doesn't change
However, Oxford will soon be 1 voice in 122 instead of 1 in 107

By Mark Schadenberg
Just as the Governor-General was winding up the Throne Speech on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, I was opening a link to a Province of Ontario politics story on The Toronto Star website which made it official that in the next election the winning party will require more seats for a majority government.
This is not new news, but is oddly making press in the province when federal news should be grabbing all the headlines.
Why the change?
Ontario wants to align itself closer to the roster of ridings on the national stage.

Kathleen Wynne

The legislature in Ontario is expanding to 122 seats from 107, so a tie could more likely be possible, but with 107 a tie was also possible with an odd number of parties (Example: 40 seats, 40, 27)
It would seem the main reason to shift the structure is to even up the jurisdictions / seats in Ontario to be similar to the federal geography. In Oxford County, our boundaries for both elections has been equal, so no change in our area, but we do become 1 in 122 instead of 1 in 107.

Log Jam of Ridings in Toronto region

I'm not including any politically slanted comments here about which party to vote for or what my thoughts on the speech by Governor General David Johnston, but the increase number of seats is a terrific idea as population grows it's more difficult to have 1 member for approximately 100,000 population. The flip of that coin would be with intensification of demographics in the Greater Toronto Area, it will me more members representing a smaller region at Queen's Park versus some vast northern Ontario riding with fewer residences per square kilometre.    
According to a National Post story, it wasn't just the Metro Toronto area which picked up more elected officials in time for the 2015 Federal vote.

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The Canadian Press story from June 3, 2015:

The federal Electoral Boundaries Commission made changes to the boundaries of many ridings and created 15 new electoral districts in Toronto, but also Kitchener, Hamilton, Halton, Brampton, Mississauga, Simcoe, York, Ottawa, Belleville and Durham.

Ontario’s riding districts have closely matched federal ridings since 1999 when the previous Tory government reduced the number of MPPs from 130 to 103, but Ontario added one additional northern riding in 2005.

The increase in the number of Ontario MPPs will be part of a package of electoral reforms Wynne is expected to announce.

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Both the Premier (Kathleen Wynne) and her Liberal Party, along with the Conservatives led by Patric Brown are in favour of this number shuffling

As you can read in the new Toronto Star story from today, the NDP are concerned about one riding in the Sudbury area based on its overall size and the fact it does not include the Wahnapitae First Nation.

There's lots of good reading if you follow how Parliament's legislature is created.  

I remember high school history when terms like 'representation by population' were uttered by politicians at all levels in every era. Even in municipal government, it's interesting to debate whether or not Woodstock should have more than 3 seats at the 10-seat county council, which includes 8 mayors (Woodstock, Tillsonburg, Ingersoll, Zorra, East Zorra-Tavistock, Southwest Oxford, Norwich and Blandford-Blenheim) and two additional voted delegates from Woodstock.

Patrick Brown

Oxford MPP Ernie Hardeman

Constituency Office Info

LINKS:
http://www.thestar.com/news/queenspark/2015/12/04/queens-park-adds-15-more-mpps.html
www.ontario.ca
http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/ontario-will-match-most-federal-riding-changes-gets-15-new-electoral-districts
http://www.tbnewswatch.com/News/377794/Northern_Ontarios_provincial_electoral_boundaries_wont_change

Mark Schadenberg, sales representative

Royal LePage Triland Realty Brokerage

Dial: 519 537-1553

Email: mschadenberg@rogers.com

Follow Me On Twitter: markroyallepage

Facebook: Mark Schadenberg, Royal LePage Triland 

 

Elf On The Shelf is a family tradition in our household

Did you know Elf Of The Shelf was created by a family?
December has arrived with decorations, advent calendars and Alistair Sim 

By Mark Schadenberg

Our house has went from four inhabitants to six.

For more than the next three weeks, we also have a couple named Elfis and Elfina living with us. The main issue is that Elfis truly enjoys songs from the Presley library.

Family tradition is important no matter if Christmas is a religious holiday or a secular celebration. It's all about unwrapping gifts, having an advent calendar for the kids, and eating turkey dinner in your best pyjamas. Christmas is about listening to Bing and Bowie on an Ipod, watching Alistair Sim as Scrooge, playing Battleship or another enjoying-conversation-with-family game, and downloading all the stats and profiles from Canada's world juniors roster as they drop the puck on the global U20 championships on Boxing Day with Canada facing the United States. (Today – Dec 1 – is the day when the final tryout roster is announced, by the way, for Canada's crew with camp set for the Mastercard Centre of Excellence in Etobicoke Dec 10-13.)

OUR TRADITIONS

Wonderful and crafty Nicole had built homemade advent calendars from small (wooden matches) boxes using scrapbook paper and a glue gun. Each drawer would have either chocolate or a note indicating it was a day for small inexpensive toy trinket. After four years the calendar trees have been retired in favour of a toy-building Lego calendar, which awards the child Lego pieces to build a display scene.

As for Elfis, his job is clear, observe Maeghan and Spencer and report back to olde St. Nick about anything mischievous which has occurred. It's a great method of modern love (Name dropping an old Hall & Oates song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3F4c7E9IBU) and spoiling the ones that you loves (Air Supply: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nY31ZH6hAFI).

The inventors of Elf On A Shelf are a genius mother-daughter team, but it's the parents who must pre-occupy their bedtime chores with placing their Elf in a new location daily and often 'hiding' Santa's helper on a high shelf, sitting on top of a coffee table lamp, preparing breakfast or simply relaxing after washing dishes.

Go to www.elfontheshelf.com and there is an entire site full of stocking stuffers, games and puzzles, family project decorations, and naturally a link to order merchandise, and certainly there are arrows to direct parents to their section of the site and vice versa.

Carol, Chanda and Christa must now be multi-millionaires.

Talk about an enterprising family tradition. Carol Aebersold and daughter Chanda Bell wrote the Elf On The Shelf book and sewed the original puppets before subsequent mass production began, and now have extended the idea format to an Elf for an upcoming birthday. Christa Pitts, meanwhile, who is the twin sister of Bell, evolved her work with TV's home shopping network into marketing the Elf premise. Their full stories are also found on the website. Elf, by the way, only debuted in 2005 so he's a relatively new tradition and not something dating back in time to Air Supply or . . . Hall & Oates singing Jingle Bell Rock (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vyMuxxLsD0)

Check out the posting below about the Elf's sinister side. We know it's all good-nature fun, but children under the age of 10 shouldn't surf through their parents Facebook pages as they will likely discover misbehaving Elf as I have seen him twerk, go on dates with Barbie, break tree ornaments, and drink too much egg nog. You could say, maniacal parents – me included – have taken the premise and turned it around 180 degrees for innocent fun, but again making sure the true 'gem' of the initial idea is not ruined for small children.

Elf On The Shelf is a tradition for us, and I hope you enjoy all your family traditions throughout December and into the new year.

LINKS:

www.elfontheshelf.com

http://www.elfontheshelf.com/content/meet-santas-team

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/elf-on-the-shelf-helpful-tool-for-parents-or-something-more-sinister-1.3344110

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/elf-on-the-shelf-festive-fun-or-santa-s-sinister-spy-1.2881386

http://www.cbc.ca/newsblogs/yourcommunity/2013/12/elf-on-a-shelf-tradition-meets-the-internet-gets-creepy.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vyMuxxLsD0

House Hunting in Oxford County?

Call me today !

Mark Schadenberg, Sales Representative

Senior Real Estate Specialist (SRES designation)

Royal LePage Triland Realty Brokerage

757 Dundas St, Woodstock

www.royallepagetriland.com

(519) 537-1553, cell or text

Email: mschadenberg@rogers.com

Twitter: markroyallepage

Facebook: Mark Schadenberg, Royal LePage Triland

Discussion . . . Direction . . . Determination . . . Destination