Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - July 24, 2013, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE B6 Going on Va cation? 10 WEEKLY PRIZES of $ 10 * . 5 GRAND P RI ZE W IN NE RS of $ 100 * your share of over $ 3000 Win in prizes DOUBLE YOUR Winnings! GIVE US YOUR RE- START DATE! All you have to do is give us a re- start date to resume your paper and you'll be entered to win one of 10 weekly draws for a $ 10.00 Tim's Gift Card and a additional opportunity to win one of 5 draws at the end of the Summer for $ 100.00 gift cards. Call us at 204- 697- 7001 ( 1- 800- 542- 8900) to notify us of your vacation stop and restart date or go to winnipegfreepress. com/ customer_ service/ * Subscribers who provide us with a restart vacation date will be automatically entered in to the draws. Prize amounts will double if you donate your vacation newspapers to the Winnipeg Free Press Newspaper in Hospital program or the Newspaper in Education program! ** Winnipeg Free Press general contest rules apply. No purchase necessary. Contest starts April 29, 2013 and ends on September 15, 2013. Winners will be contacted by phone. Grand Prize draws will be held on September 18, 2013. DONATE YOUR PAPER WHILE ON HOLIDAYS TO OUR HOSPITAL OR NEWSPAPER IN EDUCATION PROGRAM! In addition to providing your restart date, if you donate your subscription while on vacation to our Hospital or Newspaper in Education program and your name is picked, you will win DOUBLE the prize values. That's $ 20.00 in our weekly draw and $ 200.00 in our Summer- end draw. c a tion BUSINESS EDITOR: SHANE MINKIN 204- 697- 7308 business@ freepress. mb. ca I MARKET DETAILS B7 I winnipegfreepress. com WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 2013 B 6 A new contender has emerged in the city's search for someone to redevelop the downtown St. Regis Hotel property. Winnipeg's downtown development agency - CentureVenture Development Corporation - rejected three proposals submitted last month. But since then, another party has expressed an interest in the property. CentreVenture president and CEO Ross McGowan said agency officials have had preliminary discussions with the new party, and have asked for a written offer to purchase along with a more detailed description of what it would do with the property. " You only need one good one, and we think we may have a good proposal," McGowan said of the latest contender. He wouldn't say who the new contender is, or if it's a local or out- of- province developer. He also wouldn't reveal any details about what plans it may have for the property. McGowan was also tight- lipped about who submitted the three earlier proposals, and why they were rejected. Asked whether CentreVenture approached the new party or if it was vice versa, he said, " It was a little of both." He denied CentreVenture officials were disappointed they received only three responses initially, which proved unacceptable. " Our expectations were relatively low. And there's no panic for us to do something ( with the property)." He said the hotel has been leased back to the previous owners, who will continue to operate it as a " dry" hotel until a long- term solution is found. " And it's still a valuable property," he added. CentreVenture purchased the St. Regis last November as part of a push to curb excessive intoxication and improve safety downtown. It then shut down the hotel's beverage room and VLT lounge, and leased it back to the previous owners. The St. Regis is one of two older downtown hotels the city agency has purchased since late last fall. The other is the Carlton Inn on Carlton Street, which is also slated for redevelopment. McGowan said CentreVenture took possession of that now- vacant hotel on Friday, and will soon apply for a demolition permit. It hopes to demolish the two- storey structure within the next eight to 10 weeks. He said it's still too soon to disclose what is likely to be built in its place. But he strongly hinted in May a new hotel could rise from the rubble. Winnipeg Convention Centre officials have been lobbying for a new international- brand hotel to be built near the Convention Centre to help accommodate an anticipated increase in convention business once its $ 180- million- plus addition opens in 2017. The Carlton Inn property is located across the street from the WCC. murray. mcneill@ freepress. mb. ca By Murray McNeill CentreVenture won't ID mystery St. Regis redeveloper W ESTJET is reviving nonstop daily service between Winnipeg and Saskatchewan's two largest cities beginning early next year. A spokeswoman for the Calgarybased airline said Tuesday its new regional air service - WestJet Encore - will offer twice- daily non- stop flights between Winnipeg and Regina beginning on Jan. 15, and between Winnipeg and Saskatoon starting on Feb. 15. Brie Ogle said WestJet halted direct flights between Winnipeg and the two Saskatchewan cities in May 2009. That left Air Canada as the only carrier offering direct service. Winnipeggers wanting to fly WestJet had to fly to Calgary first, then catch a plane to Regina or Saskatoon. Ogle said WestJet didn't halt direct service because it wasn't popular. " It is and always has been. It's just the aircraft we were using didn't match the ( passenger) volumes we were seeing." She said back then, WestJet was using 116- to 166- seat planes, while its new regional service will use 78- seat jets. That will better match the number of passengers expected on the flights, she added. The new flights to and from Saskatchewan are among a number of additions to WestJet's 2013- 14 winter schedule. The airline said it is adding four new non- stop routes - the other two are between Vancouver and Kamloops, B. C., and Calgary and Miami - and two new year- round routes. It's also adding more flights on 29 existing routes within its network. Ogle said Winnipeg Airports Authority Inc. and WestJet's own customers lobbied to have the two routes included as part of the new regional service. And the airline is thrilled to be able to do that. In May, WestJet announced it was also adding daily non- stop service between Brandon and Calgary, beginning Sept. 3. WAA president and CEO Barry Rempel said the new flights will be welcome additions. Not only will they provide more options for local flyers, they should also help drive down airfares on the routes. He said WestJet's round- trip airfare between Winnipeg and the two Saskatchewan cities is expected to be about $ 400, which is about $ 100 cheaper than what Air Canada charges. He said he expects Air Canada to reduce its fares to match WestJet's fares once the new service starts. Rempel said the lower airfares and expanded service could also lead to more business dealings between companies here and in Saskatchewan, which would be good for the local economy. " The more carriers there are and the more choices there are, the more opportunities there are to do business," he added. The addition of the two new routes should also help boost passenger volumes at Winnipeg's James Richardson International Airport. Second- quarter results released Tuesday by the WAA show passenger traffic at the airport was down two per cent in the quarter that ended June 30. Rempel blamed the decline on national carriers reducing the number of flights on some routes, or switching to smaller planes in a bid to boost passenger loads. " Winnipeg has not been immune to those changes in capacity..." he added. But he noted Q2' s drop in passenger volumes was smaller than Q1' s three per cent decline, so things are trending in the right direction. " And with Encore being announced ( for next year), I'm sure we'll start to see some of that come back." Despite the year- over- year decline in passenger volumes, the WAA still reported an increase in second- quarter revenues - $ 23.1 million versus $ 20.9 million - and in earnings before interest and taxes - $ 4.2 million versus $ 3.1 million. murray. mcneill@ freepress. mb. ca OTTAWA - The federal finance minister is stepping into a fee dispute between Canada's merchants and the big credit card companies after the Competition Tribunal sided with Visa and MasterCard in a landmark ruling. Jim Flaherty said Tuesday in light of the ruling, he will convene a special meeting of the government's FinPay Committee - a consultative body on payments issues that includes representatives from consumer, small business and retail groups, as well as the credit card industry. The Competition Bureau had brought a complaint to the tribunal that the credit card companies exert too much power in forcing merchants to accept credit cards that carry higher processing fees. Those fees are among the highest in the world, according to the bureau, adding up to between $ 5 billion and $ 7 billion annually. But the tribunal dismissed the case Tuesday, saying its reasons, at least for now, are being kept under wraps. " The tribunal's reasons are confidential at this time in order to protect properly confidential evidence," it said in a statement. " A public version of the decision will ( be) issued as soon as possible after a determination as to what information must remain confidential has been made." In a summary of its decision, the tribunal made two findings. First, it found Visa and MasterCard did not violate Section 76 of the Competition Act, which would require merchants resell credit- card products. However, it also found restrictions imposed on merchants by Visa and MasterCard, preventing them from applying a surcharge on those customers paying with credit cards, may have had an adverse effect on competition. Still, the tribunal rejected the complaint on that basis, placing the ball in the government's court. It said regulatory change is the proper solution to concerns raised by the commissioner about anticompetitive behaviour on the part of the credit card companies. And it suggested there would be a consumer backlash should merchants be allowed to impose surcharges on customers using cards that carry higher interchange fees. " In that regard... the experience in other jurisdictions showed that concerns would be raised by consumers regarding surcharging and that sooner than later, intervention would have to take place by way of regulation." In response, Flaherty said Canada's small- business owners and consumers " deserve clear information and fair and transparent rules on the type of payment system they use." The minister added while he reviews the tribunal's decision he will monitor any potential appeal. The ruling will benefit consumers, who will not have to face additional costs for using credit cards that offer reward points, said MasterCard Canada president Betty Devita. " The ability to do ( transactions) without having to think about whether or not there will be a surcharge or confusion at the checkout is positive for both consumers as well as merchants," she said. Small businesses were hoping the case would provide merchants new powers to push back against rapidly rising credit card processing fees, said the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. - The Canadian Press WestJet adds routes Non- stop flights to Regina, Saskatoon restored By Murray McNeill SUPPLIED PHOTO WestJet Encore's Q400 has 78 seats, making it a better fit for the regional routes than previously employed, higher- capacity jets. Flaherty promises clarity on card fees ' The more carriers there are and the more choices there are, the more opportunities there are to do business' - WAA president Barry Rempel B_ 06_ Jul- 24- 13_ FP_ 01. indd B6 7/ 23/ 13 8: 06: 50 PM ;