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Niagara, Ontario, Canada (AHN) – The Ontario government fired four board members of the Niagara Parks Commission Monday to stop a growing crisis of confidence that has hit Canada’s most famous public park. The province replaced the four political appointees with civil servants.

Ontario Tourism Minister Michael Chan identified the four as Archie Katzman, Italia Gilberti, Edward Werner and Fred Louws. Katzman was kicked out for allegedly accepting an interest-free mortgage from a friend who won a building contract at Niagara Parks. Katzman’s two sons sold wine and cell phones to the commission. Chan did not provide details why the three other members were fired.

The revamp left the commission with six appointees including chairwoman Fay Booker. Chan said the six would be joined by six senior Ontario public servants who will serve as the temporary board until a new permanent board will be appointed.

Although the park, which manages 1,720 hectares of public land, attracts millions of visitors yearly who spend hundreds of dollars for entrance, souvenirs, the Maid of the Mist ride and food, the commission lost money for four consecutive years. The main attraction is the Canadian side of the Niagara Falls.

The park just adopted a new governance structure in July. Among the changes were the downgrade of Katzman from vice chair to commissioner with a term that ends October 2011.

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Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (AHN) – A Canadian fishery expert urged on Monday that an international agreement on salmon production be drawn up to prevent overcrowding of salmon stock in the North Pacific. Estimates by a Canadian-U.S. research team placed the population of adult pink, chum and sockeye salmon to twice as much as in the 1950s.

Randall Peterman, Canada Research Chair in Fisheries Risk Assessment and Management, attributed the surge in the salmon population to 718 million adult salmon returning to their freshwater homes in 2005. The large number indicates overpopulation of the ocean with salmon.

Partly responsible for the sharp rise in the salmon population is the annual release of five billion salmon fries from hatcheries in Japan and Alaska. The result of this annual release is adult salmon from hatcheries now make up about 20 percent of total adult salmon production. Peterman forecast their number would continue to increase.

Peterman said an international treaty will help manage production levels to prevent the domination of hatchery fish in the ocean. He explained the dwindling salmon stock to a regional problem, such as the one experienced in British Columbia’s Fraser River.

He said in North Pacific, Asia and other parts of North American total salmon population is abundant, also because of increased survival rates.

Peterman pointed out the need for production control over hatchery salmon and wild salmon is because the former stray into wild waters and interbreed with the latter, which dilutes the strength of the wild salmon species.

He said the wild salmon’s genes allow them to respond to different situations such as climate change, but the hatchery salmon are generally not successful as wild salmon to fluctuating condition.

The study is published in the online October edition of “Marine and Coastal Fisheries: Dynamic Management and Ecosystem Science.”

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Gatineau, Ontario, Canada (AHN) – Ottawa will issue electronic passports to Canadian citizens starting in 2012. To begin the process, Public Works and Government Services Canada sought potential suppliers to submit letters of interest this summer.

The ePassport will have a proximity contactless chip which could only be read within 10 centimeters (3.93 inches) of a reader. But the machine-readable zone on page 2 of the passport must be scanned first. Among the data on the chip are the holder’s name, gender, date and place of birth and a digital photo of the citizen’s face.

Customs officials will compare the information on the chip with the printed information and photo in the passport.

Passport Canada said the identity document will only bear the holder’s face. It will not contain additional biometric data such as fingerprints or iris scans found in electronic passports of other countries. Passport Canada explained it excluded other biometric data due to privacy concerns.

Canada will actually be catching up since at least 90 nations will have ePassports by the end of 2010. By 2014, the list would grow to 104 countries.

The ePassport will cost more, so Passport Canada consulted Canadians in April this year through an online survey. Aside from higher cost, the new passport will also offer a longer life span of 10 years from the current five years.

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The government recently doled out $1 billion for the CARS (Car Allowance Rebate System) program that allows consumers to turn in their “clunkers,” cars that get 18 or less MPG (and meet other requirements), and a receive $3,500 or $4,500 discount on a new vehicle. Last week, the government decided to infuse an additional $2 billion into the program, which has already “…helped [automakers'] companies, suppliers, scrap yards, steel producers and other small businesses,” (Reuters).

Nevertheless, as the owner of a small business that doesn’t sell cars, you may be looking for your own cash infusion. Though there may not be a government-created program equivalent to cash for clunkers, designed to help other retail and/or service-oriented business owners, there is still a way for merchants to get funds for their businesses – merchant loans.

Merchant loans lenders offer various programs designed for small business owners located in both the United States and Canada. Starter merchant cash advance programs allow merchants who have been declined in the past to be advanced a small amount and a larger amount once the initial advance is repaid. The standard merchant loan program offers up to $500,000 to qualified small business owners, and the premium advance program provides the best rates and flexible loan terms for merchants who meet special qualifications.

Some merchant loan lenders even offer new restaurant loan programs, in which restaurant owners do not need to have a six-month track record in order to receive funds. Merchants who qualify for this program can get up to $500,000 for their restaurants within the first week of the restaurants’ openings.

Basic merchant loan requirements include:

· Merchant must have owned business for at least six months
· Business must process at least $3,500 in monthly credit card sales
· Business must have at least one year remaining on lease
· Merchant may not have unresolved bankruptcies

Get a free online quote today and find out how much money a merchant lender can infuse into your small business.

Author: Gaston Castro
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Cellphone, mobile phone

Restaurant financing was once very difficult to obtain but today there are many options for financing and restaurant loans are offered by various financial institutes as well as traditional banks.

There are many factors that will come into play when looking to obtain financing for your new restaurant. For example, the size of your restaurant, your experience, how much funding you are putting up, and how much funding you need.

Money makes the world go round and it definitely makes your restaurant go round. Whether you are opening your very first restaurant, moving your existing restaurant to a bigger location, remodeling, or adding new a new bar – it matters not, all of it entails restaurant financing, and restaurant loans are much different than regular business loans.

Restaurant loans can be challenging to obtain and frustrating for you. This just isn’t an industry that the banks like, so you need to be ready for rejection to occur. The good news is that there are loans available if you just persevere. Here are some tips to help you get that financing in place.

Explore

Explore various financing options. What works for someone else might not be right for you. So don’t be afraid to spend some time online to find the right loans for you.

Commercial Restaurant Loans

You may have trouble finding conventional restaurant loans, especially if this is a new venture without a proven track record, but it’s still worth a shot. The key is to be able to prove to the bank that you are really low risk. The banks job is to have assets to cover a percentage of the amount of money they lend, so take a little time to understand how this works.

SBA Loans

SBA loans are something that many aren’t familiar with. This is an alternative to the traditional restaurant loans offered by your bank. Through the private sector loans are granted through various lenders and the SBA will guarantee up to 85% of the principal. There are actually more than 500 lenders in Canada that offer SBA loans. If you are turned down on traditional restaurant loans, you may be a candidate for an SBA loan.

Investors

There are many individuals and companies that are interested in investing in new ventures including restaurants. Unlike restaurant loans investors own a portion of the business. You determine the agreement between you and the investor.

Seller Financing

If you are purchasing an existing restaurant many times the seller is willing to finance. Don’t be afraid to ask.

There you have it – restaurant loans are readily available, perhaps just not in the traditional form that we are so used to, but certainly in many other forms.

Author: Gordon Petten
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Canada duty