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One city's fight against "Buy American"

North Bay Mayor Vic Fedeli is keeping up his letter-writing campaign to convince United States mayors to buy Ca nadian goods.

This fall, Fedeli decided to rail against the 'Buy America' stimulus funding provisions with a letter-writing campaign aimed at selec t U.S. mayors in communities where North Bay made municipal purchases.

In his Oct. 26 weekly newsletter, Fedeli calls his strategy an =E2=80=9Cunbelievable success=E2=80=9D that has stirred plenty of deba te. Fedeli said North Bay's desire is to support Canadian companies, but also get the best value and lowest bid, for taxpayers =E2=80=9Cno matter their location.=E2=80=9D

Business News Network covered the campaign - (see Fedeli in action) with a number of stories, such as how "Buy America" hurts a medium sized Canadian company and soliciting the opinion o f a former trade negotiator.

If you're interested in a similar approach, you can see copies of the letters Fedeli has written.

10 arrests in Quebec buil ding industry bust

Quebec police say they have arrested at le ast 10 people linked to the province's construction industry.

News of the arrests follows a recent announcement by the Que bec government about the creation of a special squad to crack down on cor ruption involving the construction sector and public officials.

Allegations of mafia influence in Mont real's infrastructure were numerous and systemic... enough so that Maclea ns magazine declared Montreal "a corrupt, crumbling, mob-ridden disgrace."

As the feathers settle, it will become increasingly obvious the victims are the taxpayers: According to a Tran sport Canada study, one kilometre of urban road cost a whopping 46 per ce nt more to build in Quebec than the rest of the country.

In the meantime, Montreal continues to crumble...

Residents of one Montreal bureau can tell you all about deca ying infrastructure. An iron watermain has broken, leaving a massive hole in the middle of the intersection. Residents are demanding an answer as to when it will be repaired, noting that it's bro ken for for two months now.

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Vortex Flow used in 'Te xas-sized' project

An innovative Canadian technology is being used in a massive redevelopment of San Antonio, Texas's sewer system.

"The vortex unit is about 9 feet in diamet er and more than 15 feet tall and it sits inside a concrete structure that is approximately 24 feet in diameter and 24 feet tall. The vortex u nit is actually a spiral that guides sewage from both sewers into one poo l. The action not only helps get oxygen into the sewage and decrease odor , but also reduces some of the corrosive properties of the sewage. The vo rtex unit was designed for a peak flow rate of more than 40 million gallo ns of sewage per day. "

Curious? Watch this video of Vortex Flow in action

Sad milestone for Watermain Break Cl ock

For years, the Watermain Break Clock h as been toiling away, adding up the construction costs of watermain break s... this month, it hit a new milestone: 10 BILLION in construction costs in North America since 2000.