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Jim Flaherty is leaving the federal cabinet after more than eight years as finance minister to prepare for a return to the private sector, saying the move is unrelated to his recent health problems.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is expected to name his replacement Wednesday.

Flaherty, who delivered his final budget last month, said he made the decision with his family earlier this year.

As I begin another chapter in my life, I leave feeling fulfilled with what we have accomplished as a government and a country during one of the most challenging economic periods in our countrys history, he said in a statement.

An official in the Prime Ministers Office said Flaherty would be retaining at least for now his seat in the House of Commons, meaning he remains an MP for the time being.

Flaherty is among Canadas longest-serving finance ministers, appointed to the key economic post when the Conservative government first came to power in 2006.

He managed the countrys economy through one of its worst economic crises in 2008-2009, running up large deficits but leaving the books virtually balanced after his Feb. 11 budget.

Speculation about Flahertys future has risen in recent years after he acknowledged suffering from a rare skin condition, requiring him to take medication that led to weight gain and apparent fatigue in public appearances.

His long farewell message to Canadians, delivered unexpectedly on a government website, listed accomplishments such as cooling the housing market and introducing tax-free savings accounts.

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Flaherty steps down as finance minister

OTTAWA Jim Flahertys resignation from cabinet Tuesday marks the end of a tumultuous eight years as finance minister and leaves Prime Minister Stephen Harper scrambling to find a replacement in the governments most important portfolio. Harper was expected to name a new finance minister on Wednesday.

The 64-year-old Flaherty made the bombshell announcement Tuesday barely a month after tabling his latest federal budget, which projected the federal government would balance the books in 2015-16.

The resignation comes shortly after Flaherty openly questioned the wisdom of the governments plan to introduce income-splitting for families, a position that placed him at odds with other cabinet ministers and even Harper.

But the man sometimes tagged with the unflattering nickname Deficit Jim wont even be in government to watch the Conservatives get back into black ink. Nor will he be in cabinet to push through legislation enacting his own most recent budget.

His resignation from cabinet is effective immediately, but his office said he will stay on as MP for Whitby-Oshawa for the time being.

Flaherty is the only finance minister the Harper government has ever known; he was appointed to the post when the Conservatives won power in 2006.

He is widely credited by political observers and many economists as the steady economic hand who helped the government fight its way back from the depths of the recession to the verge of a balanced budget.

Yet by the end of the 2014-15 fiscal year, under Flahertys watch, the government will have added $150 billion more to the federal debt than was there at the beginning of the economic downturn in 2008.

Opposition parties have highlighted the mounting deficits and federal debt as examples of how Flahertys economic record isnt nearly as strong as the government trumpets.

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Finance Minister Jim Flaherty resigns, will return to private sector

OTTAWA Prime Minister Stephen Harpers government is suddenly staring political uncertainty in the face after the loss of its rock in cabinet.

Jim Flaherty was the only finance minister Harpers governing Tories ever knew. He delivered 10 budgets for the government and guided the country through the 2008-09 recession.

And now, just a year before the next election, Harper must pick a replacement and hope that person carries the same message of credibility to both voters and the markets.

Flaherty is leaving the federal treasury with a looming surplus of $6.4 billion in 2015-16 after several years of being in the red.

At the same time, he has stirred up a debate over whether the Tories unfulfilled promise from the last election of income-splitting for families is solid policy or a bad move for Canadian society.

The next finance minister will have less than a year to craft a budget that Harpers Tories can bring into the next campaign as their ticket to re-election.

CBC and CTV News reported Tuesday night that the next finance minister will be Joe Oliver, who currently holds the natural resources portfolio. The announcement will be made Wednesday.

Harpers choice among existing cabinet ministers there is no obvious standout successor in the wings could have political ramifications right up to voting day, on Oct. 19, 2015.

By the same token, it could either scare investors about the steadiness of Harpers economic policies, or provide a dollop of relief that there is no major change in the wind.

It is an important development, BMO Capital Markets chief economist Doug Porter said Tuesday of the resignation.

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Flahertys departure spells political uncertainty for Stephen Harper

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty is resigning from the federal cabinet and will be returning to the private sector.

In a statement released Tuesday by his office, Mr. Flaherty said it is a decision that he made with his family earlier this year. Mr. Flaherty said his goal was always to get Canada back on track toward a balanced budget, a goal he said was achieved with last months budget. (Read the statement)

BNN Video Mar. 18 2014, 5:16 PM EDT

Mr. Flaherty has been finance minister since Stephen Harper first became Prime Minister in 2006.

Now, I will focus on life beyond politics as I return to the private sector. I believe that I have served my country, province and constituents of Whitby-Oshawa to the best of my abilities and thank them for their continued trust and support for almost two decades. It has been an honour to serve Canadians with the prime minister, cabinet and caucus colleagues and all Members of Parliament in the House of Commons, he said.

As many of you know, I faced a health issue over this past year. I have received much support and good wishes from Canadians across the country and for that, I am thankful. I am happy to report that I am on the road to a full recovery and the decision to leave politics was not related in any way to my health. This decision was made because it is the right one for me and my family at this time.

Mr. Harper issued a statement praising Mr. Flahertys record in office.

On behalf of cabinet, Members of Parliament and all Canadians, I thank Minister Flaherty for his long and dedicated service to his constituents and to Canada. We wish him and his family well as he begins the transition to private life, said Mr. Harper.

The government will announce a new finance minister Wednesday, sources say.

Sources say the next finance minister, whos already been chosen, will be somebody with impressive credentials and whos very capable.

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Finance Minister Jim Flaherty resigns from cabinet

Canadian Press photo

Minister of Finance Jim Flaherty

OTTAWA Jim Flaherty is leaving the federal cabinet after more than eight years as finance minister to prepare for a return to the private sector, saying the move is unrelated to his recent health problems.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is expected to name his replacement Wednesday.

Flaherty, who delivered his final budget last month, said he made the decision with his family earlier this year.

CLICK HERE TO READ A STATEMENT BY PRIME MINISTER STEPHEN HARPER ON THE RESIGNATION OF JIM FLAHERTY

As I begin another chapter in my life, I leave feeling fulfilled with what we have accomplished as a government and a country during one of the most challenging economic periods in our countrys history, he said in a statement.

An official in the Prime Ministers Office said Flaherty would be retaining at least for now his seat in the House of Commons, meaning he remains an MP for the time being.

Flaherty is among Canadas longest-serving finance ministers, appointed to the key economic post when the Conservative government first came to power in 2006.

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Finance Minister Jim Flaherty resigns from politics, heading to private sector

OTTAWAToronto MP Joe Oliver will become Canadas next finance minister, replacing Jim Flaherty who made the surprise announcement Tuesday that he was quitting his long tenure atop the economic portfolio.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper was expected to confirm Wednesday that Oliver who is the natural resources minister would be tapped to take over in finance.

It would be a dramatic promotion for the relative newcomer to politics. Oliver, who represents the Toronto riding of EglintonLawrence, was elected in just 2011.

But Oliver, who holds a business degree from Harvard, boasts an impressive resum in the financial sector that includes time as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch, executive director of the Ontario Securities Commission and president and CEO of the Investment Dealers Association of Canada.

One Conservative strategist suggested Tuesday that Oliver, with experience in McGill law, Harvard MBA, securities regulation and Bay St. credentials, would be a solid pick.

He really has the whole package, the source told the Star. His (appointment) will not scare the horses.

As natural resources minister, hes been in the spotlight as the governments point man behind initiatives to build pipelines west across the Rockies and south into the United States to move oilsands crude oil out of Alberta.

But Harper now appears poised to give Oliver a new challenge as his finance minister, according to CBC and CTV, which both reported on his pending new cabinet assignment Tuesday night.

Flaherty, the outspoken MP from WhitbyOshawa, leaves cabinet following eight years in the key economic portfolio.

He has been battling a skin ailment that affected his appearance and often left observers wondering if the demanding finance post was too much for him in his condition. But he said he is stepping down from finance for family reasons.

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Finance Minister Jim Flaherty quits cabinet

WATERLOO | The cost of remodeling the City Hall meeting room jumped this week.

City Council members voted 4-2 Monday to approve a nearly $25,000 increase in the original $194,500 contract to renovate the council chambers on the second floor of City Hall.

Councilmen Steve Schmitt and Tom Lind voted against the increase. Both had voted Feb. 3 against the original contract, saying it was not a good time to spend the money. Councilwoman Carolyn Cole was absent.

Failor-Hurley Construction is putting new carpeting, window treatments and furnishings in the council chambers and adjacent Mollenhoff Room.

New electronic equipment to improve meeting broadcasts and presentations is being added, while the room will become wheelchair accessible.

Resident Forest Dillavou questioned the need for additional improvements.

"I have a problem with change orders whenever I see them," he said. "Did we get softer chairs?"

Building Official Craig Clark said the key reason for the change order was a new desk where council members will sit and a rebuilding of the raised platform in the room, which was found to be improperly constructed when the renovation started.

Mayor Buck Clark said he also doesn't like change orders but contends the additions are necessary.

"The desk was just a flat oversight," he said.

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Waterloo council chambers renovation project cost rises

TERRE HAUTE For the first time since the dedication of its corporate headquarters downtown in 1988, First Financial Bank will begin next month to use the entire building, after a remodeling of a long-vacant, previously unfinished fourth floor.

The move will impact 69 employees, 19 of which will be moved into the downtown office building from the banks operations center at 1401 S. Third St., said bank President/CEO Norman L. Lowery.

The bank is moving all of its commercial, mortgage and installment loan employees and loan administration to the more than 16,000-square-foot fourth floor.

The move also will relocate 50 people to the fourth floor from the second floor. That vacated second-floor space will allow for additional personnel moves from the operations center to the downtown, possibly legal and auditing personnel, Lowery said.

The fourth floor relocation is scheduled for April 21.

This will improve our lending service and allow us to do some things such as cross train some of our personnel who had been in separate buildings, Lowery said.

This building was built and furnished in 1988. This is our corporate office, and we are the only publicly traded corporation headquartered in Vigo County. This is our corporate office, and I want to start seeing it in that light. I think this is probably the first step in some things that we will do here and in some other facilities, too, Lowery said.

Banking has changed so much since this building was built, with some things that made sense in 1988, but now everything it electronic. We have 15 teller lines [inside the building] and we probably use five, Lowery said.

Is there a better way to do that, and should we be installing some electronic means of banking? Lowery said. I think we need to look at what we do and try to improve on it down here.

Lowery said the banks operations center had people elbow to elbow, requiring the relocation.

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Room to grow: Downtown bank remodeling, expanding headquarters

Published: Tuesday, March 18, 2014, 12:01a.m.

A patient no longer will have to ask for a private room at any of the three hospitals operated by Excela Health.

On Saturday, Excela officials converted the last of its hospitals Westmoreland Hospital in Greensburg to all private rooms, health system officials said.

Private rooms are the norm in new construction, said Maryann Singley, vice president of patient care services at Westmoreland Hospital.

The concept is wellness-oriented and promotes rest and recovery by removing the added distractions of another person sharing the room.

Latrobe Hospital converted all its rooms to single-patient in 2011. Frick Hospital in Mt. Pleasant changed its rooms as part of remodeling done in 2012-13, a spokeswoman said.

I don't think it's a question of competitiveness as much as it is patient preference and the trends nationally in admissions, Excela spokeswoman Robin Jennings said.

Hospital admissions are down nationwide, in part because of more surgeries being done via outpatient procedures, she explained. The outpatient surgeries have freed more spaces in hospital rooms.

A patient in a private room has fewer people entering each day, reducing the patient's perception about noise and busyness, Singley said.

One patient to a room further enhances the ability to have face-to-face conversations about diagnosis, prognosis and treatment, Excela officials said.

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Excela finishes switching Westmoreland Hospital to all private rooms

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