Ecology Ottawa

News Clippings

Ontario court rules federal government’s carbon-pricing law is constitutional

By Colin Perket, Global News, June 28, 2019

TORONTO — Ontario’s top court has ruled the federal government’s carbon charge is constitutionally sound.

In a split decision, the five-judge panel rejected a challenge from Premier Doug Ford‘s government to the validity of the carbon-pricing law.

READ MORE: Ontario government wants anti-carbon tax gas pump stickers on display by end of summer

Ottawa maintains it had to act to deal with the urgent threat of climate change as an issue of national concern.

The federal government said its approach  — imposing a levy on gasoline and fossil fuels — respected provincial jurisdiction.

Wet, cool weather complicates crops

By James Morgan, The Review, June 26, 2019

The unusual spring weather has slowed strawberry season and is likely to affect some vegetables as well.

According to fruit and vegetable farmer Jacques Lamoureux, owner of Les Jardins Lamoureux near Hawkesbury, strawberries are about two weeks late due to excessive rain and cool weather.

Lamoureux said the day neutral variety of strawberries, which normally grow surrounded by plastic bedding, are usually ready during the first week of June.

Ottawa's LRT problems seem small compared to Kitchener's ION

By Jeff Slack, 1310 News, June 27, 2019

Residents living in Kitchener were excited when their light rail system launched with just minutes to spare before summer officially kicked off, but it hasn't been without its own issues.

To get there, it also encountered much of the problems the City of Ottawa is currently experiencing; Four missed deadlines, $50-million over budget, and there were technical problems with the trains themselves.

On top of this, there has been an issue with drivers adopting to the idea of sharing the road with a train.

"The system launched officially late Friday morning, but it had been testing at essentially service levels for several months leading up to it and there had been four collisions over about two months of train testing," said Mike Farwell ,Talk Show Host, 570 NEWS Kitchener. "Already this weekend we had number five."

OC Transpo ridership stable despite challenging year

By CBC News Ottawa, June 27, 2019

OC Transpo ridership climbed slightly in the first part of this year, despite complaints about delayed or missing buses and the fact LRT still isn't up and running.

According to the latest numbers, there were roughly 34.5 million rides on OC Transpo in the first four months of 2019, up slightly from 34.4 million in the same time frame on 2018.

• City may fall short on long-term transit ridership goals
• OC Transpo 'not a reliable system right now,' Manconi says

Generally, transit ridership has been in a decline since hitting a peak of 103.5 million rides in 2011. Last year the overall ridership was 96.5 million, where it has been for roughly the last four years.

Recycling plant's closure leaves Ottawa Valley towns scrambling

By Amanda Pfeffer, CBC News Ottawa, June 27, 2019

A swath of the Ottawa Valley has nowhere to send its recycling following the abrupt closure of a sorting plant in Renfrew, Ont.

Beaumen Waste Management Systems shut down Sunday after more than two decades in business, leaving 32 workers jobless.

"People are upset," said mechanic John Greer, who was at the plant Wednesday to pick up his personal belongings.

Greer, who worked at the plant for four years, said employees received no warning about the closure. He fears the plant is likely closed for good.

Ontario puts $1M toward protecting communities against extreme weather effects

By the Canadian Press, CBC News, June 27, 2019

Ontario is launching a $1-million pilot project to help communities protect against effects of extreme weather after several people in central and eastern parts of the province saw flooding this spring.

The government has already activated a disaster recovery assistance program for them, which helps cover emergency expenses and the costs to repair or replace essential property not covered by insurance after a natural disaster.

(...)Green party Leader Mike Schreiner said the government's announcement Thursday is a good move, but it also needs to reverse decisions that have a negative impact.

"Throwing a million dollars at a pilot project won't reverse the damage the Ford government has done by cutting flood prevention programs, gutting environmental protections that limit flooding and spending millions to sabotage climate solutions," Schreiner said in a statement.

Ontario's top court set to rule on whether federal carbon tax is constitutional

By the Canadian Press, CBC News, June 28, 2019

Ontario's top court is set to release a decision Friday on whether the federal government can impose a carbon tax on provinces it believes aren't doing enough to fight climate change.

The Court of Appeal heard arguments about the federal carbon tax over a period of four days in April, with the Ontario government saying it is unconstitutional and can't be legally enforced.

In a rare move, the court allowed the legal battle to be televised — the first time in more than a decade cameras were allowed into an appeal court to livestream an event.

Lawyers for the province argued the tax would allow Ottawa to step into areas of provincial authority. Ontario Premier Doug Ford has dubbed it "the worst tax ever."

Today's letters: Water bills, cycling safety, electric buses

By Andrée Champagne and Jorge Sorger, Ottawa Citizen Letters to the Editor, June 28, 2019

(...)Some safety tips for cyclists

Everyone wishes to have safer roads for all users of the road: drivers, pedestrians and cyclists. But I have yet to see many cyclists say what they intend to do to protect themselves. Here are a few thoughts:

• A stop sign is not a suggestion. It means that you must stop, check if the coast is clear, then proceed. Do not blindly barrel through the intersection.

(...)Why electric buses are a good idea

Re: Transpo wants to buy electric buses without having a trial run, June 20.

In order to meet our climate change mitigation targets, Ottawa is considering changing over to electric-powered buses. This is a good choice for the following reasons: 1) compressed natural gas-powered vehicles produce fewer greenhouse gases than gas-powered ones, but they still produce the CO2 and N2O that are greenhouse gases, and NO2, which is toxic; 2) hydrogen fuel cell-powered vehicles don’t produce many greenhouse gases, but hydrogen is explosive so if there are leaks in the system, there is danger; 3) What is the point of buying cheaper buses now only to replace them later with electric ones that do not produce greenhouse gases or toxic pollutants?

Residents fear Lincoln Fields revitalization will be just another suburban mall

By Joanne Laucius, Ottawa Citizen, June 28, 2019

Plans are taking shape for the future of Lincoln Fields: demolishing the aging shopping mall, building a new Metro grocery store in the near future and hundreds of rental units in residential towers somewhere down the road.

Neighbourhood groups say they have no problem with intensification, but they want redevelopment done in step with the city’s plans to revitalize Carling Avenue and a new LRT station that will turn the neighbourhood into a transit hub.

“We want it to be pedestrian and transit-friendly,” said Jonathan Morris, president of the Britannia Village Community Association. “This is about a third of the size of LeBreton Flats and it’s also on the LRT. We should give it some serious thought.”

Federal loan for new Ecolomondo plant in Hawkesbury

By James Morgan, The Review, June 25, 2019

A federal financing agency is loaning a new industry in Hawkesbury $32.1 million to build its plant.

On June 21, Omar Alghabra, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade Diversification announced the loan from Export Development Canada (EDC) to Ecolomondo, a Montréal-based tire recycler that is building a new plant on an extension of Tessier Street in Hawkesbury.

The announcement was made in the parking lot of Maylan, the Hawkesbury construction company that is building the plant.

Environmental advocacy group calls for garbage user fees

By 1310 News, June 25, 2019

A local environmental advocacy group wants the city to charge people who throw out too much garbage, and think it would be more effective than allowing plastic bags in the green bin.

As the city begins working on a new solid waste master plan, Waste Watch Ottawa proposes a user pay system where residents are charged for throwing out more garbage than the limit. The group says the goal would be to change people's habits and attitudes.

"That's to use the blue bin and the black box and the green bin more carefully," said Duncan Bury, spokesperson for Waste Watch Ottawa.

$60 million from federal carbon tax to go to green projects in schools

By the Canadian Press, CTV News Ottawa, June 25, 2019

OTTAWA – The federal government is spending a portion of the proceeds of the carbon tax to fund green projects at schools in four provinces.

The funding totals $60 million and will go to elementary and secondary schools in New Brunswick, Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan, Environment Minister Catherine McKenna says in Ottawa.

Those four provinces are subject to the national carbon price because they do not have their own carbon-pricing systems that meet federal standards.

(...)Ten per cent will go to schools, hospitals, small businesses and other institutions to help develop green projects.

The schools are supposed to use the money for projects that reduce energy-related costs and greenhouse-gas emissions.