Ottawa unveils new carbon tax rebate programs for small businesses

By Mia Robson, Global News, May 30, 2019

Small businesses in the four provinces with a national carbon price will share $1.4 billion over the next four years to help them reduce their energy use but business-owners say they are getting the short end of the rebate stick.

SNC delivers hands-on tree-planting experiences to watershed students

By the Review, May 30, 2019

This past week, South Nation Conservation (SNC) worked with local students to green up two schoolyards in the United Counties of Prescott and Russell, contributing to the area’s forest cover.

On Monday, May 27, 2019, SNC teamed up with youth from Saint-Viateur Catholic Elementary School in Limoges to plant three Red Maple Trees as part of the school’s ongoing beautification initiative. Student’s enrolled in the school’s Club Écolo were taught how to properly plant and care for trees by SNC staff and learned about the importance of planting trees to improve local forest cover.

Mayor requests formal investigation of Ottawa River floods

By 1310 News, May 30, 2019

The city has asked the provincial and federal governments to open a formal investigation into the Ottawa River floods.

Mayor Jim Watson wrote letters to both Prime Minister Trudeau and Premier Ford, requesting that their governments open a formal investigation into both this spring's floods on the Ottawa River, as well as the floods of 2017.

"Many residents in the affected areas of Ottawa will be waiting for reliable information on the factors contributing to these flooding events, and the likelihood of reoccurrence, before making a decision on rebuilding their homes," Watson wrote.

Ottawa cyclist calling for the end of sensors at traffic lights

By Jeff Slack, 1310 News, May 30, 2019

A cyclist is raising concern about technology used to trigger sensors that change traffic lights after he had a close call with on coming traffic.

This technology is called 'revert reds,' and it's used mainly on streets that intersect with busy roadways to help keep the flow of traffic moving an intersection.

When a bike or vehicle sits over the sensor at a main road, only then does it triggers a countdown for the light to turn green, however if the vehicle is past the sensor mark it can quickly switch the signal from green back to red.

$275K to monitor and protect Ottawa River, McKenna announces

By Kayla Douglas, Ottawa Sun, May 29, 2019

The federal government will be providing $275,000 to help monitor and protect the Ottawa River over the next two years, Catherine Mckenna, minister of environment and climate change, announced Wednesday.

“We’re feeling the impacts of climate change. Flooding has impacted residents all along the Ottawa River,” McKenna said. “We have seen floods that are supposed to be one in 100 years happening every few years.”

And McKenna said instances of extreme weather are only going to get worse, as Canada is warming at a rate that’s twice the global average.

Portage Bridge best choice for main transit link, STO says

By CBC News Ottawa, May 29, 2019

The Portage Bridge is the most promising option and the Prince of Wales Bridge has "little potential" to link the transit networks in Gatineau, Que. and Ottawa, according to a study presented by the Société de transport de l'Outaouais.

In a presentation Tuesday, the STO said the Portage Bridge would provide better service to downtown Gatineau, and would also allow the agency to drop off its users at Ottawa's downtown Lyon or Parliament stations, which may have more capacity.

The study, conducted by Quebec engineering firm WSP Global, found that linking the STO with OC Transpo's light rail at Bayview station via the Prince of Wales Bridge is not recommended as a main link.

Why we flood: Capricious climate complicates river regulation

By Ryan Tumilty, CBC News Ottawa, May 30, 2019

The Carillon dam is the Ottawa River's final drain.

Water from every one of the river's many tributaries and reservoirs — every drop from its vast watershed — eventually flows through the hydroelectric power station's gates, about 130 kilometres east of the capital.

On April 30, when the river reached this spring's peak, a record 9.2 million litres surged through the dam each second, enough to fill nearly four Olympic-size swimming pools. That's more water than cascades over Niagara Falls.

Summer expected to start slowly after sputtering spring

By Mike Vlasveld, 1310 News, May 27, 2019

The Weather Network thinks it could still be a while before the capital region feels the summer heat.

Digital Meteorologist Tyler Hamilton said it's been a cooler-than-normal spring in Ottawa, and that trend is expected to continue through June (summer officially starts on June 21).

On 1310 NEWS' Ottawa Today with Mark Sutcliffe Monday, Hamilton explained that, overall, this summer is projected to see average temperatures. And even though it could get off to a slow start, residents should enjoy hot temperatures later into September than what is typical.

Carbon tax smackdown: Andrew Coyne asks what is this argument really about?

By Ottawa Citizen, May 27, 2019

“Be it resolved that a carbon tax is the policy Canada needs to fight climate change.”

Terence Corcoran and Andrew Coyne go head-to-head on whether a carbon tax is the proper tool to fight climate change.

I’ll assume from the outset that we’re not arguing about climate change itself — whether it is happening, whether it is man-made, whether it is potentially harmful enough to be worth some cost to avoid — as virtually all mainstream carbon tax opponents claim to believe all three.

Likewise, I’ll assume we are not arguing whether Canada should at least try to meet the commitments it made at the Paris climate summit — targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions that were first set by the Harper government and adopted by the Trudeau government. While there’s room to doubt how seriously either party takes this commitment — at present we’re nowhere near achieving it or even on course to do so — both at least profess to support it.

OC Transpo crash: Internal documents give glimpse into 'glacial' pace of work to improve bus safety

By Elizabeth Payne, Ottawa Citizen, May 28, 2019

Within hours of January’s deadly double-decker bus crash, Transport Canada officials were scrambling to put together information about what the department had been doing to improve bus safety since an earlier deadly crash in Ottawa involving an OC Transpo bus and a Via Rail train.

According to documents obtained by this newspaper through access to information, the answer was not very much when it came to making buses better able to withstand crashes.

There had been very little progress in developing so-called crashworthiness standards for large passenger buses, something recommended by the Transportation Safety Board after an OC Transpo bus collided with a train in 2013, killing six people.

Former city councillor David Chernushenko pens 'eco-thriller'

By CBC News Ottawa, May 27, 2019

At the end of his long days at city hall, David Chernushenko needed a way to unwind.

So the former Captial ward councillor decided that instead of zoning out in front of the television, he'd try his hand at writing fiction.

Now, he's about to head out on a cross-country tour to promote Burning Souls, a self-published "eco-thriller" that tells the story, over the course of two decades, of four friends dealing with a world in the midst of major climate disruption.

Bike parking at work: The good, the bad and the ugly

By Giacomo Panico, CBC News Ottawa, May 24, 2019

When it comes to parking your bike at work, it can be hit or miss for employees in Ottawa-Gatineau.

In early May, as part of the discussion surrounding Bike to Work Month, CBC Radio's Ottawa Morning asked listeners and social media followers to share how bike parking works at their place of employment.

Since dissecting and sharing all the various situations would be as challenging as climbing the Champlain Lookout in a fully loaded cargo bike, we have selected three stories from listeners to highlight the good, the bad, and the just plain ugly of parking your bike at work in Ottawa-Gatineau.

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