Ecology Ottawa

News Clippings

Ottawa is good. According to this public space guru, that's the problem

By Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen, January 21, 2019 Gil Penalosa says the problem with Ottawa is it’s a good city.

“I don’t think it’s great,” Penalosa said Monday in a conversation about the ByWard Market. “I think the biggest problem it has is it’s good. When it’s good, people are more reluctant to change.”

Penalosa is the founder of Toronto-based 8 80 Cities, a not-for-profit organization advising communities on improving public spaces. The company has worked with 350 communities around the world and is now involved in the City of Ottawa’s study of the public realm in the ByWard Market. 8 80 Cities is helping the city’s lead consultant, The Planning Partnership, consult the public. Penalosa is delivering a keynote presentation Tuesday night as part of the study. His presentation in the National Gallery of Canada’s auditorium is a free event. The presentation starts at 6:30 p.m. The city is asking people to register online if they plan on attending.

The Earth-Friendly Event on February 23, 2019

By the Review, January 21, 2019

A first-ever event is taking place at the Vankleek Hill Community Centre on February 23, 2019. Called, “The Earth-Friendly Event 2019,”it takes place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and will include a small natural history museum exhibit, three family crafts which are nature-oriented, and more than one dozen local vendors. At 1 pm, a “Meet the Keepers” show” will take place, with live live animals and information about the animals personalities. At 3 pm, the Tennessee Cree singer Kevin Schofield will perform. Admission is free to this event and draws will take place every hour.

The event will take place upstairs at the Vankleek Hill Community Centre at 36 Mill Street in Vankleek Hill.

This is how much meat you should eat in a week

By Cara Rosenbloom, 1310 News, January 19, 2019

Besides what you eat, many dietitians focus on WHY you make certain food choices. Your diet may be dictated by budget, accessibility, health, time constraints or how your individual food choices affect the planet.

There’s not one right diet that works for everyone. But the buzz about eating less meat and more plant-based foods is getting lots of traction, since it ticks many of these boxes – it’s affordable, nutritious, environmentally sustainable, and is the recommended eating style for preventing many chronic health conditions, including heart disease, stroke and some types of cancer.

That’s why the new Planetary Health Diet comes at a perfect time. Created by a team of more than 30 world-leading scientists on a committee called the EAT-Lancet Commission on Food, Planet, Health, this plan represents a scientific consensus for a diet that’s nutritious and sustainable, since it is rich in plant-based foods and has fewer foods from animal sources.

'Snow moles' survey slippery Ottawa sidewalks

By Jason White, 1310 News, January 21, 2019

A group of volunteers are taking aim at icy, snow-filled sidewalks that make it more difficult for seniors to get around in the winter, hoping the information they collect will power change.

The Council of Aging started the Snow Moles program -- a band of volunteers who document the state and safety of Ottawa's sidewalks.

"We thought if we had volunteers who went out...and report on that, we'd get some idea, generally, across the city of how bad or how good things are," said Dianne Breton, chair of the Snow Moles program.

Breton says she thinks it's time the city take a closer look at the job its doing clearing Ottawa's sidewalks in the winter.

Doug Ford says the Liberals' carbon tax will plunge Canada into recession

By the Canadian Press, CTV News Ottawa, January 21, 2019

TORONTO -- The premier of Ontario says a federal carbon tax will plunge the country into recession.

Doug Ford says the federal Liberal government's climate plan will trigger an economic downturn.

In his address to the Economic Club of Canada today, the premier said there are already warning signs of difficult economic times ahead.

Ford renewed his calls for the Trudeau government to abandon its plan to put a price on carbon, and vowed to fight the policy.

He said Ontario does not need a carbon tax to help it reach its emission targets, pointing to his government's new climate change plan introduced late last year.

Shattered lives, shattered faith

By Alistair Steele, CBC News Ottawa, January 19, 2019

It's been a week since 3 people died and many more were injured in a bus crash on Ottawa's Transitway

On Thursday night, a clutch of strangers gathered on the platform at Westboro station, brought together in the numbing cold to leave flickering candles and handwritten cards, and to see for themselves the place where it happened. "These ones had a lot of questions," said Rebecca Renfroe, her two young daughters beside her, bundled against the chill. (...)For many who weren't on the bus, the crash has again shattered faith in Ottawa's public transit system, a service whose only responsibility is to get us to work in the morning and return us safely to our families at the end of the day.

Shalaby: We should let the Transportation Safety Board dig deeper on Westboro crash

By Ahmed Shalaby, Ottawa Citizen, January 21, 2019

Hours after the Westboro bus crash last Friday, I called for Mayor Jim Watson to invite the Transportation Safety Board to investigate alongside the Ottawa Police Service. Today, I am pleased that the police opened the door a crack and accepted the TSB’s offer for technical assistance with the investigation.

The TSB’s assistance is an important first step, and it is the maximum that can be done “within” the board’s current mandate. Still, Watson has not assured the TSB that it will have unlimited access to the investigation.

Urban rapid transit forms a critical infrastructure lifeline for every major city. Threats to its safety could have devastating impacts on the well-being of citizens, national security, and the economy. However, there is no federal mandate for safety investigations of any road incident, unlike the modes of air, rail, marine and pipeline transportation.

Howard and Hancock: Canada's new food guide will be healthier for people – and the planet

By Dr. Courtney Howard and Dr. Trevor Hancock, Ottawa Citizen, January 21, 2019

What if there were something that could reduce your likelihood of having a heart attack, and also protect your children from climate change? And what if it could bring you joy in the process?

That thing is food, and specifically a healthy diet. We know now what that diet looks like better than ever, thanks to a landmark study published this month by The Lancet, one of the world’s top medical journals. The study is the result of three years of work by the EAT-Lancet Commission, a group of 37 leading scientists from 16 countries who examined two questions: What is a healthy diet? And how can we sustainably provide that food for the world’s growing population?

Fortunately for us here in Canada, the commission’s recommendations closely match those in drafts of the new Canada Food Guide, to be unveiled Tuesday. Both found that lives can be saved by embracing a diet richer in fruits, vegetables, nuts and whole grains, while cutting back on red meat, saturated fat, processed foods and sugar.

Ottawa LRT inspections reveal drainage system gaffes, concrete-filled sewer

By Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen, January 21, 2019

Taxpayers will be the owners of a $2.1-billion transit system this spring, one that, according to newly released inspection records, will include a clogged drainage system at a downtown LRT station and some unchecked concrete along the rail corridor.

So-called non-conformance reports are produced as a regular part of construction. The city and light-rail system builder Rideau Transit Group each have inspectors who file the reports when they find something was not done according to the plans during construction. When an inspection uncovers a problem, the builder proposes a fix, it’s reviewed by engineers and it’s put into effect.

The cost of immediate repairs for such issues are covered by the builder, as part of its contract with the city. However, if gaffes don’t appear to hurt the infrastructure’s durability or operation, mistakes are often accepted as part of the final construction. In some cases, the city might not know for decades if the mistakes will come back to haunt it.

Most Blackburn Hamlet district residents have gas back on after outage

By Megan Gillis, Taylor Blewett and Jacquie Miller, Ottawa Citizen, January 20, 2019

Enbridge Gas has reconnected the gaslines for all but four of the residents in Blackburn Hamlet after the area was hit by a twin gas main and water pipe break early Friday.

About 550 customers were affected by the gas outage after an Enbridge contractor hit a gas line, Innes ward Coun. Laura Dudas said.

By Saturday shortly before midnight, all but four residents had service restored, said a spokesperson for Enbridge.

That incident also forced the city to stop work on a water valve, which meant 60 to 70 residents lost that service and were on a boil-water advisory, which has now been lifted.

Letting students opt out of transit fee could jeopardize u-pass program

By Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen, January 18, 2019

OC Transpo’s u-pass program, which provides more than $30 million in revenue for the transit service and deep discounts for passengers each year, could be doomed if the provincial government’s new “opt out” rules for non-tuition fees apply to public transit agreements with student associations.

It couldn’t come at a worse time as the city prepares to launch an LRT system that would deliver municipal rail service to two campuses starting this spring and a third campus in four years.

The Ontario Progressive Conservative government announced this week it would give post-secondary students choices when it comes to the compulsory fees that are in addition to tuition. The u-pass could be one of those fees if the government or schools don’t consider public transit an essential fee.

Transpo investigating how a full double-decker bus caught fire

By Megan Gillis, Ottawa Citizen, January 17, 2019

OC Transpo is examining a burned-out double-decker bus to find out why it caught fire while loaded with passengers in the city’s rural southeast Tuesday morning.

Troy Charter, the director of transit operations, confirmed at a press conference that it’s the same bus that went off an icy road and struck a hydro pole in 2013. But he also said bus No. 8010 has been in service safely since, and it’s too soon to speculate on a cause.

An investigation will likely take several days.

Passengers on Route 222 tweeted dramatic images of the blaze that engulfed the bus after 70 to 80 passengers were evacuated just west of Carlsbad Springs.