Ecology Ottawa

News Clippings

Another day, another busted water main in Gatineau

By Tom Spears, Ottawa Citizen, December 29, 2018

St. Joseph Boulevard was shut down for several hours Saturday morning in both directions between Brodeur and Dumas streets after a water main froze and burst before dawn.

It was a short detour, both in physical length and duration (the street reopened by about 11:30 a.m.), but it represented yet another infrastructure headache for the city.

(...)Mayor Maxime Pedneaud-Jobin said after the Taché Boulevard rupture that Gatineau, like most municipalities in Canada, needs “urgent” action to make up for “40 years of neglect to infrastructure.”

He said in a radio interview that Gatineau infrastructure needs “$1.3 billion of catch-up, just for Gatineau. This is not just theory. These are broken and aging infrastructures.”

And they're off! Skateway opened bright and early Sunday

By the Ottawa Citizen, December 30, 2018

Get your blades sharpened Ottawa.

The beloved Rideau Canal Skateway opened for business Sunday morning at 8 a.m.

The NCC announced a 2.7-kilometre stretch of the iconic attraction will be available, between the Bank Street and Pretoria bridges and including the the Patterson Creek arm.

The weather is looking pretty skate-friendly, opening with a mix of sun and cloud, becoming cloudier in the afternoon with a 60 per cent chance of flurries.

By mid-afternoon Sunday the NCC rated the open section as fair. Cold weather is forecast for Sunday night, but the high will reach 0 C both Monday and Tuesday before cold weather returns.

Brewery Creek in Gatineau also opened for skating Sunday.

Why are Canada’s oil patch CEOs changing their minds on carbon pricing?

Chris Turner, The Globe and Mail, December 4, 2018

If you’re used to hearing greenhouse gas pricing programs described as a “job-killing carbon tax," then it might surprise you to discover that the Business Council of Canada, whose members provide almost two million Canadians with jobs, was unqualified in its support for the federal government’s carbon price backstop when it was unveiled in October. “For many years,” the council announced in a press release, “we have advocated for carbon pricing as the most efficient means to contribute to achieving Canada’s climate change goals.”

Like many supporters of carbon pricing, the Business Council doesn't pick a favourite between the two most common approaches in Canada—a straight carbon tax like British Columbia's, which levies a flat rate by the tonne to all carbon dioxide emissions; or a cap-and-trade system like the one Quebec has joined. The Business Council simply accepts the argument made by many energy economists that putting a price on carbon is the most efficient first step in reducing emissions.

NCC hopes Rideau Canal Skateway will open before New Years Day

By Alex Robinson, 1310 News, December 28, 2018

Despite a small setback due to mild temperatures, the National Capital Commission hopes the Rideau Canal will be open to skaters by New Years Day.

Freezing rain and warmer weather prevented ice making crews from working on the canal Friday. But the skateway's senior manager, Bruce Devine said the delay should not be more than a day or so, as colder temperatures are expected to return Saturday.

"We still have our fingers crossed to have one section open hopefully before January 1," he said.

Devine said the snow that fell before the freezing rain Thursday night likely helped to protect the ice. He said crews will be back at work tomorrow and will likely use scrapers on the ice.

Don't throw out that Christmas tree, the NCC wants it

By Joanne Laucius, Ottawa Sun, December 29, 2018

The NCC uses hundreds of unsold Christmas trees as windbreaks and borders on the Rideau Canal. Now the skateway crew is asking Ottawa residents to consider recycling their Christmas trees instead of bringing them to the curb.

In a tweet, the NCC asked residents to recycle their trees by bringing them to a dropoff location on Colonel By Drive, just west of the Bronson Avenue Bridge. Most of the conifers used on the skateway are unsold trees from tree merchants — about 1,500 of them every year.

City trying to burn off less gas from all your garbage

By Kate Porter, CBC News Ottawa, December 28, 2018

The City of Ottawa has managed to dramatically reduce the greenhouse gases emitted from garbage at the Trail Road landfill in recent years, but it's still finding it a challenge to eliminate those emissions entirely.

Garbage gives off gases as it decomposes, roughly half methane and half carbon dioxide, explained Marilyn Journeaux, director of solid waste at the city.

The city has drilled more than 100 wells into the garbage to vacuum out those gases so they can be converted to electricity or flared off, said Journeaux.

Dudas: Time is right for Ottawa's east end to become an economic hub

By Laura Dudas, Ottawa Citizen, December 27, 2018

Seven new Ottawa city councillors recently took their places at city hall. We invited each to outline their priorities. Today: Laura Dudas, councillor for Innes ward, focuses on east-end growth.

The perception of many who live in Ottawa’s east end is that the east end gets the short end of the economic stick, losing out to other areas of the city when it comes to attracting high-paying jobs and consequently skilled labour.

(...)The roads, public transit, cycling and pedestrian infrastructure in the east have not kept pace with residential development, resulting in congested roads and long commute times for residents heading west or south for work. This has hurt the quality of life for residents in both new and older east-end neighbourhoods, and it has put a strain on our existing road infrastructure. While job relocation, infrastructure challenges and traffic have led to longstanding frustrations amongst residents, we have a very real and present opportunity to change the tide.

The next four years will mark a transition for the City of Ottawa and, more specifically, for the east end. With new and impending infrastructure and transit developments, thoughtful planning can ensure that long-sought economic growth and effective transportation networks become a reality.

Today's letters: Our addiction to speed and what to do about it

By J.P. Trottier and others, Ottawa Citizen Letters to the Editor, December 22, 2018

Go after ‘road terrorists’ directly

Re: Speeding – Our roads make it too easy, Dec. 18.

I thank Brigitte Pellerin for her essay on making Ottawa streets safer, an issue of growing concern to many residents of this city. Unfortunately, redesigning our primary and secondary roadways through a “complete streets” design approach comes at enormous costs to taxpayers and more importantly, achieves little in tackling the root cause of the issue: bad driver behaviour.

These drivers routinely and knowingly disrespect speed limits as well as other road signs, or race through school zones or blast through stop signs, threatening the lives of children, cyclists, residents and other drivers. Perhaps a more accurate label for these disrespectful drivers is “road terrorists.” And when road terrorists speed through Ottawa roadways, they do so knowing full well the potential consequences of their actions. The message they give us is that they simply don’t care about your safety.

Denley: Ontarians' reaction to competing climate change plans may decide the next federal election

By Randall Denley, Ottawa Citizen, December 27, 2018

Ontarians have a big environmental and political decision to make in 2019. It is one that will go a long way toward determining the outcome of the fall federal election.

They have been offered two competing approaches to combat climate change. The provincial government’s plan will regulate emissions and offer incentives to reduce them. Expect a remarkably similar approach from the federal Conservatives. The Trudeau government, however, insists a carbon tax is essential.

So far, this has largely played out as a battle between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier Doug Ford, but Trudeau is the guy with all the political jeopardy. If Trudeau imposes his carbon tax it will let Ford rail against the Liberals for as long as they are in power. If Trudeau can’t persuade Ontarians that a carbon tax is reasonable, he is going to lose a lot of seats in the province and possibly the election.

Ottawa newsmaker 2018: This was supposed to be the Year of the Train. It wasn't.

By Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen, December 27, 2018

This year was one of disasters, tragedy, boondoggles and love. From wild politics to wild winds to a Senators team that couldn’t stay out of the news, 2018 was filled with twists and the unexpected. It was also a year in which the whole city paused to mourn, after losing its Butterfly Boy. In 2018, some narratives transfixed us, while others dominated our conversations — and here, in our annual newsmakers series, we return to examine the year’s biggest stories. Today, the train that never came. 

Two city slogans died in what was supposed to be the Year of the Train: “On track 2018” and “on budget and on time.”

LRT trains are running today, but not with any fare-paying passengers. The tests on the 12.5-kilometre Confederation Line continue and Canadian taxpayers, who through the federal, Ontario and Ottawa municipal budgets have provided $2.1 billion to build the transit system, wait for the day to ride the rails.

Broken water main shuts down stretch of Maisonneuve Boulevard in Gatineau

By Joanne Laucius, Ottawa Citizen, December 28, 2018

Gatineau police are warning motorists to avoid Maisonneuve Boulevard between Rue Laurier and Rue Laurier after a water main burst.

That stretch of Maisonneuve has been closed while city workers repair the broken main. Police say repairs are likely to take all night and that it may be morning before the roadway is reopened.

Canada puts Arctic 'in a snow globe' as it freezes oil and gas development — just as Norway, Russia accelerate

By Geoffrey Morgan, Ottawa Citizen, December 20, 2018

The following is part two of Northern Exposure, a three-part series that examines how a warming Arctic opens up the Northwest Passage and economic opportunities, but also creates headaches.

The 49-hour drive from FortisBC’s liquefied natural gas facility in Delta, British Columbia to Inuvik, Northwest Territories is not for the faint of heart as it winds through mountain passes and frequent avalanche zones.

Despite the 3,615-kilometre of distance and risks, trucks carrying liquefied natural gas from southern B.C. routinely make the arduous trip to supply the 3,000-person Inuvik, an Arctic outpost close to the Beaufort Sea, with fuel for power generation.