Ecology Ottawa

News Clippings

Van den Ham: These Ottawa cycling deaths didn't have to happen

By Doug Van Den Ham, Ottawa Citizen, December 13, 2018

(...)But even if it isn’t one of our friends, we all know it’s someone’s friend or family member. Many of us have been through this before. There are too many killed on our streets. And each loss touches our community in a profound way. Each loss touches someone’s family, their work place, or their social group in a profound way.

But this doesn’t have to be. Every one of these deaths didn’t have to happen. We could choose to settle for no more than zero – because each death is preventable.

The 2012 Ontario Coroners Report into Cycling Fatalities stated: “… It is important to note that deaths resulting from cycling collisions, just like motor vehicle collision deaths and pedestrian deaths, are not ‘accidents’ in the sense that all of these deaths were predictable, and therefore preventable.”

New Presto app will (eventually) let customers pay from their smartphones

By Trevor Oattes, Ottawa Citizen, December 14, 2018

Presto card users, rejoice.

Metrolinx, the Crown agency that oversees the Presto system, has just released a new beta version of an app that will eventually allow customers to avoid the line by loading their cards directly from their smartphones.

Presto customers everywhere have fallen victim to the huge lineups that form in front of OC Transpo service centres. This new app seems to provide a potential solution to the inconvenience, allowing users the chance to load their passes from the luxury of their own homes.

Users will be able to load funds directly using their debit or credit card, check the remaining balance of their account and set up a notification system to alert them when their funds are too low or their passes near expiry. The app will also provide email receipts for purchases and allow customers to manage up to 10 cards on one account.

New transit commission chair Hubley prepares for LRT transition

By Trevor Oattes, Ottawa Citizen, December 14, 2018

The new chair of the city’s transit commission says he’s ready to dig in for consultations with fellow city councillors, and transit users, as the LRT issues in a new era for public transportation in the region.

With the $2.1-billion LRT project now expected to launch by the end of March, after two delays in 2018, the pressure will be on Kanata South Coun. Allan Hubley to see it succeed.

Hubley was appointed to the position — in charge of the body that oversees OC Transpo and Para Transpo — earlier this week, succeeding Cumberland Coun. Stephen Blais.

And he will be overseeing an interesting, and likely challenging, transition as customers begin commuting on electrified trains.

Hubley said he intends to navigate the high-profile nature of the job by assessing the needs of each ward and the city as a whole.

Fire up your binoculars: The 100th Ottawa Christmas Bird Count takes place this Sunday

By Tom Spears, Ottawa Citizen, December 14, 2018

Ottawa reaches a milestone this Sunday, and people will celebrate by heading out on foot before dawn into the cold and snow to listen for owls.

They are unlikely to hear any. Owls are rare in the city, but the Christmas Bird Count rules say you spend all day looking for whatever birds are around, and that includes the owls.

After sunrise, you tromp around until late afternoon recording all the birds you see — how many species and how many individuals of each. Along the way, there’s a big lunch, which is social and fun.

Skateway prep underway, but stay off the ice

By the Citizen, December 12, 2018

Yes, those were indeed National Capital Commission workers alert readers may have spotted on the Rideau Canal Skateway over the past few days.

And, yes, they are watering the world’s longest skating rink.

But NO! You can’t skate (or walk) on it, despite the winter-like weather we have experienced.

The federal agency advises the layer of ice that has formed on the canal’s surface is still “dangerously” thin. The water level beneath the ice surface varies from approximately one metre (three feet) to 4.3 metres (14 feet) deep along the length of the Rideau Canal, between downtown Ottawa and Dows Lake.

Councillors are being told to shut their traps: Brockington

By Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen, December 13, 2018

Shut your trap if you want to get anywhere on city council.

That, according to River Coun. Riley Brockington, is life for municipal politicians in Mayor Jim Watson’s city hall.

Brockington, a second-term councillor, aired some of the dirty laundry after council on Wednesday voted on the membership of committees and board and appointed leaders.

“This is more about building an insulated coalition to ensure that there isn’t the type of debate and discussion that we need to see here,” Brockington said.

Secretive process leaves urban councillors on sidelines

By Joanne Chianello, CBC News Ottawa, December 12, 2018

You might think the nominating committee of Ottawa city council would be responsible for nominating people to various standing committees and boards, and helping to choose the chairs for these important bodies.

That's what Coun. Theresa Kavanagh thought. But like the new Bay ward councillor, you'd be wrong.

"I found it a little strange … that as a member of the nominating committee that I'm not part of the selection, I'm not part of the decision-making," Kavanagh said after being presented with a list of Mayor Jim Watson's choices.

'People talk about deep sadness:' Scientists study climate change grief

By Beb Weber, CTV News, December 13, 2018

His canvases are painted from first-hand observation by a brush wielded in the outdoors and glow with the colours of the Canadian wilderness.

But British Columbia artist Dominik Modlinski doesn't take his paints into the woods much anymore.

"I felt I can't go on my painting trips because everything is covered in smoke," he said. "I can't go to some areas I love to go because you can't see anything.

Tobi Nussbaum to be next CEO of the NCC

By CTV News Ottawa, December 14, 2018

Coun. Tobi Nussbaum is planning to leave city hall to head up the National Capital Commission, CTV News has learned.

Nussbaum was elected in October to a second term as the councillor for Rideau—Rockcliffe ward. He won in a landslide, garnering more than 80 per cent of the vote.

But just weeks later, he’s set to leave that job to be the NCC’s new chief executive officer, multiple sources said.

MPP wants new regulations for 'organic' foods in Ontario

By Alex Robinson, 1310 News, December 9, 2018

MPP Jim McDonell wants Ontario to have stricter standards when it comes to which foods are labelled as "organic."

The Stormont-Dundas-South Glengarry MPP has introduced a private member's bill — bill 54 or the Organic Products Act — that would bar producers from marketing their foods as organic unless they are approved by a provincial certification body. He told 1310 NEWS' The Rick Gibbons Show that the new legislation would bring Ontario's regulations for produce grown in the province in line with those for imported organic food.

"In Ontario, there is no regulation concerning organic foods if they do not cross a border. A good portion of the food you see labelled as organic has no regulations to follow and no regulations to follow and no actual periodic inspection. So it is a challenge," said McDonell, who is a Progressive Conservative.

Doug Ford committed to LRT, anti-gang funding, mayor says

By CBC News Ottawa, December 11, 2018

Ottawa's mayor says Ontario Premier Doug Ford is committed to funding LRT and anti-gang efforts in the capital, and seems open to giving municipalities some say in the location of pot shops.

Ford met with seven Ontario mayors, including Jim Watson, at Queen's Park on Monday.

After a city committee meeting Tuesday, Watson said Ford was clear the province is going to fund its portion of the next extensions to Ottawa's light rail line, a commitment first made by the previous Liberal government.

"I have great comfort we have all the funding," Watson said. The second phase includes 24 new stations and extends LRT east to Trim Road by 2022, west to Algonquin College and Moodie Drive by 2023, and south to the airport and Riverside South by 2021.

Flea market fire toxins contaminate more wells

By Susan Burgess, CBC News Ottawa, December 11, 2018

Two years after fire destroyed a flea market near Smiths Falls, Ont., toxic chemicals from the foam firefighters used to douse the flames have appeared in the well water of homes half a kilometre away.

The Rideau Valley Marketplace — and everything in it — burned to the ground shortly after 5 a.m. on Nov. 6, 2016. As CBC has reported, residents of about a dozen homes adjacent to the Rideau Valley Marketplace soon noticed their tap water was foul-smelling and bubbly, and were advised not to drink it, cook with it, bathe in it or even flush their toilets.

• Smiths Falls, Ont., residents fearful after water contaminated by fire
• Health fears persist for residents near razed flea market

Now CBC News has learned that the wells of more homes further from the scene of the fire have become contaminated.