By Megan Gillis, Ottawa Citizen, April 24, 2018
They’re busy as, well, beavers, even if they’re a bit lost.
Twitter user Stephanie Shanks reported Tuesday morning that she’d spotted a pair of beavers in a stairwell at the Ottawa airport.
“Does it get more Canadian than that?” she asked, adding a video of the “confused” pair sniffing around.
Ils ont envoyé lundi une lettre à l’Agence internationale de l’énergie atomique (AIEA) pour tirer la sonnette d’alarme.
«On veut que le sujet soit porté à un autre niveau pour que la gestion de tous ces déchets ne relève pas simplement du contrat actuel, mais du gouvernement canadien dans son ensemble», a indiqué le coordonnateur du Ralliement contre la pollution radioactive, Réal Lalande.
By CBC News Ottawa, April 23, 2018
An Ottawa environmental group says it's found traces of harmful and banned pesticides on plants sold at garden centres in the city, and it's asked the provincial government to investigate.
Friends of the Earth Canada says that flowers bought at Rona, Canadian Tire and Home Depot in 2017 had traces of "cosmetic pesticides," which are illegal to use under the Ontario Pesticides Act because of the harm to both humans and the environment.
Last year the group purchased several common types of flowers from five major stores and sent samples to the University of Guelph to investigate whether they contained neonicotinoids, a pesticide said to be harmful to bees.
By CBC News Ottawa, April 23, 2018
Condo dwellers in Ontario will soon have an easier time charging their electric vehicles at home, part of a province-wide plan to reduce emissions and fight climate change, the government announced Monday.
According to a news release, the government will ease the requirements necessary for residents to get approval from their condo corporations to install electric vehicle charging stations, and prevent condo boards from rejecting owners' applications to install charging stations when certain conditions have been met.
The changes go into effect May 1.
By CBC News Ottawa, April 23, 2018
The City of Ottawa, the federal government and Ducks Unlimited Canada have teamed up with several private donors to purchase 178 hectares of the Carp Hills in the city's west end.
The acquisition will ensure the area, in the southern portion of the natural feature, "will remain pristine for wildlife and for people — now, and into the future," according to a news release from the city.
The news release also noted Ducks Unlimited and Friends of the Carp Hills, a group of volunteers dedicated to the preservation and conservation of the area, will manage the 178-hectare property.
By CBC News Ottawa, April 23, 2018
First Nations leaders say they have not been properly consulted about the prospect of a nuclear waste disposal site being established northwest of Ottawa near a prominent nuclear research centre.
Environmental groups also say the controversy over the site near Chalk River, Ont., illustrates the fact that the federal government lacks suitable policies to regulate the handling of nuclear waste.
By Tobin Dyck, Ottawa Citizen, April 23, 2018
Chemicals changed the course of agriculture. They became available. Then they became affordable. And then they started to keep their promises, reducing input costs, improving weed/pest management and, ultimately, increasing production and profitability.
Genetics did the same. Advancements in breeding heralded the dawn of what many now colloquially refer to as GMOs, which have increased yields and protein content in crops and allowed food production to take place in previously infertile areas around the globe.
By Eva Schacherl, Ottawa Citizen, April 23, 2018
What makes Canada stand out in the world is unlimited natural beauty: miles of unspoiled forests, lakes, rivers, prairies and tundra. We are a green, clean country. Or so we like to think.
So it may come as a surprise that we plan to put 40 per cent of Canada’s radioactive waste in a gigantic dump at Chalk River, next to the Ottawa River. The dump will hold “low-level” waste that contains radioactive uranium, plutonium, cesium, strontium, iodine and tritium (among others).
Rain and melting snow will leach radioactive elements from the dump. Every year, Canadian Nuclear Laboratories estimates an average of 6.5 million litres of this water will be treated and discharged into a nearby wetland and thence the Ottawa River.
By Robin Farquhar, Ottawa Citizen Letter to the Editor, April 23, 2018
Keep cyclists and pedestrians safe
Re: $9.2M project to upgrade asphalt in all lanes, April 20.
As part of its Portage Bridge repair plan, the NCC will reportedly “install a barrier between the cycle track and vehicular lanes to better protect cyclists from traffic.” So far, so good.
But it will also consider raising the cycle track “to the same level as the sidewalk … (to) give cyclists an escape route in case there’s a conflict on the cycle track.” In other words, if cyclists get in each other’s way in the cycling lane, it should be made easy for them to veer into the pedestrians who are using the sidewalk.
By Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen, April 23, 2018
The head of Orgaworld Canada says he’s always looking for new ways to strip more plastic out of the organic waste stream that arrives at his company’s processing plants as the City of Ottawa prepares to allow plastic bags in the green bin program.
“We’re just trying to stay out front of what the technology is,” general manager Michael Leopold said in an interview Monday. “A month doesn’t go by that I don’t look at some different technology of how you can pull that stuff out. Everybody’s got an idea (but it) doesn’t mean it works.”
By StittsvilleCentral, April 21, 2018
Ottawa Fire Services is placing a city-wide fire ban into effect immediately to prevent the rapid spread of fire due to grass and brush fires. This ban will remain in place until conditions improve and the green grass starts to show through tall dead grass.
Certain periods in the year create conditions that make even controlled burning dangerous, and this risk can quickly lead to fast and uncontrolled spread of fire. There are a number of conditions that warrant restrictions throughout the year. These circumstances include, but are not limited to: high winds, prolonged dry spells, early spring surface conditions, cut fields or wet conditions that do not allow our firefighting equipment to access remote or rural locations.
By StittsvilleCentral, April 21, 2018
OC Transpo’s spring service starts Sunday, April 22. Minor route changes will be made to help us get ready for rail and the opening of O-Train Line 1, the Confederation Line, later this year. Other spring service changes include adjusted schedules and seasonal reductions to reflect the lower demand for service as the winter term ends at colleges and universities. The Rack & Roll program also returns with bike racks on more than 600 buses.
Customers should visit octranspo.com and use the travel planner to see if their regular trips are affected.