Ecology Ottawa

News Clippings

Transition details settled ahead of markets management transfer

By Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen, December 22, 2017

The details are in place for a new not-for-profit corporation to take over management of the ByWard Market.

Ottawa Markets will be in charge of the ByWard Market starting Jan. 1, making this the last December holiday season that city hall has direct oversight of the tourist destination.

Council signed off on the final marching orders during its last meeting of 2017, clearing the way for a smooth transition between the planning department and the new Ottawa Markets board, which is chaired by former city councillor Peter Hume.

Ottawa lived through three of the country’s top 10 weather events of 2017

By Tom Spears, Ottawa Sun, December 21, 2017

Ottawa lived through three of the country’s Top Ten weather events of 2017 — a list of weather that it’s usually better to miss.

There were spring floods that drowned hundreds of houses, the summer that “went missing” in a long stretch of cool and wet days, and finally a little good news — record-breaking warmth and sunshine in September.

Environment Canada’s David Phillips selected the 10 biggest weather news stories, and says this about our local Big Three:

Science of Winter: The first day of winter starts the countdown to spring

By Tom Spears, Ottawa Sun, December 21, 2017

Today we begin our annual look at what makes this season special, a time when nature is doing much more than just turning dormant for three months. This is a series we like to call The Science of Winter.

Spring is coming.

Even as winter tightens its grip, the sun’s annual race to our summer all begins today, slow but unstoppable, like a huge freighter pulling away from the dock.

Was Major's Hill Park aligned with solstice sun in mind?

By Stu Mills, CBC News Ottawa, December 21, 2017

Local amateur historian Andrew King is waiting to see if his theory about a deliberate solstice design in Major's Hill Park is confirmed today.

King believes the park north of the Chateau Laurier was deliberately laid out along celestial lines, with an elliptical concrete pad behind Château Laurier the perfect spot to catch the summer solstice sunset and the winter solstice sunset.

On summer solstice, June 21, the rays of the setting sun cast a line from Champlain's statue in Nepean Point, along a stone and concrete path and to the concrete pad behind Château Laurier.

Les bien-pensants des autos « vertes »

Par Pierre Jury, Le Droit, le 19 décembre 2017

ÉDITORIAL / En 2018, le Québec hausse la pression pour encourager la conversion vers un parc automobile à faible émission polluante. Il vise cette fois les fabricants par un système de crédits qu’ils obtiendront en vendant un volume donné de véhicules « verts ». Plutôt qu’applaudir, le mouvement environnementaliste Équiterre a reproché au gouvernement de Philippe Couillard de ne pas en faire suffisamment ; il propose de quintupler (!) l’objectif du Québec à l’horizon 2025. Cette cible est loufoque dans l’état actuel du marché.

Le Québec a mis en place un train de mesures pour doper la demande d’autos peu ou pas polluantes. La nouvelle norme « véhicules zéro émission » constitue sa plus récente tentative de dicter une nouvelle direction au marché de l’automobile.

https://www.ledroit.com/opinions/editoriaux/les-bien-pensants-des-autos-vertes-6c05da8b4dc1fd6ac85a964fa5cf282c

City budget not at risk due to LRT: Manconi

By Ted Raymond, CFRA News, December 20, 2017

Ottawa’s General Manager of Transportation Services says the 2018 budget is not at risk because of the launch of LRT.

Councillor Tobi Nussbaum raised concerns on Newstalk 580 CFRA's Ottawa Now with Evan Solomon Tuesday, saying he was “genuinely puzzled” why City Council was not informed about a possible delay to the revenue service availability date for the Confederation Line, which is supposed to be May 24, 2018. Nussbaum also said he was concerned that City staff may have somehow agreed not to levy financial penalties against Rideau Transit Group (RTG) as a result of the delay, though he admitted he didn’t know if that was the case.

The concern is that if LRT doesn’t launch by mid-year, as laid out in the budget, it could affect ridership and fare revenues.

Cyclists want city to plow bike lane by U.S. Embassy

By Matthew Kupfer, CBC News Ottawa, December 20, 2017

Cyclists who use the Mackenzie Avenue bike lane are being forced into the street and onto the sidewalk because the stretch in front of the U.S. Embassy is not being plowed.

In a half-hour period during the Tuesday evening rush hour, more than a half dozen cyclists detoured around the bollard-lined bike lane which is blanketed in several centimetres of snow, while the track leading up to it was recently plowed.

Marie-Claude Lacombe uses the two-way cycle track for her daily commute from Elmdale Acres to her workplace in Gatineau.

Police warn of Uber scam in downtown and Market areas

By Christian Paas-Lang, Ottawa Citizen, December 20, 2017

Police are warning the public about a scam in which a person posing as an Uber driver robs riders’ accounts after stealing their credit or debit card data.

Police say the male suspect typically waits at night for people leaving bars or restaurants looking for taxis — particularly in the ByWard Market area — and approaches them claiming to be an Uber driver. At this point, the customers have not requested a ride through the Uber app. After driving to the riders’ destination, the suspect asks to be paid directly using a credit or debit card.

After the riders have paid, the suspect is able to acquire their credit card or debit data, likely through the use of a card “skimmer” device. The suspect then finds an ATM and is able to withdraw money from their accounts.

Transpo fined $25,000 for not calling out stops, despite having automated system

By Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen, December 19, 2017

OC Transpo, which has an automated system for announcing bus stops, has been fined $25,000 for drivers not calling out major stops on three different buses on a single day in November.

An enforcement officer with the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) filed the notice of violation on Monday and gave Transpo until Jan. 23 to pay the fine. Transpo has the option to request a review of the decision.

Friends of the Carp River comment on Kanata Highlands Development

By StittsvilleCentral, December 18, 2017

Richcraft Homes held a public information meeting on 12 December to share three preliminary concept plans for the envelope of land – about 27 hectares – available for development out of a total of 77 hectares on the south side of Terry Fox Drive.  Information about this project, including past comments from the public, is available at the City of Ottawa’s Urban Expansion Study for the Kanata Highlands.  The three concepts can be downloaded here.

There are two main issues with this development:

1. management of flood and surface water, and
2. addressing the species at risk on the site, especially the Blanding’s Turtle population.

Snowy owl invasion a treat for Ottawa photographers

By CBC News Ottawa, December 17, 2017

Ramin Izadpanah has been taking photos of snowy owls in and around the Ottawa area every winter since 2012, but this winter he and other wildlife photographers are in for a treat.

An unprecedented number of the mighty birds are migrating south, spurring the International Union for Conservation of Nature to point to climate change as a threat to the snowy owl.

The agency has raised the snowy owl from "least concern" to "vulnerable" on its species "red list."

Frustrated councillors left in dark over LRT delay

By Laura Osman, CBC News Ottawa, December 18, 2017

Several Ottawa city councillors claim they were misled by city staff about a delay in the city's $2.1-billion Confederation Line, even after asking specific questions about the project during budget deliberations only days earlier.

On Friday the city's general manager of transportation, John Manconi, announced Rideau Transit Group (RTG) would not meet its May 24, 2018, deadline to hand the new light rail system over to the city.