Ecology Ottawa

News Clippings

Reevely: Ontario’s pretty much abandoned endangered species, environment commissioner says

Ottawa Citizen

By David Reevely, Ottawa Citizen, October 24, 2017

The Ontario government hasn’t turned down a request for a permit to harm a threatened species in four years, the province’s environment commissioner reported Tuesday, and it doesn’t check whether the rules for the permits are followed anyway.

Eastern Ontario is a hot spot for this stuff, commissioner Dianne Saxe says in a damning section of her annual report, because we have a lot of development going on and a lot of animals and plants that are in danger. Collectively they’re called “species at risk,” which covers everything from ones biologists are mildly concerned about to ones they suspect are wiped out.

NOTEBOOK: Major Maple Grove development coming to planning committee

StittsvilleCentral.ca

By Glen Gower, StittsvilleCentral, October 21, 2017

This Tuesday, October 24, Ottawa’s Planning Committee will vote on a zoning bylaw amendment that would give the green light for Richcraft to proceed with a massive residential development on Maple Grove Road, just east of the Fairwinds neighbourhood.

You would be forgiven for thinking this latest zoning proposal came out of nowhere, even though this development has been going through the approval process since 2004.

(...)Some of the land to be rezoned along the Carp River on former flood plain will still be subject to a planning “hold” until the Carp River restoration is complete.

Ontario hands over land to create 'Canada’s first national urban park'

Metro News

By Ottawa Metro News, October 23, 2017

A classic green and white Parks Canada sign now welcomes visitors to Rouge National Urban Park at a Markham entrance after the provincial government signed over its portion of the parklands to the federal government and paved the way for other public bodies to do the same.

“This has been a priority for our government since the very beginning,” said federal Indigenous Services Minister Jane Philpott, who represents the riding of Markham-Stouffville.

“We’re celebrating a very significant milestone in the completion of Canada’s first national urban park,” she added.

'Shocking': Canada's caribou decline as Ontario stumbles on recovery efforts

Metro Toronto

By Ottawa Metro News, October 23, 2017

Ontario once led the way in boreal caribou recovery planning, but now the province has failed alongside most other jurisdictions to develop critical range protection plans by a deadline laid out five years ago.

The science is clear that further habitat protection is needed, but the provinces and territories are “all very behind,” said Justina Ray, the president and senior scientist of the Wildlife Conservation Society and a field biologist who has advised both the federal and provincial governments.

In the meantime, the Woodland Caribou boreal population has continued to decline, a signal the entire ecosystem could be at risk, she said.

City fined after O-Train runs multiple red lights

OttawaCommunityNews.com

By Jennifer McIntosh, Ottawa Community News, October 23, 2017

The city has been fined more than $42,000 after trains on the O-Train Trillium Line ran several red lights, says a memo sent to councillors from transportation manager John Manconi on Oct. 13.

The total amount of the fine was $42,708.06, courtesy of Transport Canada.

The department issued a notice of violation to the city on Sept. 21 after it was notified of an incident in the spring.

App tells Ottawa residents what kind of trash to put at the curb

Ottawa Citizen

By Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen, October 23, 2017

Determined to make recycling easier for residents, the City of Ottawa has launched an app that simply tells people what type of trash to put at their curbs each week.Coun. David Chernushenko, chair of council’s environment and climate protection committee, called it the “one-stop shop” for garbage.

The app, which is called Ottawa Collection Calendar, was produced by ReCollect Systems and is available on Apple and Android devices.

It’s hard to say if an app will boost the city’s waste diversion rate.

Have Ottawa's urban parks kept up with its growth?

Metro Ottawa

By Kieran Delamont, Ottawa Metro News, October 22, 2017

Over the past decade, Ottawa has seen a substantial amount of growth in its urban population and neighbourhoods, creating a problem: how do you keep growing and provide enough park space.

Though it hasn't struggled to create new parkland to the same degree as cities like Toronto, which lacks greenspace in the downtown core, that challenge has been something that Ottawa has struggled with over the last decade. In 2006, the city set out a goal for urban parkland, in its Greenspace Master Plan, of two hectares for every 1,000 residents. But since 2006, many urban parts of the city have fallen well short —especially in wards that have grown substantially since then.

According to city data calculated by Metro, Ward 14, which encompasses much of the downtown area, has only .19 ha per 1,000 residents. Ward 15, with fast-growing neighbourhoods like Hintonburg and Mechanicsville, has only 1.04 ha for every 1,000 residents.

Proposed law would close Ontario's organics labelling loophole - Ottawa - CBC News

By CBC News Ottawa, October 20, 2017

An NDP private member's bill aims to help consumers get the real deal when shopping for organic products.

Right now in Ontario, any food both produced and sold inside the province can legally be labelled "organic" without any kind of certification to back up the claim.

That's not the case for foods brought in from other provinces or countries. For those foods, federal rules apply, rules which disallow the use of the term unless the label also contains the name of the certification body.

Kingston leading the way with guided forest therapy walks - Ottawa - CBC News

By CBC News Ottawa, October 22, 2017

It's no ordinary walk in the woods. Or is it?

In the Kingston area, the Cataraqui Region Conservation Authority has begun a guided forest therapy program they say will help participants fully realize the power of the outdoors. Stana Luxford-Oddie is the authority's senior conservation educator. She has been accredited as a guide with the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy Guides. But she hopes that doesn't deter people.

Chambers: In climate change discussion, don’t forget about wildlife

Ottawa Citizen

By Bradnee Chambers, Ottawa Citizen, October 21, 2017

The effects of climate change are being felt with extreme weather events such as the wildfires in British Columbia, floods in Eastern Canada and hurricanes of unprecedented severity battering North America and the Caribbean.

Wildlife is also suffering the consequences, and migratory animals already at greater risk because of their dependence on a fragile chain of sites to sustain them are more vulnerable than sedentary species.

Gatineau Park parkways closing for the season

Ottawa Citizen

By the Ottawa Citizen, October 22, 2017

Some roads in the Gatineau Park close for the season today. At 5 p.m., the Lake Philippe, Gatineau, Champlain and Fortune Lake parkways will be closed to motorists. The annual winter closure allows the parkways to become cross-country ski trails during the fast-approaching winter months. Cyclists, roller skaters, walkers and runners can take advantage of the car-free roads until the snow falls.

The roads will reopen for cars at noon, May 4, 2018.

City still working out solutions to boost green bin participation

OttawaCommunityNews.com

By Jennifer McIntosh, Ottawa Community News, October 19, 2017

There’s definitely room for improvement when it comes to use of the city’s green bin program, said environment and climate committee chair Coun. David Chernushenko, but he doesn’t want to simply throw money at the problem.

This past year, the city spent $350,000 on promotion of the program, but the participation numbers seem stuck, according to a presentation made to the committee on Oct. 17.

“What we’ve been doing the last few years isn’t getting us any further,” Chernushenko said, adding changes are coming to the Waste Free Ontario Act, which governs garbage collection. The city’s also working out additional issues with the contentious Orgaworld contract through an arbitrator.