Ecology Ottawa

News Clippings

Reevely: New stop signs will make intersections more dangerous, councillors warned

Ottawa Citizen

By David Reevely, Ottawa Citizen, July 2, 2017

Two stop signs will occupy some of city council’s time this week, the latest attempts to repair botched road designs with impotent street signs.

Both of these are in Orléans, but we’re starting to do this all over — reacting to resident’s complaints that their streets are unsafe by putting up stop signs and lowering speed limits, knowing that at best they’ll be ignored and at worst endanger innocent people who assume they’ll be safer than they really are.

Conservation authority issues watershed ‘conditions statement’ for creeks

Ottawa Citizen

By the Ottawa Citizen, July 2, 2017

Some small streams in the Rideau River watershed have overrun their banks after heavy rains over the weekend.

The conservation authority said in a news release on Sunday that as much as 42 millimetres of rain was recorded at the Ottawa International Airport on Canada Day, and 31 mm at Franktown on the upper reaches of the Jock River. Kemptville and Westport, meanwhile, recorded less than 10 mm.

It said flooding was not expected on the Rideau or major tributaries such as the Tay and Jock rivers and Kemptville Creek but warned that safety — especially for children — was an issue around smaller streams with muddy banks such as Stevens and Sawmill creeks.

Canada Day 2017: From bike parking to bus schedules, everything you need to know - Ottawa - CBC News

By CBC News Ottawa, June 30, 2017

On the eve of Canada Day, here is some essential information — and handy links — you'll need to navigate Canada 150 celebrations in and around Ottawa.

Road closures

There will be extensive road closures — more than in previous years — to make room for all the events happening downtown. We've compiled a long list for you, including a helpful map.

If you plan on riding your bicycle downtown, there'll be 200 bike spaces available at Major's Hill Park, along with about 700 existing spaces in the ByWard Market. Remember you'll have to navigate the crowds that'll be walking on closed-off streets.

Free transit, free parking at lots

OC Transpo and ParaTranspo will provide free service all day Saturday.

Capital Wishlist: Catherine McKenna on making us the greenest capital

Ottawa Citizen

By Catherine McKenna, Ottawa Citizen, June 30, 2017

We are lucky to live in Ottawa, where bike paths, green spaces and fresh water are within steps of our front doors. While this is an incredible starting point, my personal dream for our city over the next 150 years is to see Ottawa become the greenest capital city in the world. I want to see us aim higher and push harder to reimagine the way we live, work and play in the nation’s capital. If we do that, we are not only doing the right thing for our kids, we are also creating an incredible opportunity for our city.

In my dream for Ottawa’s future, I see us as a thriving carbon-neutral city. We are an ecologically responsible city built to minimize our environmental impact through innovative energy-efficient buildings, active transportation and clean technology.

Capital Wishlist: Jordan Tannahill wants an end to urban sprawl

Ottawa Citizen

By Jordan Tannahill, Ottawa Citizen, June 30, 2017

My wish is for Ottawa over the next 150 years to not grow another inch. I hope, of course, that many more babies are born and people from around the world choose to settle here. But the city already has all the room it needs. In fact, too much room.

Ottawa is 2,778 km² – which makes it larger than the country of Luxembourg. We are, in other words, a city of sprawl.Urban sprawl, and its attendant challenges — commuter culture, pollution, food deserts, infrastructure strain, lifeless communities, higher rates of obesity and mental illness — is one of our great burdens of inheritance from the last 150 years. But we do not have to carry it forward.

Capital wishlist: Make public transit free, says Kira-Lynn Ferderber

Ottawa Citizen

By Kira Lynn Ferderber, Ottawa Citizen, June 30, 2017

I love Ottawa. I was born and raised here, and I love showing off my city to visitors from all over. I’m inspired by the powerful activism and art I see in Ottawa every day.

I’ve had the privilege of working with many of our great music festivals over the past several years as a performer, and also as an educator specializing in safety at big events. I teach sexual violence prevention and anti-racist bystander intervention, hoping to make our public parties and city streets as welcoming and as safe as possible for everyone.

(...) My vision for Ottawa includes public transportation without a pay-per-use fee system. No bus passes, no bus tickets, no counting change, no tapping a card, no proof-of-purchase receipt, no transfers. Currently, OC Transpo is paid for in part through fares, but also by property taxes. It’s up to us to decide which city services are paid for in whole or in part with user fees, and how much of the cost comes out of the city budget. Roads aren’t pay-per-use for those in cars, and it would be possible for bus use to work the same way.

Taxes on Uber rides

CTV Ottawa News

By Josh Pringle, CTV News Ottawa, June 29, 2017

Your Uber ride will be more expensive starting Canada Day.

The Federal Government’s budget included imposing the HST/GST on all ride-sharing rides.Starting July 1, the 13 per cent sales tax will be added on top of the Uber fare.

On its website, Uber provides material support on tax obligations for drivers. All drivers must register for a business number and HST/GST account. Drivers will receive the HST/GST as part of their weekly payment, and they will be required to submit the HST/GST tax returns.

Landlocked carp left to die as floodwaters recede - Ottawa - CBC News

By Stu Mills, CBC News Ottawa, June 29, 2017

Two months after floodwaters along the Ottawa River receded, large carp remain trapped in shrinking pockets of water that dot an area of west Ottawa.

The fish, some up to 60 centimetres in length, can't escape the stagnant pools off Rocky Point Road in the city's Crystal Beach neighbourhood. Many have already died.

City starts tick dragging in parks - Ottawa - CBC News

By Jennifer Chevalier, CBC News Ottawa, June 29, 2017

Ottawa Public Health started tick dragging in city parks on Wednesday in order to test the bugs they catch for Lyme disease.

Large squares of fleecy cloth are taped to a pole and then brushed over grass and wooded areas. "The ticks will actually cling to the cloth as we drag it over the grass," said Kristen MacNeil, a public health inspector who volunteers with the Lyme disease monitoring and surveillance program.

Safety railing coming to stretch of Rideau Canal - Ottawa - CBC News

By Joanne Chianello, CBC News Ottawa, June 29, 2017

The National Capital Commission board of directors has approved spending $1.3 million to install 2.2 kilometres of railing along the Rideau Canal, from Dow's Lake to Hog's Back Falls.

The railing is expected to be installed in the fall of this year.

Currently there's only a concrete curb separating that section of the canal from the adjacent pathway. In the spring of 2015, two cyclists fell over the curb and into the canal.

Hydro Ottawa bosses losing sleep over electricity politics

Ottawa Citizen

By Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen, June 28, 2017

New forest management plan will protect and increase urban trees

The City of Ottawa has a new approach to take care of the urban tree canopy.

Council endorsed an urban forest management plan, which was one of the strategic initiatives for this term.There is an increasing awareness about the city’s trees as more are destroyed by the emerald ash borer.

The 20-year plan, which is broken down into five four-year programs starting in 2018, makes sure the city is tracking the status of trees, protecting trees and prioritizing plantings. The city wants its trees to be considered a critical infrastructure asset.There are 26 recommendations the city wants to adapt over the 20-year plan to protect existing trees and enhance the canopy within the urban boundary.

Ecology Ottawa believes the plan could be a “game-changer” in tree protection and community engagement on planting programs. The organization has a petition with more than 11,000 names of people who want a strong forest management strategy.

Chilly and damp and Hail Watch Day 3: Is it summer yet?

Ottawa Citizen

By the Ottawa Citizen, June 27, 2017

We hope you haven’t put those spring jackets out of reach in the closet. Or, for that matter, those sturdy galoshes.

It looks like chilly temperatures and showers for the next couple of days.Tuesday morning’s fog patches are expected to burn off by noonish, to make way for showers and a risk of a thunderstorm or two.

The high is forecast at a chilly 19 C or so.Tuesday night should see more showers, with continued risk of thunderstorms and a low of 10 C.In fact for the third straight day, Environment Canada has issued a special weather statement, targeting Eastern Ontario on the possibility of thunderstorms possibly bearing “pea-sized” hailstones. The weather agency ended its statement around 4:15 p.m. Tuesday.