Ecology Ottawa

News Clippings

Taxi union goes to court over Ottawa's Uber bylaw - Ottawa - CBC News

By CBC News Ottawa, April 18, 2017

The union representing taxi drivers in Ottawa is accusing the city of acting in bad faith and misleading the industry when it brought in legislation last year legalizing companies like Uber, according to a lawsuit filed in Ontario Superior Court last week.

It's been almost exactly one year since Ottawa city council passed new "vehicle-for-hire regulations" — the first jurisdiction in Ontario to do so — to bring ride-hailing services like Uber in line with the city's taxi bylaws.

Rideau dropping, but Ottawa River could see minor flooding

Ottawa Citizen

By Tom Spears, Ottawa Citizen, April 18, 2017

The danger of flooding appears to have passed for the Rideau Lakes and River but there’s still some chance of flooding in the Ottawa River late this week and next week.

Rain in the forecast for the next few days isn’t likely to raise the Rideau system, said Patrick Larson of the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority. Even the rainfall of 15 to 20 centimetres over the weekend “didn’t really have much impact” against the overall trend of falling river and lake levels, he said.

Battle lines drawn in Findlay Creek, Riverside South cleanup challenge

By Erin McCracken, Ottawa Community News, April 17, 2017

Though friends and collaborators throughout much of the year, when it comes time for the annual cleanup challenge that pits Riverside South and Findlay Creek against each other, the gloves come off.

The communities are gearing up for their annual challenge, and the trash talk is in full swing for the third consecutive spring as Findlay Creek prepares for its cleanup on April 22 and Riverside South gets set to launch its cleanup and festival a week later on April 29.

(...)Findlay Creek is not deploying the same tactic and instead is encouraging people to come out, clean up their neighbourhoods and give Riverside South a run for its money. However, Côté did say that Ecology Ottawa will be at Diamond Jubilee Park the morning of the cleanup handing out tree saplings, while the South Nation Conservation Authority will be giving away shrubs.

Think you could oversee the ByWard and Parkdale markets? Apply now - Ottawa - CBC News

By Kate Porter, CBC News Ottawa, April 16, 2017

Do you have big ideas for the ByWard and Parkdale markets? Are you entrepreneurial, with a strong network and time to offer for free?

If so, this job may be for you.The City of Ottawa wants nine people to form the brand new volunteer board that's intended to revitalize its markets.

(...)She also said the ByWard Market should close streets around the market building so they can be used by pedestrians, cafés and festivals.

"I think it could be really amazing. I've done a fair amount of travelling around England and Europe and a lot of them have pedestrian city centres that are just shops and cafés," she said.

Quebec pit bull ban is misguided, say Ottawa-Gatineau animal welfare advocates - Ottawa - CBC News

By Idil Mussa, CBC News Ottawa, April 16, 2017

Animal welfare advocates in Ottawa and Gatineau are worried Quebec's proposed ban on pit bulls will negatively affect the breed's adoption rate and overall survival. Bill 128 was tabled last Thursday in Quebec's National Assembly, and is the beginning of what Quebec Public Security Minister Martin Coiteux calls a "gradual" approach to legislating dangerous dogs.

The law would allow the provincial government to eventually prohibit any kind of dog it considers dangerous, including pit bulls and other breeds trained to protect or attack.

Fire crews rescue otter from dam distress

Ottawa Citizen

By Shaamini Yogaretnam, Ottawa Citizen, April 15, 2017

Ottawa fire crews saved an otter from a slippery situation Saturday afternoon at Nicolls Island.

The animal was trapped in an undertow near the locks. Platoon Chief Dean Taylor said it’s possible the otter may have been stuck in a washing machine-type situation in which water hitting the surface was circulating back toward the waterfall.

Taylor told the Citizen that he didn’t yet have the specifics, but that, yes, the otter had been rescued.

“MY CARP RUNNETH OVER”: Pathway flooding is perfectly normal, says City

StittsvilleCentral.ca

By Glen Gower, StittsvilleCentral, April 13, 2017

The mighty Carp River overflowed its banks during the first week of April, covering the adjacent floodplain and recreation paths with water. Officials say that’s completely normal.

The photos on this page were all taken on Saturday morning, April 8, after a few days of very heavy rain near the end of the spring melt. The bridge and paths that are covered with water are part of the new multi-use pathways installed last fall as part of the Carp River Restoration Plan (CRRP).

A pair of Jane’s Walks planned for Stittsville on May 6

StittsvilleCentral.ca

By Glen Gower, StittsvilleCentral, April 15, 2017

Two Jane’s Walks are planned for Stittsville on Saturday, May 6. One is focused on the W.J. Bell Rotary Peace Park, and the other is a walk along the central part of Stittsville Main Street.

Brad Spriggs, Carolyn Clark and Theresa Qadri from the Stittsville Rotary Club will be leading the Peace Park tour, which is focused on the stone labyrinth, designed as a “contemplative path” for walking meditation. The walk begins at 10:00am at the park, with an entrance off Cherry Drive.

Ottawa group believes cities grow from the grassroots

Metro Ottawa

By Alex Abdelwahab, Ottawa Metro News, April 13, 2017

The best advice a city government can get comes from the people who live there.

That’s the belief of an Ottawa group that helps residents get involved in civic affairs. “If you give people enough information and you give them the time to deliberate, people will make really smart decisions for themselves and their neighbours,” said Manjit Basi, executive director of Synapcity.

Originally launched as Citizen’s Academy in 2012, and renaming itself Synapcity in October 2016, the group connects people from all across Ottawa and teaches them how to navigate and influence municipal governance.

Cullen: Alberta example could help Ottawa with low-income bus pass

Ottawa Citizen

By Alex Cullen, Ottawa Citizen, April 14, 2017

The beginning of April saw the City of Ottawa begin to offer discounted bus passes to low-income residents: those falling below the Statistics Canada Low Income Cut-Offs ($23,298 for a single person in a large city like Ottawa, according to 2011 data).

Called the EquiPass, at $57 a month it is about half the price of the $113.75 adult regular monthly bus pass.Poverty advocates, while lauding the intent, criticized the city’s initiative as not going far enough, particularly as welfare recipients receive far less than people on the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP), who qualify for the current $42.25 a month Community Bus Pass. It will be near-impossible for a single person receiving $690 a month from Ontario Works (the provincial welfare program) to afford rent, food and other necessities, along with a $57 monthly EquiPass.

Today’s letters: The ByWard Market, taxes, and the RCMP’s yellow stripe

Ottawa Citizen

By Elisabeth V. Krug and others, Ottawa Citizen Letters to the Editor, April 15, 2017

Keep the food in the ByWard Market

Re: A foolproof plan to wreck the Byward Market, April 12.Randall Denley says that tourists don’t come to downtown Ottawa to buy broccoli and neither do Ottawans.

Some Ottawans actually live downtown and would like to buy broccoli downtown. Downtown Ottawa stretches from Bronson in the west to the Rideau River in the east; and from the Ottawa River in the north to the Queensway in the south. It is a traditional residential downtown neighbourhood, becoming increasingly so thanks to downtown revitalization, increased density residential condos, and focus on walkability and public transit rather than cars.

(...)

Time to expand cycling paths in Gatineau Park

There seems to be an outcry about spending money in Alberta on a Jasper-to-Banff path. But here we sit in Ottawa-Gatineau with a huge park that is only partially accessible to the public.

Cycling in the park is really limited to the paved paths and trails that have not changed in decades.

Capital Facts: A forest near Ottawa houses one of the world’s rarest birds

Ottawa Citizen

By Blair Crawford, Ottawa Citizen, April 14, 2017

In celebration of Canada’s 150th birthday, the Citizen is rolling out one fact each day for 150 days until July 1, highlighting the odd, the fascinating and the important bits of Ottawa history you might not know about.

A tiny patch of pine forest near CFB Petawawa west of Ottawa is home to one of the world’s rarest birds. The tiny Kirtland’s Warbler is thought to nest in only one other area — a small number of counties in central Michigan. The bird prefers to nest on the ground in sandy, well-drained pine forests, a habitat often created by forest fires. The species is considered endangered with fewer than 4,000 birds left.