Major Overhaul Needed at NEB Amidst Crisis of Confidence
Common Dreams

By Commons Dreams, February 22, 2017

OTTAWA, ONT. - As the National Energy Board (NEB) Modernization panel stops in Gatineau tomorrow, the federal government needs to put an immediate freeze on current pipeline proposals until impartial oversight is established. That’s the central message in a long list of concerns that Ecology Ottawa and the Council of Canadians will be presenting to the NEB Modernization panel.

“More than a decade of mistrust, conflict of interest and ignoring climate change has plagued the NEB, and we’ve got recent approvals of Trans Mountain, Line 3 and Keystone XL pipelines to show for it,” says Graham Saul, Executive Director of Ecology Ottawa. “It makes absolutely no sense for the NEB to be pushing forward with a review of the proposed Energy East pipeline while the federal government is reviewing how to fix the badly broken NEB.”

Ottawa 2017 gives away free gas in Montreal as councillors debate climate change
Ottawa Citizen

By Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen, February 21, 2017

Ottawa 2017 party planners were giving away free gas in Montreal on Tuesday as politicians back home questioned if the City of Ottawa is doing enough to fight climate change.

Guy Laflamme, executive director of Ottawa 2017, said the marketing stunt was designed as a message to Montrealers that Ottawa is only two hours away and they only need a tank of gas to visit the capital. He estimated $5,000 to $6,000 worth of gas would be bought for 150 motorists.

City urged to work faster on climate change strategy
Metro Ottawa

By Haley Ritchie, Ottawa Metro News, February 21, 2017

Winterlude could one day become waterlude if we don’t move fast enough, according to one speaker urging city councillors to move faster on its climate change plan.

“Climate change is here, it’s impacts are increasingly severe,” said Coun. David Chernushenko, who kicked off Tuesday’s environmental committee meeting with a global tally of flooding, wildfires and short winters.

(...)

Angela Keller-Herzog, a small business owner living in downtown Ottawa, criticized the city’s plan for lacking hard data and not providing incentives to individuals. Keller-Herzog said her bed and breakfast has solar panels and bicycles for guests.

“We shouldn’t be complacent and we’re not actually doing that great,” she said.

Chernushenko called the critique “accurate and necessary.”

Graham Saul from Ecology Ottawa echoed that criticism, concerned that the city wasn’t moving fast enough to combat climate change.

‘Significant’ ash tree removal begins in north Kanata

By Jessica Cunha, Ottawa Community News, February 21, 2017

The city is removing what will likely be thousands ash trees from three areas in north Kanata.

Work to remove dead and dying ash trees in the Beaverpond Park area, a woodlot and recreation trail off Marconi Avenue and a forested area in Kimmins Court Park had begun by Feb. 13.

Replanting efforts are set to begin in the spring.Sections within all three affected areas will see more than 90 per cent of trees removed after being infected by the emerald ash borer, said Kanata North Coun. Marianne Wilkinson at a town hall meeting on Feb. 13.

City needs to green light greener policies: environmental advocates

By CFRA News, February 21, 2017

Councillors on the city's Environment and Climate Protection Committee are facing criticism for not moving swiftly enough on green initiatives.

(...)Graham Saul, the executive director of "Ecology Ottawa," said he fears the city has no plans to implement substantive climate-change policies before the next council elections.

"I don't see anything in the report that suggests that the city intends to bring forward specific policy recommendations in terms of how we can reshape a variety of issues related to renewable energy strategy. It'll come out after the budget and the next budget won't happen until early 2019," Saul said.

"So effectively, financing the renewable energy strategy, if there are any specific financial investment recommendations of any size at all, will be punted into the next term of council."

Renewable energy strategy could be toothless and delayed, advocates worry - Ottawa - CBC News

By Kate Porter, CBC News Ottawa, February 21, 2017

The City of Ottawa's strategy to shift toward wasting less energy and using more renewable power was due last fall, but now environmental advocates worry concrete steps won't be laid out and funding won't even flow until after the 2018 municipal election.

(...)On Tuesday, a staff update at the city's environment committee meeting presented residents with a glimpse of what to expect when the "energy evolution" report lands this fall, but Ecology Ottawa foresees more studies, no specific recommendations to change policies and therefore, no budget.

"I'm really worried about this process, and I really hope I'm wrong," Ecology Ottawa executive director Graham Saul told councillors at the meeting.

He fears as this four-year council term ends, the issue will be "punted" to after the next municipal election in 2018 and a new crew of councillors.

"There's no sense of urgency," agreed Angela Keller-Herzog, who has spent thousands of dollars to install solar panels on her bed and breakfast.

U.S. company goes to court to enforce $28M damage award for Ontario ban on Great Lakes wind farms
Ottawa Citizen

By David Reevely, Ottawa Citizen, February 21, 2017

The wind-power company that won a $28-million trade award over the Ontario government’s decision to kill its Lake Ontario wind farm is going to court to collect, it said Tuesday.

Windstream Energy hasn’t been paid the damages an international tribunal awarded it at the end of September, the company said.

The arbitration panel from The Hague gave Canada 30 days to fork over the compensation for Ontario’s sudden decision to stop wind farms in the Great Lakes in 2011, after urging companies to come and build them. But the Permanent Court of Arbitration doesn’t have direct enforcement power for its decisions — it can’t order a bank to hand over money from a government account. For that, Windstream needs a Canadian court’s co-operation.

Three LRT stations eyed for development in Stage 2 project
Ottawa Citizen

By Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen, February 21, 2017

Three stations in the Stage 2 LRT expansion are being eyed for well-designed developments to build density in the western leg of the extended rail network and potentially generate revenue for the city.

Pinecrest, Cleary and Baseline stations could see new developments around, or even on top, of the LRT stops as the city tries to quickly open up opportunities to create residential density through the next rail construction contract.

City hall blog: Why Transpo won’t stress about cash during a Trillium Line shutdown
Ottawa Citizen

By Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen, February 20, 2017

The Trillium Line will close for a very long time when the city adds stations, installs tracks and fixes infrastructure along the route during the Stage 2 program, but OC Transpo isn’t concerned about losing revenue.

Under Stage 2, Transpo will close the Trillium Line for 16 months starting in spring 2020. Bus Route 107 will replace the train service, like it does today when a problem happens or there’s maintenance on the Trillium Line.

When a train service is substituted with buses, there’s a chance of losing rider loyalty, which can impact revenue.

Reevely: Ottawa’s LRT plan comes with big lessons for the private partnerships we love so much
Ottawa Citizen

By David Reevely, Ottawa Citizen, February 20, 2017

We love building things like light-rail lines with public-private partnerships but have some amazingly screwed-up rules for them, says a report on the lessons the city learned from planning the first phase of rail construction in Ottawa.

Cities have to beg for provincial and federal money before they have a clear idea what their plans will cost, and sometimes those estimates are too low when they get locked in. The system pushes for cheap over good, and also gives bidders an incentive to squeeze as many costs as they can out of construction budgets and into decades-long maintenance agreements, where they’ll get much less attention.

Ottawa is the fourth most congested Canadian city: report
Ottawa Citizen

By Megan Gillis, Ottawa Citizen, February 20, 2017

Ottawa is the fourth most congested Canadian city, with capital commuters spending 31.5 hours last year stuck in traffic during peak travel periods, according to a new scorecard from global transportation analytics firm Inrix.

We’re behind Montreal at 52 hours, Toronto at 45.6 hours and — by a whisker — St. John’s, at 31.8 hours.

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