Ecology Ottawa

News Clippings

Capital Facts: The tree mishap at Ottawa’s rare sand dunes

Ottawa Citizen

By Ottawa Citizen, February 15, 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.

As part of a provincial plan to reforest and replant in the 1950s, trees were dispersed on the Pinhey Sand Dunes, a short drive from the Nepean Sportsplex on Woodroffe Avenue. The trees nearly overtook the dune, and the animals that depend on it to live, until the National Capital Commission and a group of citizens began working to restore it in 2011. The dune has survived more than 10,000 years since the last ice age.

Uber delivers 1.4 million rides since becoming street legal in Ottawa, councillors told

Ottawa Citizen

By Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen, February 16, 2017

Uber, the only licensed private transportation company in Ottawa, has delivered 1.4 million rides since becoming a legal ride service in the capital, councillors heard Thursday.

There are currently about 3,000 active Uber drivers providing rides in Ottawa, and according to the city’s bylaw chief, the company is playing by the rules. Chief Roger Chapman told city council’s community and protective services committee that bylaw officers have been doing stings on Uber drivers but have largely come up empty, with only eight charges over three months.

LRT bundle to cost $3.6B, O-Train to be shut down for 16 months

Ottawa Citizen

By Matthew Pearson and Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen, February 16, 2017

A $3.6-billion expansion of LRT includes previously unbudgeted infrastructure work and will force the O-Train Trillium Line to shut down for at least 16 months, the Citizen has learned.

This is the first major public reveal of plans for the second phase of LRT since summer 2015. Information trickling down from the Stage 2 office ahead of a presentation at city hall on Friday indicates the rail expansion will be completed in three stages.

Uber partners with Senators for service at Canadian Tire Centre

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Ottawa

By Vito Pilieci, Ottawa Sun, February 14, 2017

Ride-sharing application Uber has partnered with the Ottawa Senators to create an “Uber Zone” outside of Gate 1 at the Canadian Tire Centre where Uber drivers can pick up and drop off fares.

The Senators said passengers can start using Uber to get to and from hockey games beginning Tuesday.

Ottawa schools rife with asbestos - Ottawa - CBC News

By Julie Ireton, CBC News Ottawa, February 13, 2017

The teacher

Every school Kim Appel taught at over her 20-year teaching career contained asbestos. Every one.

That's not surprising, though, when you consider that more than 200 schools in Ottawa were built with the ubiquitous construction material in their floors, ceilings, walls and pipes.

Appel, now a health and safety rep with the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation, isn't afraid of getting sick because she knows how to protect herself from exposure to asbestos.

Ottawa LRT vehicle put to the test in climate chamber

Metro Ottawa

By Ryan Tumilty, Ottawa Metro News, February 12, 2017

Ottawa’s new light rail vehicles are being put through their paces in a climate tunnel to ensure they can handle sweltering August days and freezing December nights.

The Citadis Spirit vehicles made by Alstom have been tested in cold weather climates before. The same vehicles currently operate in Moscow and Grenoble, France.

But the city, knowing just how extreme Ottawa weather can be, has moved one of the trains inside the National Research Council’s climate chamber, where the vehicle is undergoing a battery of tests.

Councillors pitch external PAs for OC Transpo

By Tiffany Lewis, CFRA News, February 9, 2017

You may soon hear OC Transpo buses announcing their stops from outside the bus - provided they become exempt from a noise bylaw.

Councillor Michael Qaqish and Councillor Stephen Blais - the chair of the City's Transit Commission - have put forward a motion to allow buses to have exterior public address systems.

Qaqish tells CFRA’s Ottawa Now he wants the buses to call out the terminal destination of the route for people who are visually impaired. (...) “We want to make sure everybody can use the bus, including people with disabilities,” he says.

Inuk woman in Ottawa-area uses traditional know-how to collect, recycle roadkill for crafts - North - CBC News

By Priscilla Hwang, CBC News Ottawa, February 11, 2017

In the garage of Ottawa-area woman Manitok Thompson's house hangs one drying deer hide, four beaver skins, a coyote skin and two seal skins.

Some were gifts from her sisters from Nunavut, and some — roadkill.

"It's a very big waste to just throw away a road kill," says Thompson, an Inuk woman who moved to Carleton Place a year ago.

She recycles the skins and furs from road-killed wild animals in the Ottawa region, and turns them into traditional, Inuit crafts and clothing.

Gatineau paying people to buy homes and live in downtown Hull - Ottawa - CBC News

By Kate Porter, CBC News Ottawa, February 10, 2017

The City of Gatineau is offering grants to families and first-time home-buyers to get them to buy property and live in downtown Hull, in another bid to revitalize the downtown core.

More than three-quarters of downtown Hull's residents are renters, according to the city.

"It's the social mix. You need a bit of everything to make an environment representative but also a vibrant community," said Myriam Nadeau, a city councillor and the chair of its housing committee.

Marketplace: From garbage to gorgeous with a lick of paint and imagination

Ottawa Citizen

By Megan Gillis, Ottawa Citizen, February 8, 2017

Talk about trash to treasure.

Local artisans offered their wares at a recent pop-up shop of over 100 pieces of “refreshed” furniture that showed how dated but solid pieces can be given new life with a lick of paint and imagination.

(...)

While these attention-grabbing items plucked from the attic, thrift store or even curbside on garbage day have likely been snapped up, the pop-up shop highlighted the terrific transformations happening in basements, garages and studios.

Councillor suggests cameras in sewers as city grapples with rats

Metro Ottawa

By Adam Kveton, Ottawa Metro News, February 10, 2017

Sure, the census tells us how many people live in Ottawa — but what about the rats?

Some councillors want to know. And one has a high-tech suggestion for finding out: video surveillance of sewers.

At Wednesday’s council meeting, councillors Mathieu Fleury and Allan Hubley asked staff what it’s doing to address the concerns Fleury has received about rats in parks and on the streets.

Capital Facts: The mysterious ‘healing qualities’ of water in Carlsbad Springs

Ottawa Citizen

By Ottawa Citizen, February 10, 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.

Carlsbad Springs, located about 20 kilometres southeast in rural Ottawa, was known by the name “Cathartic” in the 1860s because of the supposed healing qualities of its waters. Guests came to Cathartic on Russell Road to “take the waters” for illnesses or conditions such as rheumatism and digestive disorders. Nearby hotels also offered spa therapy.