Ecology Ottawa

News Clippings

Sandy Hill group adding more green to Somerset Street East

Ottawa Citizen

Matthew Pearson, Ottawa Citizen, September 23, 2016

Armed with shovels, spades, wheelbarrows and watering cans, a group of Sandy Hill residents are transforming several patches of asphalt along Somerset Street East into blossoming gardens full of perennials, shrubs and trees.

Inspired by what they’ve seen in Montreal and Gatineau — where recent efforts have spruced up some boulevards and curb extensions — members of the Sandy Hill Tree Group are working with the city on the unique greenscaping pilot project.

580 CFRA News Talk Radio :: Wynne says Hydro Cost Hikes “worth it” :: News - Article

By Kris Sims, CFRA News, September 22, 2016

OTTAWA – Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne says the soaring energy bills in the province are “worth the cost” if it means the air is cleaner.

Ontario’s Auditor General has reported that Ontarians have over-paid $37 billion for power between 2006 to 2014 and will hand over $133 billion more by 2032 because of a “global adjustment” electricity fee on hydro bills.

Ottawa's first complete street almost done

By Michelle Nash Baker, Ottawa Community News, September 22, 2016

Main Street is starting to look pretty good. The street in Old Ottawa East is undergoing a major transformation and from the looks of things, it is starting to shape up.

As Ottawa's first "complete street” the change has given cyclists and pedestrians the same priority as cars.

Save the farm supporters dominate public consultation for new Civic hospital site - Ottawa - CBC News

By Ashley Burke, CBC News Ottawa, September 23, 2016

People fighting to save the Central Experimental Farm made the most noise at a public consultation Thursday night on where the new $2 billion Civic campus of The Ottawa Hospital should sit.

The National Capital Commission held its first and only in-person open house and presentation at the Canadian War Museum to answer the public's questions about its newly announced list of 12 possible locations for the new campus.

More than 400 people attended.

Enjoy the Carp Fair and have your say about the Hospital: What to do this week

Ottawa Citizen

By Kirsten E Endemann, Ottawa Citizen, September 22, 2016

Have your say:

Possible sites for the Ottawa Hospital will be discussed at a public consultation on the draft selection criteria and potential spots, open from 3 to 9:30 p.m., with presentation and Q&A with the NCC CEO and others from 7 to 8:30 p.m., War Museum, 1 Vimy Pl. An online survey is available Sept 22 to Oct. 6, and the Q&A session will be available on YouTube.

Cameras mounted on Laurier part of safety audit in wake of cyclist death

Ottawa Citizen

By Susana Mas, Ottawa Citizen, September 22, 2016

A safety audit of Laurier Avenue is underway less than two weeks after Mayor Jim Watson got an earful from cycling and pedestrian advocates upset by the latest cyclist fatality.

Nusrat Jahan, 23, was killed Sept. 1 when she and a truck collided as she rode her bicycle near the busy intersection of Laurier and Lyon Street. The driver of the truck, Steven Bruce Conley, 38, has been charged with criminal negligence causing death and dangerous driving causing death

Boil water advisory continues in Gatineau

Ottawa Citizen

By the Ottawa Citizen, September 23, 2016

A boil water advisory continues to be in effect in a large sector of Gatineau’s east end Friday following a watermain break Thursday.

City crews worked through the night on the break on St-Louis Boulevard and are asking residents to reduce usage.

‘There is no perfect site’: Public consultation for new Civic hospital begins

Ottawa Citizen

By Elizabeth Payne, Ottawa Citizen, September 23, 2016

After nearly two years of controversy over the site of a new $2-billion Civic hospital, the National Capital Commission asked members of the public for advice Thursday on how to select a location from 12 available federal sites.

The new process is needed to get “social licence” for the project, said NCC CEO Mark Kristmanson.

580 CFRA News Talk Radio :: Trillium Line to get departure time signs :: News - Article

By Alison Sandor, CFRA News, September 21, 2016

Electronic signs are coming to the Otrain Trillium Line to let passengers know when exactly the train will be leaving.

There are concerns that since the train is operating on an 11 minute schedule, passengers are running to catch it because they're not sure when it will depart.

"If they get off a bus or they get out of their car in the Park & Ride and they see the train sitting there, they feel like they have to run, but if there's a display that says it's not leaving for another 6 minutes, then they don't have to run," said Councillor Diane Deans.

OC Transpo projecting $3.3M surplus despite revenue slump - Ottawa - CBC News

By Kate Porter, CBC News Ottawa, September 21, 2016

OC Transpo is on track to post an operating surplus this year, despite earning less than it expected from fares, the Canadian Tire Centre and condominium developers.

That's still a big improvement over this time last year, when the city as a whole was projecting a record deficit for 2015, and the city's transit department was responsible for spilling more than a quarter of that red ink.

Laurier Avenue stop lines shifted in wake of cyclist's death - Ottawa - CBC News

By CBC News Ottawa, September 21, 2016

Nearly three weeks after a cyclist using the Laurier Avenue bike lane died in a collision with a dump truck making a right turn, the City of Ottawa has moved some stop lines to increase the space between bikes and cars.Crews painted new stop lines approximately 5 metres short of the old ones, creating more space between vehicles and bikes at red lights.

The new stop lines were painted overnight Tuesday between Elgin Street and Bronson Avenue, a stretch of Laurier encompassing nine intersections. The changes were made wherever drivers are permitted to turn right.

Andrew Coyne: Carbon pricing is cheapest way to reduce emissions but political cost is too high

By Andrew Coyne, Ottawa Citizen, September 21, 2016

The Liberal government will, we are told, ratify the Paris climate accord, together with its commitments for reductions in carbon emissions, in time for the next UN climate conference in Marrakesh, Morocco, the first week of November, though it has yet to reach an agreement with the provinces on how to implement it.

Perhaps this is not the obstacle it appears, as the minister of the environment seemed to suggest in an interview over the weekend: either the provinces agree to introduce some form of carbon pricing on their own, or the feds will impose it on them. They’ll make them a commitment they can’t refuse.