Ecology Ottawa

News Clippings

Les apiculteurs d’Ottawa accueillent avec un optimisme mesuré le programme d’aide

Par Arthur White-Crummey, ICI Radio Canada Ottawa, le 14 août 2023

Alors que les gouvernements ontarien et fédéral ont annoncé un financement pour aider les apiculteurs à améliorer leurs exploitations, sur le terrain, ces derniers doivent composer avec « de nombreux défis ».

...Ces pertes ont incité les gouvernements provincial et fédéral à investir plus de 1,3 million de dollars dans le cadre du Partenariat canadien pour une agriculture durable afin d’aider à améliorer la résilience et la compétitivité des exploitations apicoles en Ontario.

Find the whole article here.

Flooding is a problem. The 'sponge city' could be the solution

By Elyse Scura, CBC News Ottawa, August 14, 2023

The type of heavy rain that hit Ottawa last week and causes roads and basements to flood could push planners toward a natural solution with a playful name: the sponge city. 

More than 75 millimetres of rain was dumped on the nation's capital Thursday afternoon, a deluge so intense it temporarily overwhelmed drainage systems. 

...Usman Khan, an urban hydrology expert at York University, said the central issue is that roads, rooftops and parking lots inhibit the water cycle and encourage flooding because excess water can't be absorbed. 

..."Introducing green areas like green roofs, rain gardens, vegetated swales can help temporarily hold water in the same way that a sponge does during rain events — and then release it slowly over time." 

Find the whole article here.

Councillors call for city infrastructure to be better suited to extreme weather

By Andrew Duffy and Catherine Morrison, Ottawa Citizen, August 11, 2023

Knoxdale-Merivale Coun. Sean Devine wants Ottawa city council to commit to a more robust defence strategy to guard against the effects of the region’s increasingly severe weather.

...Devine said the city had faced an ice storm, river flooding, several tornadoes and extreme rainfall in the past five months alone and needed to accept that this region faced a new climate reality.

“We, as a responsible government, have to act accordingly,” he said. “The city just has to adapt our planning, our budget, the way we use our personnel, to reflect the fact this has to be one of our top, ongoing priorities. We have a number of priorities — transit, housing — but this has to be one of them.”

Find the whole article here.

Residents, councillors concerned about climate in wake of flash floods

By CBC News Ottawa, August 11, 2023

More than 77 mm of rain fell on Ottawa in a matter of hours Thursday

It took four pumps — one sump pump, one gas pump and two submersible pumps — for Andrew Oliver to keep his basement dry.

Even though he rents his apartment on Karn Place in Alta Vista, Oliver purchased the pumps himself.

Then he ran them for hours on Thursday, desperately trying to clear the water.

"We're stuck with four pumps going and trying to keep up with it,"  Oliver told CBC yesterday afternoon. "This is the first year that the rain has been the worst."

Find the whole article here.

 

2 years on, a fix to the LRT's derailment issue remains far off

By Elyse Skura, CBC Ottawa, August 8 , 2023

 

The first clue something was wrong was the burning smell.

On a sunny Sunday afternoon exactly two years ago, a technician identified burn marks on a brake disc on one of two cars on a Confederation Line LRT train.

After the issue was seen to, the train was given the all clear and sent on its way — without anyone ever checking the other car.

That mistake proved costly

Find the whole article here.

 

Canada's Tornado Alley may be moving from Prairies to Ontario-Quebec, warn researchers

By Thomas Daigle and Megan McLeister, CBC News, July 15, 2023

The tornadoes that ripped across suburban Ottawa and near Montreal on Thursday highlight a growing concern for researchers.

Preliminary data trends suggest Canada's most densely populated zone — in Ontario and Quebec — may become the country's epicentre for twisters, with increasingly devastating consequences.

"What we're seeing is lining up with climate change projections," David Sills, executive director of the Northern Tornadoes Project (NTP), told CBC News. He pointed to information collected in recent years by the team based at Western University in London, Ont.

Find the whole article here.

CARLSBAD SPRINGS OU L’EXTENSION URBAINE SANS LIMITE

Par Lila Mouch-Essers, ONFr+, le 2 août 2023

CARLSBAD SPRINGS – Le patrimoine hydrothermal de cet ancien village, en a fait sa renommée à la fin du 19ᵉ siècle. De nouveau convoité par des promoteurs aujourd’hui, Carlsbad Springs fait cette fois face à un développement urbain inédit avec le projet de construction Tewin, qui promet la création de 45 000 nouveaux logements.

...Ce que promet Tewin, c’est de créer une communauté basée sur les valeurs des autochtones, en protégeant l’environnement et en défendant une approche holistique dans sa conception. Pourtant, les récents développements de ce projet ont soulevé des doutes chez les habitants, auprès de l’Alliance pour les espaces verts de la capitale du Canada et chez Écologie Ottawa.

Lisez l'article au complet ici.

How gardeners ditch emissions-heavy peat and explore new plant soils

By Isaac Phan Nay, National Observer, July 14, 2023

Since Stephanie Rose found a way to make her own potting soil mix, the gardener has never gone back to those that rely on peat moss.

Sphagnum peat moss has long been a popular soil ingredient for gardeners, thanks to its ability to retain moisture and drain excess water to keep plants healthy. But the peat is harvested directly from Canada’s peatlands, degrading powerful carbon sinks that regulate Earth’s globe-warming greenhouse gases. Peat soil’s carbon footprint has inspired some gardeners, like Rose, to explore peat-free alternatives.

“Frankly, using this peat-free potting mix is so much better for the health of plants,” Rose said. She now mixes local soil with compost, ground coconut fibres — also known as coir — and rice hulls, which she buys from local breweries. She published her recipe in her book on gardening, Garden Alchemy.

Find the whole article here.

Adam: Yes, limiting cars on the Queen Elizabeth Driveway is inconvenient. But it's worth it

By Mohammed Adam, Ottawa Citizen Op-Ed, July 27, 2023

Urban planners worldwide are reimagining their cities to make them more people-friendly, creating more spaces that invite us to walk, bike or use other 'active transportation' modes.

... It has been a long time since the mayor of Ottawa and the CEO of the National Capital Commission have engaged in a very public feud over the city’s transportation choices.

But here we are with Mark Sutcliffe and Tobi Nussbaum disagreeing publicly over the closure of a section of the Queen Elizabeth Driveway, complete with duelling op-eds in the Ottawa Citizen to make their case, essentially about their transportation visions.

...It is hard to understand why Sutcliffe is taking a stand against his own Official Plan.

Find the whole article here.

Why climate groups say Ottawa’s plan to end fossil fuel subsidies has loopholes

By Uday Rana, Global News, July 25, 2023

With Canadians dealing with wildfires in many parts of the country and floods in others, environmental groups say the federal government’s plan to phase out fossil fuel subsidies is a welcome step, but one that doesn’t go far enough.

Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault on Monday released a framework to review and phase out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies. Canada is the first G20 country to roll out such a plan.

...The plans, though, have drawn criticism from activists who say they do not go far enough — in particular, because the plan to phase out subsidies does not apply to loans, guarantees and equity given to the TransMountain and Coastal GasLink pipelines.

Find the whole article here.

LRT to return to service Monday with 8 single-car trains, a fraction of its fleet

By CBC News Ottawa, July 26, 2023

Ottawa's light rail transit system will return to service Monday with just eight single-car trains, a fraction of its total 45-car fleet, OC Transpo says.

In a memo to mayor and councillors Wednesday afternoon, Renée Amilcar, the city's general manager of transit services, said the reduced fleet size will be enough to meet current customer demand. The LRT system normally operates with two-vehicle trains.

The eight single-car trains will run approximately every seven to eight minutes, the memo said.

Find the whole article here.

Parents denounce end of walking school bus program

By CBC News Ottawa, July 26, 2023

Some parents are decrying the end to a decade-old program that escorted some young students to school every morning.

The Ottawa Student Transportation Authority (OSTA) said it's cutting the walking school bus program for the 2023-24 school year because of a lack of funding.

The bus — with one paid adult at each end — would follow a certain route to each school, with students joining the train of children along the way.

"[It's] great to have a safe option to help us get the kids to school," said Tara Fehlings, whose two children go to Connaught Public School.

"We drop them off at their little stop at the bottom of our street at 8:03 in the morning and I love the idea of supporting active transportation to school. I think it's really community building, great for physical and mental health for the kids."

Find the whole article here.