Ecology Ottawa

News Clippings

Arnprior residents call for transit solutions

By Derek Dunn, InsideOttawaValley, December 1, 2019 Access to transportation options has emerged as a significant issue in Arnprior, according to a municipal staff report discussed at a recent council meeting. The latest version of the Strategic Plan will establish priorities and action plans for the next four years. Staff, the public, and council were all consulted to decide which areas deserve attention. All three want to see more businesses and jobs, first and foremost. They also agree on other priorities, including affordable housing options.

However, it is the creation of a transportation plan – public transit, shuttle, ride-sharing, parking – that the public alone is demanding. Some on council often mention the need to repair roads, but few if any have mentioned during regular meetings the importance of travel options.

Pressure on Canada to meet emission targets as CO2 levels hit record high

By Alexandra Mae Jones, CTV News, November 25, 2019

The level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere hit a record high in 2018, according to new data put out Monday by the World Meteorological Organization, a revelation that casts a dim light on Canada’s current methods in battling the climate crisis.

Even more alarming, data from the United Nations-affiliated organization shows there is no sign of a slowdown in the rate of greenhouse gas concentration in the atmosphere, and that for some types, the concentration is increasing faster than ever.

Black knot disease is a fungal infection that can impact your trees

By Laurie Weir, InsideOttawaValley, November 26, 2019 Plum trees are absolutely spectacular in full flower. They bloom early in the spring with blooms that line the branches before the leaves appear. Many people grow them simply for their spring beauty but there are cultivars that are hardy in eastern Ontario, although some of the cultivars may not be widely available. Cherry trees are also a beautiful addition to the spring landscape and some varieties such as Nanking or Manchu produce a delicious cherry crop if you can harvest them before the birds get to them.

As beautiful and productive as these small fruit trees can be, one problem that can gravely impact your trees is a fungal infection known as black knot. Black knot appears as unsightly swellings (galls) on twigs and branches. At first, these galls appear relatively harmless. They are rather subtle and velvety green in appearance. Gradually, they increase in size, harden and become black. The tips of the infected branches often die back. Severe infections can kill whole limbs, and the tree may become stunted.

Earth set to warm 3.2 C by 2100 unless efforts to cut emissions are tripled, new UN report finds

By Nicole Mortilaro, CBC News, November 27, 2019

Without drastic action, our planet is headed toward warming of 3.2 C in less than 100 years, according to a new report.

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) released its annual Emissions Gap Report on Tuesday — 168 pages, compiled by 57 leading scientists from 33 institutions across 25 countries — calling on governments to act immediately, within the next decade, to limit global warming to 1.5 C or 2 C by 2100.

"By now, we know all we need to know. The science is pretty clear, and very frightening," said Anne Olhoff, head of strategy, climate and planning and policy for the UNEP DTU (Technical University of Denmark) Partnership. "But we also know we have the technological options that are needed, at least to the short to medium term."

These Ontario kids are taking climate protest from streets to courthouse

By Alistair Sharpe, National Observer, November 26, 2019

"We need to go into their court system and show them their own laws and that you need to be practicing and following them," said Beze Gray, one of seven young Ontarians who on Tuesday served legal notice on the Doug Ford government over its climate inaction.

The gang of seven are taking their climate protest from the street to the courthouse, arguing that Ford’s weakened climate targets breach their constitutional right to life, liberty and security.

24-year old Gray, of the Aamjiwnaang First Nation, grew up hemmed in by Sarnia’s sprawling petrochemical industry and sees its negative effects on her community every day. She is worried that increasingly extreme weather and other effects of climate change will make a bad situation much worse.

“I’m impacted on so many levels, culturally, my home, even fears and anxieties...if climate change is affecting Chemical Valley, that is a very scary thought,” she said.

City followed rules in awarding LRT contract to SNC-Lavalin: auditor

By Joanne Chianello, CBC News Ottawa, November 26, 2019

Senior city staff followed the rules "to the letter" when they picked SNC-Lavalin as winner of the $1.6-billion contract to extend Ottawa's Trillium Line — even though the engineering giant had twice failed to meet the technical threshold for the project, the city's auditor general has found.

"The job of the auditor general is to say what we found, not what someone wanted us to find," Ken Hughes told councillors Tuesday afternoon. "What we found is that the process was followed to the letter."

However, Hughes recommended the city make its procurement process clearer in the future, including making the language in the request for proposals (RFP) public.

McKenney: Any traffic death is one too many, Ottawa. Let's adopt 'Vision Zero'

By Catherine McKenney, Ottawa Citizen, November 27, 2019

Earlier this week, the city unveiled its third Road Safety Action Plan, setting a goal of reducing by 20 per cent fatal and major injury collisions in Ottawa by 2024.  What does that mean for you if you drive, cycle or walk anywhere in the city?

Well, if we look at the numbers between 2014 and 2018, 137 people died on our streets, including 61 drivers, 18 passengers, 19 people on motorcycles, seven cyclists and 32 pedestrians.  And this does not include catastrophic and life-changing injuries.

The goal of the new plan accepts that 110 deaths over four years by 2024 is inevitable. That is not the bold shift we need in 2019.

There are a lot of excellent measures proposed in the Road Safety Action Plan and many will lead to safer transit on our streets for everyone. I look forward to working with staff to see these measures implemented. However, accepting that road deaths are inevitable is where it doesn’t go far enough.

City considers raiding other budgets to fix transit problems

By Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen, November 13, 2019

Budgets of other city departments could be raided to fix a troubled public transit system plagued by the unreliable LRT system in what would have been an unfathomable scenario a year ago when city hall was giddy about launching the $2.1-billion Confederation Line.

Now it seems city management is scouring every corner of city hall for extra funds to bolster a transit system whose two-month-old cutting-edge rail system is, shockingly, rickety.

“We are dealing with an unknown situation here,” said Coun. Allan Hubley, chair of the transit commission, on Wednesday.

Construction of LRT Stage 2 leaving its mark on the city

By Blair Crawford, Ottawa Citizen, November 13, 2019

A strip mall has been flattened, houses torn down, roads dug up, forests cleared …

While Ottawa commuters fume over late trains and cancelled buses during the troubled launch of LRT Stage 1, construction of Stage 2 is barrelling forward, reshaping the city as the train lines extend east, west and south.

The first part — the extension of the O-Train’s Trillium Line southward — is to open in 2022. And when the entire $4.6-billion Stage 2 work is completed in 2025, it will add 47 kilometres of track and 29 new or revamped stations, expanding the train service from Moodie Drive in the west to Trim Road in the east and Limebank Road and Earl Armstrong roads in the south.

Mayor gives LRT passing grades in storm — then system breaks down and councillors want buses reinstated

By Jon Willing and Tom Spears, Ottawa Citizen, November 12, 2019

After a smooth morning of LRT travel turned into another broken-down afternoon, two councillors want Mayor Jim Watson to bring back cancelled buses until the trains work well.

Trains between St. Laurent and Blair stations were replaced by buses for nearly an hour and a half during the afternoon rush hour.

Kitchissippi Coun. Jeff Leiper and Somerset’s Catherine McKenney now want former bus routes reinstated.

Leiper tweeted: “I feel horrible for commuters tonight delayed in the cold by another train failure. It’s time to bring back the suburban routes until some period of virtually flawless performance is achieved.”

Recycle strategy a struggle in Renfrew area

By Derek Dunn, InsideOttawaValley, November 12, 2019 Major changes will impact your recycle box in the near future. Council members in Arnprior, McNab/Braeside, and Renfrew have several important decisions to make just to get through the next five years, following the recent closure of Beaumen Waste Management. After that, starting in 2025, the provincial government has decided that industry will take over responsibility of recycling.

To take advantage of economies of scale, the three municipalities have agreed to hire one pickup company to transport recyclables to a particular facility in Pembroke. Arnprior already agreed to develop a joint tender for delivery, with McNab/Braeside and Renfrew expected to do so this month. The processing facility, Ottawa Valley Waste Recovery Centre (OVWRC), is owned by four municipalities in the Pembroke area and refused to take part in a tender. It will be sole-sourced, which is allowed if a company is not privately owned.

As electric vehicles age, here's how the batteries are finding a second life

By Jason Vermes, CBC News, November 9, 2019

In his pursuit to completely get off fossil fuels, David Elderton has switched anything with a motor — from his car to his chainsaws — over to battery power.

Even the three-bedroom home he shares with his partner on B.C.'s Salt Spring Island is powered, in part, by a battery from a wrecked Tesla Model S he bought last year; it charges via solar panels mounted on his shed.

The size of two large coolers side by side, he says the battery can keep the lights on for up to five days with conservative power use, and about a day when almost everything is running.