Ecology Ottawa

News Clippings

Vegan cafe defies CFIA order to stop using words burger, cheese

By CBC News Ottawa, July 29, 2019

A vegan restaurant owner in Kanata is defying a Canadian Food Inspection Agency order to stop using "cheese" and "burger" to describe items on her menu — a risk she said she's willing to take.

"I'd like to see where it goes in the future, working with some animal justice lawyers," said Melanie Boudens, owner of Grow Your Roots Cafe, on CBC Radio's All In A Day.

Staff from the CFIA visited her business two weeks ago to tell her she had two weeks to drop those references from her menu.

Confederation Line being put to the test

By Robyn Miller, CBC News Ottawa, July 29, 2019

A dozen consecutive days of testing for Ottawa's new light rail line is officially underway.

John Manconi, the city's general manager of transit services, said testing on the delayed Confederation Line started Monday morning.

On July 27, a memo from city staff said the city and an independent certifier had agreed that the substantial completion milestone had been met.

(...)If there's a major hitch in the next 12 days, however, the trial must start over. That means while it's feasible the trial could be completed as early as about Aug. 9, that will only happen if it all goes flawlessly.

A TOXIC DECISION?: Is your town toxic?

By Sheila Wang, Inside Ottawa Valley, July 29, 2019 The provincial government is repealing the Toxics Reduction Act, axing a voluntary reduction program that empowered you to see what toxins are used in the industrial facilities in your neighbourhood — and what they planned to do to reduce them. A Toxic Decision? takes an in-depth look at the impacts of the act's repeal and the program's cancellation.

This is Part 3 of a web-exclusive, Torstar Community Brands series. 

(...)This spring, the province announced it would be repealing the Toxics Reductions Act (TRA) effective Dec. 31, 2021, cancelling a voluntary reduction program that empowered you to see what toxins are used in the industrial facilities in your neighbourhood — and what they planned to do to reduce them.

Boy cyclist killed in Orléans collision identified

By Christopher Whan, Global News Ottawa, July 25, 2019

Khouri’s death comes amid renewed calls to update infrastructure and make roads safer for the city’s most vulnerable road users.

READ MORE: Ottawa police investigating after human fetus found in Little Italy

A motion put forth at city council several weeks ago by Coun. Catherine McKenney calls for the city of Ottawa to adopt the Vision Zero pledge to eliminate all road deaths in the city.

Tom Green holding Major's Hill picnic to 'casually discuss' Chateau Laurier expansion

By Mike Vlasveld, 1310 News, July 24, 2019

Internationally recognized Ottawa comedian Tom Green is inviting residents to join him in appreciating the views from Major's Hill Park.

He's recently added his voice to those displeased with the design of a proposed expansion on the north side of the Chateau Laurier.

Green is inviting Ottawans to join him in having a picnic at Major's Hill on Saturday, July 27 at 6:30 p.m.

(...)"That positive energy I'm feeling from so many people involved in this, I hope will lead to a satisfactory result for all parties involved," he explained. "Somehow we will come up with a way -- with the developer, with city council, with the federal government, with the NCC, with the citizens of Ottawa -- to come up with a new design [for the Chateau Laurier expansion] that is going to be more harmonized with the environment down there and really keep Ottawa beautiful."

Road safety isn't a partisan issue, and not something to rush into either: councillor

By Ottawa Matters Staff, 1310 News, July 25, 2019

In the wake of another fatal collision involving a cyclist on an Ottawa road, city councillors are debating how quickly action should be taken to keep cyclists and pedestrians safer on local streets.

Kitchissippi councillor Jeff Leiper is again touting his Vision Zero motion. The motion's goal is to fast track some initiatives, building infrastructure which will make the city's street's safer for cyclists and pedestrians, in order to get the amount of cycling and pedestrian deaths in Ottawa down to zero.

"[The Wednesday crash which killed a 13-year-old in Orleans] brings in to sharp relief once again the need for Ottawa to get serious about protecting cyclist." Leiper told Ottawa Today on 1310 NEWS.

The councillor put forward his Vision Zero motion back in June, however council voted to hand the idea over to the city's Transportation Department and have them come up with an in-depth plan on how to make roads safer.

Black legged or deer ticks on the rise in Eastern Ontario

By Lesley MacKay, StittsvilleCentral, July 24, 2019

Black legged ticks (also known as deer ticks) have increased in numbers in our part of the country this year. There have been several reported cases in Stittsville. With so many cases reported in the Ottawa area this year, Ottawa Public Health have taken a breather from doing any further collection and testing of ticks as the city has surpassed the 20% threshold.

But don’t let this information keep you or your pets housebound. You can take many precautions to avoid tick bites when enjoying nature. If you are in a forested or grassy area —

• stay on the path
• wear light coloured clothing that includes a long-sleeved shirt and long pants
• wear socks on your walks and tuck your pants into the socks
• use bug spray with picaridin or DEET
• roll a sticky lint roller over your clothes (and pet as well) before entering the house
• especially important is to do a tick check of your entire body, including in your armpits, groin area, behind your ears and along hairlines where they like to hide
• check out your pet’s neckline, legs, tail, stomach and chest area

Double trouble after spring floods: bugs and allergies

By Tom Spears, Ottawa Sun, July 24, 2019

Spring’s lousy weather is still causing trouble for anyone who wants to go outdoors, though the makers of insect repellent and antihistamines must be laughing.

That cool, wet weather was perfect for some of the things we hate most: mosquitoes, biting flies, and plants that spread allergenic pollen.

May’s temperatures averaged 2.2 degrees below the long-term average, according to Environment Canada’s measurements in Ottawa. Central and Eastern Ontario received from 25 to 100 per cent more rain than usual in May, adding to the water still left from unusually large spring melt, so the ground was saturated and the cool days did little to dry it out.

Intersection where 13-year-old cyclist died is dangerous, neighbours say

By Laura Osman, CBC News Ottawa, July 25, 2019

People living near the section of road where a 13-year-old boy on a bicycle was killed on Tuesday say the overpass isn't safe, and are demanding change.

The boy died after he was struck by a car just before 5:30 p.m. near the westbound on-ramp to Highway 174 on Jeanne d'Arc Boulevard.

The highway overpass is a busy destination for pedestrians, with many trying to access major bus stops on either end.

Ring-billed gull die-off likely a result of spring flooding

By Stu Mills, CBC News Ottawa, July 25, 2019

Record-setting high water levels on the Ottawa River this spring and a period of unusually hot weather in the final weeks of June — not poisoning — are the likely causes of a die-off of ring-billed gulls in the Britannia neighbourhood.

Ted Cheskey, a bird conservation expert with Nature Canada, said flooding this spring kept most of the traditional nesting areas for a gull colony under the waves of the river.

"Before I jump to a conclusion that there's some pollution-related factor, malfeasance or something, [I would call it] part of the natural cycle in a very unusual year," he said.

Our frustrating time trying to buy an electric vehicle

By Doug Hempstead, CBC News Ottawa, July 25, 2019

(...) Electric vehicles outsold gas and diesel models in Norway for the first time ever in April this year, accounting for 58.4 per cent of all vehicle sales.

In Canada, less than 10 per cent of new cars being sold are considered an EV.

• Electric vehicles are approaching a tipping point — here's why
• Electric-car rebates: More than free money?

There are a bunch of reasons for this, but I think the most frustrating is the dealers themselves.

We're trying to buy an electric vehicle at my home. Or, rather, my wife is trying to buy one. She's never bought a car on her own before — at least not from a dealer.

She's actually been asked once if her husband was on board.

(...)Another dealer couldn't get the car we wanted. We gave them a deposit and waited months. No calls, no updates.

(...)A number of salesmen even tried to sell her the gas model instead.

Electric vehicle sales stalled after end of provincial rebates

By CBC News Ottawa, July 25, 2019

Sales of electric and hybrid vehicles have dropped more than 50 per cent in Ontario over the past year, according to data provided by a non-profit advocacy group.

Electric Mobility Canada recently released a report on electric vehicle sales compiling data from Statistics Canada and IHS Markit, a market analysis firm.

During the first quarter of 2018, 2,633 electric vehicles were sold in Ontario. During the same time period this year, that number dropped to 1,219.

Electric Mobility Canada attributes at least part of this decline to the end of Ontario's Electric and Hydrogen Vehicle Incentive Program (EHVIP) in July 2018.

The program offered drivers between $5,000 and $14,000 to buy new environmentally friendly vehicles from a range of auto manufacturers.

A spokesperson for General Motors Canada confirmed it has experienced a decline in electric vehicle sales since last July and it has noticed a similar trend with their competitors.