Ecology Ottawa

News Clippings

Boucher: Ignore the climate 'emergency' and have those babies

By Joanne Boucher, Ottawa Citizen, July 23, 2019

“The mother of the year should be a sterilized woman with two adopted children,” according to Paul R. Ehrlich, author of The Population Bomb. His theory that the human race was on the brink of disaster due to over-population was debunked by reality and the dismal sub-replacement rate in most of the developed world.

It wasn’t the first or only time our betters found a reason to counsel their lessers not to have children. Today, the reason is the climate “emergency” and a week doesn’t go by without another woman stating she has joined the Birthstrike due to it.

(...)Today, it’s the climate emergency. Our betters have decided we need to be roused from our slumber. We need to be frightened about our very existence yet again. Our betters have decided they need to rouse us from our slumber with the word “emergency.”

But the exquisitely designed body of a woman comes with its biological limits. Women and men alike can attest to the difficulties and expenses of putting off conception.

Today's letters: The tale of a quilt, and thoughts on Ottawa's planning committee

By Ken Winges, Ottawa Citizen Letter to the Editor, July 23, 2019

(...)Menard is right: Reform the planning committee

Re: Menard: Break up planning committee and bring democracy back to Ottawa City Hall, July 18.

I am not always in agreement with Ottawa Coun. Shawn Menard, but I must say I am in total agreement on the role of the planning committee.

Some years ago, I served as a member of the committee developing a secondary plan for Richmond Road. We met frequently, worked many voluntary hours and came up with recommendations we felt were fair, then submitted our report. One part of the plan that did get approved (i.e. height restrictions) was subsequently ignored by both planning committee and planning staff. It amounted to a virtual slap in the face to those communities who made the effort to get involved.

Adam: Ottawa's urban-rural split isn't new, but it needs fixing just the same

By Mohamed Adam, Ottawa Citizen, July 25, 2019

One of the important side effects of the Château Laurier debate is the light it has shone on an age-old Ottawa problem: the disproportionate way in which suburban and rural councillors dictate development in the urban core.

The Citizen’s Kelly Egan hit the nail on the head in a column two weeks ago in the bitter aftermath of the château decision, and now Capital Coun. Shawn Menard is demanding the breakup of a planning committee that’s clearly stacked against urban residents and routinely votes against their interests. The 65-storey 900 Albert St. tower, Greystone Village in Old Ottawa East and the Salvation Army homeless shelter on main-street Vanier are examples of recent projects approved against the wishes of local residents and community plans.

(...)It is hard to believe, but in Ottawa, a planning committee whose work largely revolves around zoning and Official Plan changes involving urban intensification, has only one member from the core where most of the development is taking place. The voices of the representatives of the people most affected are basically shut out. It is as if they don’t exist. Part of the problem is that the mayor doesn’t count the urban councillors as allies, and therefore keeps them at bay. But it is not just the planning committee. Urban councillors also are also cut out of the powerful finance committee, which basically acts as the mayor’s cabinet. Think about it: Councillors representing thousands of urban residents are cut out of the city’s two most important committees, and it begs the question why?

After a cycling death, safety turns political

By Tom Spears, Ottawa Citizen, July 25, 2019

The death of a 13-year-old boy has turned talk of safer streets into a personal and partisan fight in and around city hall, with blame and Twitter accusations flying Wednesday.

Cumberland Coun. Stephen Blais was at the centre of it, taking fire from cycling advocates who say the city doesn’t protect them, while tweeting accusations of his own that cyclists are publicity hunters who are not helping the safety cause.

Blais chairs Ottawa’s transportation committee. As well, the fatal accident happened near his ward.

Hintonburg residents demand sidewalk be reopened at Magee House

By the Ottawa Citizen, July 24, 2019

Frustrated Hintonburg residents and business owners carefully took to Wellington Street Wednesday morning to demand the reopening of the thoroughfare one year after it was closed by a partial collapse of a historic building.

It was the anniversary of the collapse of the west wall of Magee House, a collapse has stymied both foot traffic and cars ever since.

Confederation Line 'effectively complete' says Rideau Transit Group. But we've heard that before

By Joanne Laucius, Ottawa Citizen, July 22, 2019

Construction and testing of the $2.1-billion Confederation Line project are “effectively complete” the consortium behind the overdue project has told the city — for the second time.

The substantive completion notice, received by the city on Monday, signifies that Rideau Transportation Group (RTG) “is of the opinion that the project has advanced to the point where construction and testing is effectively complete,” John Manconi, the city’s general manager of transportation services, told councillors and the transit commission Monday in a memo.

“This applies to all fixed components (stations, rail, etc.) and vehicles, and means that there is no restriction on the city’s public use of the system.”

The city has five days to provide its opinion to an independent certifier as to whether all the conditions have been met. Pending the city’s decision, the certifier has another five days to determine whether RTG has satisfied the conditions.

Ottawa River Pathway reopened after flood cleanup

By Jacob Hoytema, Ottawa Citizen, July 22, 2019

The National Capital Commission announced on Monday that the section of the Ottawa River Pathway behind Parliament Hill, stretching from Bank Street to the Portage Bridge, has been reopened for public use.

The pathway had been closed for clean-up and repairs after historic spring flooding on the Ottawa River.

According to a statement on the NCC website, the pathway “needed significant debris cleanup, as well as minor asphalt, sinkhole and furniture repairs.”

City of Ottawa launching program to battle Emerald Ash Borer after successful pilot

By Mike Vlasveld, 1310 News, July 22, 2019

A partnership between South Nation Conservation (SNC) and the City of Ottawa is working to curb the spread of the invasive Emerald Ash Borer across Canada's capital region, through the Ash Tree Replacement Program.

Through the program, local property owners could be eligible to receive up to $500 in cost-share funding towards the removal and replacement of an infected ash tree on their property -- a maximum of $5,000 per landowner.

The City of Ottawa funding is limited to a first-come, first-serve basis.

The Ash Tree Replacement Program returns in 2019 following a successful pilot in which 469 ash trees, infected by the Emerald Ash Borer, were recently replaced with locally sourced trees on private properties across rural and urban Ottawa.

Can we get a local climate action plan?

By Lynn Ovenden, The Review, July 15, 2019

To The Editor,

Your editorial last week (Change takes time. So does strategy.) reminded me how important it is to plan a strategy for major long-term challenges. Climate change is one such challenge. Many municipalities have a climate action plan. I’d like to see the United Counties of Prescott-Russell develop one. At a minimum, I hope UCPR is reconsidering how to design and fund and incentivize the changes in infrastructure and local economy that we’ll need to thrive in 2030. While most Canadian’s are more concerned with day-to-day affordability than 2030, we know that housing affordability, food security, water quality and wildlife are at risk in the hotter, stormier climate that’s coming. We’ll pay for what we know is necessary and well-planned. Next time our municipalities receive a windfall of revitalization funds, they should go to long-term goals in a strategy for community resilience.

$10-million wastewater improvements underway in Limoges

By James Morgan, The Review, July 15, 2019

Work has begun on upgrades at the wastewater treatment plant in Limoges.

In April, La Nation Council awarded the construction tender for the project to Fuller Construction. It was the lowest of the three bids the municipality received for the project, but it still exceeded the budgeted amount.

According to a Water and Wastewater Department report, the budgeted cost for the project was $8.1 million but the Fuller bid was for $10,064,000. The treasurer’s department determined it was still financially sustainable for the work to go ahead but that further considerations would be needed to cover the additional costs. The treasurer will be reviewing the project and presenting options to council for financing.

Poisonous plants to be avoided

By Lesley McKay, StittsvilleCentral, July 19, 2019

Some information in this article was provided by the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority.

Poisonous plants can be more troublesome than the beauty they hide behind. Most can cause many health issues that are painful with long-term effects. I speak from personal experience when my case of poison ivy turned into Necrotizing fasciitis (or commonly known as flesh-eating disease) on my legs. I am now susceptible to a form of flesh-eating called meaney’s ulcers (that many diabetics also suffer from) – and they are mean when they raise their ugly head.

Poison ivy, poison oak, poison sumac, wild parsnip and giant hogweed all have a presence in Eastern Ontario, lining roadside ditches, taking over empty fields and popping up along nature trails and woodlots.

Ontario boosting powers to fine companies that break environmental rules

Mike Crawley, CBC News, July 20, 2019

The Ford government is boosting the province's powers to slap fines on industry for breaking Ontario's environmental rules, but environmental activists say there's an important catch that actually weakens protections against air pollution.

This month, changes took effect giving provincial environmental officers wider scope to issue fines for such violations as emitting excess sulphur dioxide, a toxic compound typically released by oil refineries. The maximum fine is now $200,000, double the previous limit.

• Ontario climate change plan includes fund to help big polluters reduce emissions

The government pitches this as part of Premier Doug Ford`s promise to "come down heavy" on polluters.