The City of Ottawa insists Ottawa's new on-street parking rates and hours are comparable with other large Canadian cities.
In a memo to Mayor Larry O'Brien and City Councillors, Deputy City Manager Richard Hewitt shows the proposed $3 an hour is in line with parking rates in Toronto and Montreal.
Beginning March 1st, the City of Ottawa will charge $3 an hour to park at on-street parking meters. The city will also charge for parking at meters Monday through Saturday until 9 pm in commercial areas and on Sunday from 8 am to 5:30 pm in commercial areas.
Hewitt tells City Council parking meters on residential streets will still have free parking in the evenings and on weekends.
Ottawa plans to introduce Pay and Display machines city-wide to replace parking meters this year. Parking meters will also be installed on Wellington Street, Beechwood Avenue and Bank Street in Old Ottawa South.
The Transportation Committee will hold a public meeting on the proposed parking meter rates next Wednesday. City Council is set to finalize the parking rates on February 13th.
A report for the Transportation Committee shows the increased on-street parking meter revenue will generate $4.24 million for the 2008 budget. The projected revenues from changes to on-street parking will be $7.4 million in 2009.
City Staff warn if Councillors revisit the parking meter changes, Council will have to find $4 million in new revenues in the 2008 budget.
Poor transit plan to set city back 10 years: experts
Lack of strong commuter rail line will hurt future prosperity: MP
Ottawa Citizen, January 31, 2008
Mohammed Adam
While major Canadian cities are reshaping their futures with new light-rail projects, Ottawa has embraced a transit vision that will set the city back a decade and undermine its competitiveness and future prosperity, several experts say.
They point out that, in the past year, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver have unveiled transformative commuter rail plans that will strengthen their ability to compete for global investments and economic opportunities.
The mayor's transportation task force acknowledged this kind of transformation when it said the time has come to make light rail the anchor of the city's public transit. But Transport 2000 president David Jeanes says that, in reality, Ottawa is turning the clock back to a 1980s transit vision that relies heavily on buses -- not rail.
"Every indication we have is that the city is moving back to the 1980s transit plan. The strategic direction approved by council is putting completing the transitway ahead of light-rail expansion, which is a complete change from the 2003 plan," Mr. Jeanes said.
"Cities like Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Calgary realized long ago that rail is part of a larger approach that connects quality of life to a strong economy and a competitive city. But we haven't realized that in Ottawa and we are falling behind. It will set us back 10 years," said David McGuinty, the Ottawa South MP and Liberal environment critic.
American poet T.S. Eliot called April the “cruelest month” but many Ottawans might choose January or February.
Surviving the winter is especially hard for low-income families struggling to pay the hydro bill and still buy groceries.
Executive director of the Ottawa Food Bank Peter Tilley remembers the end-of-the-month panic to make ends meet during his family’s lean years, particularly during winter.
“Quite often our family would be struggling for $2 or $3 literally or $5 or $10 to buy food,” said Tilley, who has worked for the food bank for the past 13 years.
Tilley has no trouble relating to the 40,000 clients who use the food bank every month to stock up on essential groceries and baby supplies. This month, up to 6,000 clients will also go home with an Energy GreenBox equipped with tools to cut heating bills by improving energy efficiency.
Begun as a pilot project last year, the Energy GreenBox program was developed by the Friends of the Earth Canada, the Ottawa Food Bank and the Ontario Association of Food Banks.
“We wanted to do some work under our climate change work with people who are vulnerable to the chaos we believe climate change is creating,” said Beatrice Olivastri, CEO of Friends of the Earth Canada. “In this case, it’s low-income people who pay a disproportionate amount of their income on energy costs.”
Kettle Island, Lac Deschenes best spots for bridges: traffic study
Ottawa Citizen, January 30, 2008
Jake Rupert
Preliminary traffic analysis shows that the most used locations for any new bridges or tunnels across the Ottawa River would be Kettle Island in the east and Lac Deschenes in the west, if they were constructed today.
The latter will not be well received on the Ottawa side as it is easily the most controversial site under consideration because it would route traffic through Andrew Haydon Park.
But this is still early in the process. The team of experts studying 10 potential future crossings between Gatineau and Ottawa for the various governments involved have made some progress, but it will still be the end of the year, at the earliest, before preferred locations are chosen.
At a progress update yesterday, team members said they have discounted ferries as a crossing option because boats can't handle the expected volume of traffic. They also announced dates for further public consultations.
City taps into public input for future of Lansdowne
Ottawa Citizen, January 30, 2008
Jessey Bird
More than 150 people gathered at the Ottawa Civic Centre last night to have their voices heard regarding the redevelopment of Lansdowne Park.
The crowd was divided into about 20 tables, moderated by City of Ottawa officials, and groups were asked to debate a set of six questions.
Topics included the importance of professional sports, the retention of Frank Clair Stadium, the continuation of the Exhbition and whether the city should include the private sector in the redevelopment.
"I've heard some people in the community say the city has already made up their mind and this is all fluff to keep people happy," said Neil Brommell who lives across from the park and is chairman of the Glebe Community Association's Lansdowne Park committee. "But I don't think so. I think they genuinely want public input."
Nouveau lien interprovincial
Les résidents se pronon
Radio-Canada, le 29 janvier 2008
Les résidents d'Ottawa et de Gatineau sont de nouveau invités à se prononcer sur l'emplacement d'un futur pont ou d'un futur tunnel entre les deux rives de la rivière des Outaouais. La Commission de la capitale nationale (CCN) a fait le point, mardi, sur sa vaste étude en cours sur la question.
Dix différents corridors possibles sont toujours à l'étude, mais l'option d'ajouter un traversier entre les deux rives est écartée. L'étude est vaste puisqu'elle se penche sur différentes options de liens interprovinciaux qui s'étendent entre Aylmer et Kanata, dans l'ouest de la ville, jusqu'entre Masson et Cumberland, dans l'est.
Une des options semble plus populaire. Selon les chiffres dévoilés mardi, si le nouveau corridor était établi à l'île Kettle, plus de 3000 voitures à l'heure l'emprunteraient. C'est trois fois plus d'achalandage que si le pont ou le tunnel était situé dans l'ouest de la ville. Toutefois, d'autres facteurs seront étudiés, comme les coûts et les impacts sur l'environnement.
Will Ottawans craving a juicy Big Mac, extra-large fries and a chocolate shake one day be forced to actually walk the walk to load up on those extra carbs instead of enjoying the convenience of the drive-thru?
That's what they're talking about in Edmonton, where the car rules supreme.
The belief is banning drive-thrus would send fewer greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
A ban on your friendly drive-thru might seem like heresy in a town where people can't live without their Tim Hortons, but the idea appears to be gathering some momentum, not just in Edmonton, but in other parts of Canada and the United States as well.
And more than one Ottawa councillor contacted yesterday believes the day will come when drive-thrus simply won't be welcome in the nation's capital either.
City girds for massive fight over cancelled light-rail plan
No sign of settlement in $280-million lawsuits
Ottawa Citizen, January 28, 2008
Laura Drake
It appears some city politicians, including Mayor Larry O'Brien, who thought two huge lawsuits stemming from the cancelled north-south light-rail project would be quickly settled out of court got it wrong.
In a memo to council yesterday, city solicitor Rick O'Connor said the suits, which together claim more than $280 million, are progressing toward a trial.
He said preliminary examinations of witnesses could start this fall, the city is filing a change of venue application to have the cases tried here instead of Brampton, where they were filed, and the firm hired to defend the municipality is getting documents ready for court.
But with the city now girding to fight the largest legal battle it has ever faced, some councillors are still hopeful the suits will be settled before trial.
The $1-billion, dual-track electric rail line was to have stretched from Barrhaven to the University of Ottawa.
Walking on green
Today's market offers flooring choices with the planet in mind
Ottawa Sun, January 26, 2008
Mag Ruffman
Floors are everywhere. No matter where you are right now, there's a floor involved. Floors are an inescapable feature of life, thanks to the Law of Gravity, which is causing six billion pairs of human feet to adhere to floors worldwide. Flooring choices range from dirt to marble, from leather to concrete.
And what many people are coming to realize is that this pesky Law of Gravity has the pernicious agenda of returning all floors to dirt eventually, usually via the dump. That's because no matter which flooring you choose, it will get abused over time, scratched by dog toenails, dented by high heels or burnt by fireplace coals.
Most flooring ends up in the landfill. So when people are choosing new flooring, it's no wonder that more and more of them are opting for longer-lasting, more Earth-friendly materials.
What's the greenest, most healthy, and most planet-enhancing flooring? That's tricky. As with most things in life, you can readily have two out of any three things you want -- in this case: Healthy, cheap or eco-friendly. Here's a quick overview of the eco-friendly flooring choices you might consider.
La pollution a un impact important sur la santé du coeur
La Press Canadienne, le 28 janvier 2008
La pollution atmosphérique constituerait maintenant une menace permanente pour la santé du coeur, selon le Bulletin de santé 2008 publié par la Fondation des maladies du coeur.
Cependant, à peine 13 pour cent de la population canadienne fait le lien entre l'air pollué et les maladies cardiovasculaires.
Ainsi, selon le bulletin, 6000 décès additionnels sont causés par l'exposition à court terme à la pollution atmosphérique et les recherches suggèrent que 69 pour cent de ces cas se présentent sous forme de maladies du coeur ou d'accident vasculaire cérébral.
Aux dires de la Fondation des maladies du coeur, la durée de l'exposition est un élément critique de l'impact de la pollution atmosphérique sur les risques de maladies cardiovasculaires.
La fondation note qu'Environnement Canada estime qu'au moins 30 pour cent de la population est exposée à des taux de particules fines dépassant le maximum acceptable.
The City of Ottawa is correct to speed up the schedule to replace lead pipes that move water into many older homes.
The new plan would see lead pipes replaced by 2014. The schedule now in place only replaces pipes in 150 homes a year. There are about 16,000 dwellings that have lead intake pipes.
The risk of exposure is greatest to children and the unborn; the threat to adults is low. Drinking water contributes little to people's overall lead level. Nevertheless, Health Canada has set a standard of 10 parts per billion in water, mainly to protect the vulnerable.
The City of Ottawa has tested older homes with lead connections and found the water within safe drinking guidelines. Nevertheless as a safety measure, the installation of lead pipes and solder has been banned for many years. Owners of old homes can have their water tested by calling the city.
Despite the fact that water from lead pipe lead-ins stays within approved guidelines, the banning of such pipes and solders was done for good reason. Lead is a known toxin.
The city is right to share the cost of lead-pipe replacement with homeowners who feel it is necessary to do a replacement. The city owns the pipe from the water main to the property line. The rest is the responsibility of the homeowner, to the tune of about $2,500. That's enough money to ensure that the citizen won't replace pipes frivolously.
The proposed $104-million freeway to Rockland is in jeopardy. That's because the project, announced in Premier Dalton McGuinty's re-election campaign, is very low on Ottawa City Council's agenda.
And while the federal and provincial governments have agreed to fund building a widened stretch of Highway 174 east of Orléans in conjunction with the city, the municipality is responsible for the road, this having been downloaded during the Harris years.
The city commitment is $15 million, and Mayor Larry O'Brien wants to build the freeway (calling it "mandatory"), but Alta Vista Councillor Peter Hume believes council won't support the project.
"I don't think it is in our budget," Mr. Hume said in an interview. "I can think of a lot more pressing projects that we could use $15 million for."
Plasco plant fires into action
Accepts first 20-tonne load of city garbage for conversion to electricity
Ottawa Citizen, January 25, 2008
Mohammed Adam
Rod Bryden's experiment to convert solid waste into power began in earnest yesterday when Plasco Energy received the first consignment of city garbage for processing.
The Trail Road demonstration plant received 20 tonnes of garbage that it will convert into electricity. If all goes as planned, a full 24-hour, weekly production will begin in a few weeks, Mr. Bryden said.
"This is one of the last steps in what has been a very meticulous process to bring this first Plasco conversion system into operation," he said.
"Interest in the Plasco conversion system is very high in many communities around the world and we are very optimistic that Plasco Energy will become a new and meaningful choice in the management of waste and delivery of distributed clean and green power in urban communities."
Citizens fighting a huge expansion of Manotick booed city staff and cheered their leaders last night as they argued for the preservation of the community's village feel.
About 200 residents showed up at the city's rural and agricultural affairs committee at Tudor Hall as the committee considered approval of the Mahogany community Minto Developments wants to build.
The committee voted 4-2 to reject Minto's proposal. The issue will be debated by full council on Feb. 13.
Several times, the committee's chairman, Councillor Rob Jellett, asked the crowd to stop cheering and jeering, to no avail. The Minto plan has hit a nerve with many of the community's 1,750 residents.
Keeping grass green and dandelions at bay will get a little harder for many Ontarians under Premier Dalton McGuinty's plan to ban the cosmetic use of pesticides across the province. But weeds are a small price to pay for cutting exposure to chemicals whose potential effects on human health and the environment remain, at best, controversial.
Urged on by a broad coalition of environmental and health-care groups, the government last week announced consultations on a proposed province-wide prohibition on cosmetic pesticide use that would replace existing municipal restrictions with a single law.
Documents posted on the province's environmental registry indicate the government is proposing to exempt farms, where pesticides are already heavily regulated. Golf courses would also fall outside the ban, but would have to limit the impact of their pesticide use. The government is expected to introduce a bill sometime this spring.
City considers fast-tracking lead pipe replacements
Ottawa Citizen, January 24, 2008
Jake Rupert
The city will look at the cost of speeding up its program to replace lead water-pipe connections to houses after a council vote yesterday.
Under the current program, 150 of the connections are replaced every year at a cost of $1 million. With an estimated 16,000 connections, mostly in the downtown core in houses built before the mid-1950s, it would take 106 years to replace all the connections at the current rate.
Bay Councillor Alex Cullen asked council to have staff look at the cost of replacing all the connections by 2014 and include the costs for consideration in the 2009 budget deliberations.
City staff say, with a few precautions, such as flushing residential water systems for five minutes before using the tap water, the dangers of lead in water are all but eliminated even for children and pregnant women.
Mr. Cullen said most people with lead pipes connecting their homes to the city's water supply don't know they should be flushing their systems before drinking the water, and that it's time for the city to show leadership on the issue.
The City of Ottawa is looking at speeding up its timetable to replace lead pipes that transport city water into 16,000 homes. City council agreed yesterday to direct staff to work out the costs for next year's budget to replace lead pipes by 2014, which could cost taxpayers more than $17 million a year.
The current replacement program replaces lead water services to 150 homes a year, but if the city moves ahead with a revised replacement program it would affect more than 2,600 Ottawa homes annually.
The city is only responsible for the portion of the pipe that runs from the water main to an owner's property. The owner is responsible for the pipe running under the property. The city will do the work to replace a lead pipe that runs under private property, but the owner is responsible for the $2,500 cost.
TRUCK TRAFFIC REVIEW
Manotick residents could be getting some relief from heavy truck traffic. City staff are beginning to prepare a report expected to be ready by mid-summer that will consider removing all truck traffic travelling across the village's Bridge Street bridge. Council is asking staff if it is feasible to remove the vehicles from the truck route system that is clogging Manotick roads.
Road design flaws make for poor public health, Montreal officials say
CBC News, January 23, 2008
Montreal's public health department is calling for "traffic calming" measures to be integrated into every road reconstruction project the city undertakes.
Poor road design is responsible for the vast majority of traffic accidents, the department's urban environment and health unit says, and fixing those design flaws would be the cheapest and most effective way to make streets safer.
Ambulances have been dispatched to accidents at 5,000 intersections over a five-year period, according to the department, which made the recommendation on Tuesday based on an extensive study into the relationship between public health and traffic.
Surveillance cameras to monitor red lights won't do much to reduce the increase of pedestrian and cyclist injuries as much as redesigning streets, researchers at the public health department said Tuesday.
"Once we're redoing a major artery in Montreal, why don't we take into account the traffic calming aspects, the protection of pedestrian aspects, at the same time," said Dr. Norman King, an epidemiologist with public health. "Rather than redoing it just the way it was done in the past."
Measures to force traffic to slow down, such as decorative barriers, narrow intersections and protruding sidewalk corners are all proven ways of making streets safer for everyone, King said.
Ontario's great beer fridge roundup is proving to be a big success, and is helping the province meet its energy conservation goals at the same time.
The free provincewide program to remove old, inefficient appliances surpassed the 50,000-unit milestone in seven months.
Energy Minister Gerry Phillips says the goal is to double that number and get rid of another 100,000 old refrigerators this year.
He says it costs about $150 a year to keep the old fridges plugged in, and says it's time to put the beer in the upstairs fridge and get rid of the old one.
The Ontario Power Authority estimates the appliance retirement program has saved an estimated 11 megawatts so far.
Phillips says if they meet this year's goal of another 100,000 old fridges, the province will save enough energy to power about 15,000 homes, or a community the size of Woodstock.
Plus de 50 000 vieux réfrigérateurs ont été récupérés et recyclés dans le cadre d'un programme provincial lancé en juin dernier. Cela représente des économies d'énergie équivalentes à la consommation de 5000 résidences.
Les vieux appareils sont recueillis sans frais et envoyés dans une usine où les métaux et les plastiques qu'ils contiennent sont recyclés.
Le ministre provincial de l'Énergie, Gerry Phillips, insiste non seulement sur les avantages environnementaux du programme, mais indique aussi que les propriétaires de ces appareils énergivores économise annuellement en moyenne 150 $ sur leur facture d'électricité.
L'Ontario se donne comme objectif de recueillir 100 000 vieux réfrigérateurs cette année.
Les environnementalistes applaudissent le programme, et croient qu'il s'agit d'un signe que la province doit en faire plus pour encourager les Ontariens à réduire leur consommation d'énergie. Selon Keith Stewart, du Fonds mondial pour la nature, un problème persiste: la vente d'électroménagers énergivores est encore permise dans la province. Il ajoute que la province doit miser davantage dans de tels programmes d'économie d'énergie, plutôt que d'investir des milliards de dollars pour construire de nouvelles centrales nucléaires.
106 years too long to replace lead pipes: Ottawa councillor
CBC News, January 22, 2008
An Ottawa city councillor wants to speed up a program that would take more than a century to replace all the lead water pipes in the city.
"I think waiting 106 years is far too long," said Coun. Alex Cullen Monday. "So I think having this done, cleaned up in five years is a reasonable thing to do."
Cullen plans to bring forward a motion at Wednesday's city council meeting to accelerate the program, which currently replaces the pipes in 150 houses a year. There are 16,000 connected to city water mains by lead pipes.
If the lead dissolves in the water and ingested it could cause health problems such as developmental delays in children.
Replacing all 16,000 is expected to cost about $70 million, and speeding up the process would lead to higher water bills for residents.
But Cullen said the alternative — exposing children and pregnant women to a possible health risk — is "simply unacceptable."
The city recommends that people with lead pipes flush them daily, but Cullen said most people aren't aware and don't do that.
Ottawa Citizen, January 22, 2008
Shannon Proudfoot
Even as more Canadians profess concern for the environment and live in urban areas with access to better public transit, car dependence continues to rise.
In 1992, 68 per cent of Canadians aged 18 and over drove everywhere, according to a new report from Statistics Canada. By 1998, that proportion was 70 per cent. In 2005, the most recent year for which numbers are available, 74 per cent of Canadians were full-time drivers. Walking and cycling rates, meanwhile, are dropping.
Where people live makes a significant difference in their car dependency. Residents of central urban neighbourhoods are less likely to drive than those living further from the city centre or in small towns and rural areas.
Edmonton and Calgary residents are the most car-dependent in Canada's major cities, with 77 and 75 per cent of them making all their trips by car. At 65 per cent, Montreal residents are least likely to get behind the wheel.
The report - based on time-use data from the 2005 General Social Survey - also reveals that men are more likely to drive than women, with 81 per cent of them driving in a given day, compared to 66 per cent of women. Baby boomers aged 45 to 54 are 2.5 times more likely to drive than young adults aged 18 to 24.
People with children aged five to 12 are 1.6 times more likely to drive than those without children, and more likely to run errands and make trips during the day regardless of how they travel.
CFRA, January 21, 2008
Daniel Proussalidis with Gord McDougall
The Plasco Plasma Gasification facility at the Trail Road landfill is expected to start taking its first loads of real garbage sometime this week.
And it's expected to be up and running next week.
Plasco president Rod Bryden tells CFRA News this new process will turn just about anything from garbage into energy.
"People do put in stuff that isn't permitted and we have to get that out, such as empty propane bottles from your barbecue. The system would melt them but at considerable cost with no value added, " says Bryden.
The leftover remnants that aren't turned into energy can be used to repair roads.
OC Transpo has received $1.2 million in funding from the Federal Government.
It is part of $19.9 million being spent across the country for the development of training programs; upgrades of access control measures; security technology and communications equipment; and the development of risk assessments and security plans for public transit.
The City of Ottawa will use $369-thousand for communication equipment and $896-thousand for infrastructure.
Two decades ago, Ottawa was a good-sized city with a very bright future.
With its regional population sitting around the 550,000 mark and the promise of a hi-tech boom having materialized, the nation's capital was standing up to that moniker.
During the course of the following 20 years, the city grew rapidly, adding 250,000 to its population.
"Basically, we added a city the size of Saskatchewan," said Ian Cross, program manager of research and forecasting for the city of Ottawa. "If you can imagine it, we took a Kingston and a Peterborough and put them in Ottawa."
Go ahead, hang those skivvies outside
Ontario environment minister determined to end clothesline bans
Ottawa Sun, January 21, 2008
Chinta Puxley
TORONTO — The province is determined to lift the ban on clotheslines in most Ontario communities in time for the summer sunshine, Energy Minister Gerry Phillips said today.
Outdoor clotheslines are banned under some municipal bylaws and contracts with home builders. But Phillips said Ontario wants to allow clotheslines for anyone in a freehold detached, semi-detached or row house.
Phillips said the province wants public input over the next two months. The consultation will not include condominiums or highrises, which will be examined separately.
By hanging just 25 per cent of their laundry out to dry, Phillips said consumers could save about $30 a year on electricity bills and reduce greenhouse gases.
“We have a clothesline — both at our home and at our cottage,” Phillips said. “My neighbour has her clothes out all winter long.”
The province is determined to hang clothesline bans in most Ontario communities out to dry in time for the summer sunshine, Energy Minister Gerry Phillips said Monday.
Outdoor clotheslines are currently banned under some municipal bylaws and contracts with home builders. But Phillips said Ontario is looking at allowing clotheslines for anyone who lives in a freehold detached, semi-detached or row house.
Before clotheslines can become legal, Phillips said the province is asking for public input over the next two months. The consultation will not include condominiums or highrises, which will be examined separately, Phillips said.
It just makes sense to allow homeowners to use clotheslines, Phillips said.
By hanging just 25 per cent of their laundry loads out to dry, Phillips said consumers could save about $30 a year on their electricity bills while helping to reduce greenhouse gases.
More Ontario residents should be allowed to save money and energy by using outdoor clotheslines to dry their laundry, Energy Minister Gerry Phillips says.
The long-promised move got one step closer today when Phillips announced a 60-day consultation period to determine how best to proceed.
For years, developers of some residential projects have required home buyers to sign covenants forbidding them from using outdoor clotheslines for aesthetic reasons.
Some municipalities also have bylaws in place banning clotheslines.
Phillips, who notes both his house and cottage have clotheslines, said a standard clothes dryer accounts for about six per cent of a home's electricity consumption.
"By simply using a clothesline instead of a dryer, Ontarians can help reduce the overall demand on the electricity system and save money," Phillips said in a statement.
The changes, which could happen by summer, would apply to freestanding houses, semi-detached homes and rowhouses.
Consultations will also take place on how best to proceed with the possibility of clotheslines for condominium and high-rise dwellers because of "safety issues" that could arise with laundry hanging out to dry in certain situations, Phillips said.
It just makes sense to allow homeowners to use clotheslines, Phillips said.
By hanging just 25 per cent of their laundry loads out to dry, Phillips said consumers could save about $30 a year on their electricity bills while helping to reduce greenhouse gases.
TORONTO — Ontario drivers should have to pay more to use the province's highways and other major thoroughfares.
That's the conclusion of a study released today by the Residential and Civil Construction Alliance of Ontario.
The study calls for road tolls, a gas levy and congestion charges to pay for highway upgrades and public transit.
The study's author, Trent University professor Harry Kitchen, says the extra charges would help the environment and reduce traffic jams by getting people off the roads.
But at least one Liberal veteran is throwing cold water on the idea.
Former Finance Minister Greg Sorbara says Ontario already charges enough taxes to finance highway and public transit projects but needs help from Ottawa.
“Given the current state of the economy, I wouldn't be one who would be recommending increasing taxes,” Mr. Sorbara said.
“I would be recommending strongly that the federal government and federal ministers honour their obligations to invest in infrastructure in this part of the country.”
The Residential and Civil Construction Alliance of Ontario, which commissioned the study, is scheduled to meet with Transportation Minister Jim Bradley on Wednesday to discuss the issue.
A toll of seven cents per kilometre of travel would generate $700-million in revenue each year and drivers could be billed by mail, the study found.
It also called for a fuel tax of about six cents a litre to generate up to $420-million per year to relieve gridlock and improve public transit without raising property taxes.
S'il n'en tient qu'aux quelque 70 personnes qui ont répondu samedi à l'invitation du député néo-démocrate, Paul Dewar, pour discuter de l'avenir des plaines LeBreton, l'endroit accueillera bientôt un véritable village modèle pour le développement durable et la vie de quartier.
"Nous avons l'occasion de créer le vaisseau amiral du développement durable, de montrer au Canada et au reste du monde ce que nous pouvons faire ici", a déclaré Analise Saely, une jeune participante de 26 ans.
Le député d'Ottawa-Centre présentera un rapport de cette rencontre dans quelques semaines et en discutera avec la Commission de la capitale nationale, mais déjà, samedi, il en avait identifié les points-clé : l'importance de consulter le public tout au long du processus, la diversité, le développement durable et la création d'un quartier centré sur les gens de tous les horizons ethniques et économiques.
"Comme plusieurs personnes l'ont mentionné, il faut renverser la tendance et consulter les citoyens au départ pour donner le mandat aux promoteurs de développer un projet, a-t-il expliqué. Il ne faut pas laisser les promoteurs dicter ce qui sera fait."
M. Dewar a aussi exprimé sa volonté de ramener une partie des anciens résidants du quartier sur les plaines LeBreton, notamment les francophones et les autochtones.
La CCN n'a pas encore amorcé ses consultations en vue de la phase II du développement des plaines LeBreton, une occasion que voulait saisir M. Dewar.
No longer can it be said that Canada's premiers lack ambition when it comes to public transit. Last year, leading up to his province's election, Ontario's Dalton McGuinty unveiled MoveOntario 2020, a $17.5-billion plan that promises 902 kilometres of new or improved rapid transit in the Greater Toronto Area and Hamilton. Now, taking into account his province's smaller size, British Columbia's Gordon Campbell has more than matched him. Last week he announced a $14-billion plan to add four new rapid-transit lines in Metro Vancouver, as well as an upgrade to "Rapidbuses" along major routes and the introduction of 1,500 new buses for municipalities across the province.
Like Mr. McGuinty's plan, Mr. Campbell's promises to do wonders in easing congestion and improving air quality. By 2020, the B.C. government suggests, it will double the province's public transit ridership, cutting transportation greenhouse-gas emissions by 4.7 million tonnes over that period. If so, it will help British Columbia meet its goal of reducing its carbon footprint by one third from 2007 levels. But, as in Ontario, all the ambition in the world won't be enough unless other levels of government share it.
Mr. Campbell has not gone as far as Mr. McGuinty in pledging provincial funds. Whereas Ontario is poised to pay two-thirds of its plan's capital costs, the B.C. government would directly pay only about 40 per cent, while spreading more costs to municipalities and to TransLink, the provincial transport authority. But in both provinces, the big question mark is whether hopes of a public transit commitment from the federal government will be rewarded.
Mr. McGuinty is counting on Stephen Harper's government to pick up the final third of MoveOntario's tab. Mr. Campbell is relying on a somewhat smaller share at $3.1-billion. But while Ottawa has shown a willingness to chip in, its commitments remain vague. It has promised approximately $7.9-billion for Ontario under its $33-billion Building Canada Fund, but demands a say in how that money is spent and has thus far refused to commit a specific amount to public transit. And while federal Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon indicated last week that his government will contribute to Mr. Campbell's plan, he carefully avoided any dollar figures. Instead, he said that British Columbia is "at least allocated $2.7-billion for infrastructure - and transit is one of five national priorities we've identified under the Building Canada Fund."
In fact, as outlined by federal documents, Building Canada is a grab bag of every imaginable infrastructure expenditure, including highways, railways, broadband access, tourism, waste management, culture and amateur sport. But upgraded public transit is not just one of these many "priorities." For urban centres battling congestion and struggling with air quality, it is a necessity. While the federal government has fiddled about with a pointless tax credit for transit users, Mr. McGuinty and Mr. Campbell have demonstrated that they understand real investment is needed. It is time for Mr. Harper to do likewise.
Why Chalk River's '1957 Chevy' still has no backup reactor
Ottawa Citizen, January 20, 2008
Tom Spears
Back in 1991, Bill MacCallum had a problem. It began on his first day as head of isotope sales for the company now called MDS Nordion (originally Nordion International Inc.).
His buddy phoned him as he was moving into his new office. "Are you sitting down?" the friend wondered.
The source of all the isotopes, the aging NRU reactor at Chalk River, had shut down. The reactor itself was fine, but there was a breakdown of some of the radioactive material inside it.
The new head of sales had nothing to sell - and wouldn't, it turned out, for six months of cleanup operations.
Mr. MacCallum, how retired and living in Kanata, recalls having many sleepless nights, as customers all over the world depended on this stream of materials for nuclear medicine, packed in heavy metal containers and shipped by aircraft to six continents.
"What pulled our fat out of the fire was the other reactor, NRX," Mr. MacCallum recalls. It was an ancient machine, completed in 1947, but it worked well enough to keep the isotope supply flowing, with a short interruption.
Still, customers weren't happy at the unsettled state of things. So Mr. MacCallum had a photographer shoot pictures of the half-finished new reactor at Chalk River, then called MAPLE-X. He went to a nuclear medicine conference and showed off all the reassuring pictures of the finished control room and calandria (a central reactor part) and so forth, telling people the new reactor would be finished and ready to operate by 1992.
Flat response
Residents not keen on direction of Lebreton development
Ottawa Sun, January 20, 2008
Jon Willing
A prime piece of riverfront real estate won't become a concrete jungle if the Ottawa residents who participated in a think tank yesterday have any say in the redevelopment of Lebreton Flats.
As it is, many of the roughly 70 people who attended the strategy session at Bronson Centre aren't thrilled with what has happened in the first stage of residential development.
"What we've seen in the first phase is high-end condos and high-density buildings that won't help achieve what we as ordinary citizens see as building a quality community," Mary Martha Hale said.
Hale, 53, said the riverfront land should include more rental accommodations and cultural diversity.
The NCC has said that 25% of the housing units built in the first phase will be affordable to people with a household income of about $30,000 to $55,000.
CFRA, January 20, 2008
Alex Black and Jason McIntyre
Paul Dewar says community voices have to be heard.
The Ottawa Centre MP held a meeting Saturday at the Bronson Centre to discuss the LeBreton Flats redevelopment.
Dewar says consultations with residents and businesses are essential.
He adds the final decision has to 'be weighted based on whether or not there is sufficient public input.' Among the topics of discussion were architechture, transportation, and residential usage.
Dewar points out that the second phase of the consultation process hasn't begun, but he hopes the National Capital Commission will kickstart the public hearings.
Infant bottles, rates of bisphenol A being investigated
Globe and Mail, January 19, 2008
Martin Mittelstaedt
Health Canada is conducting studies to try to find out how much bisphenol A is leaking out of polycarbonate baby bottles and infant formula cans.
The action is part of the agency's effort to assess the safety of BPA, a widely used ingredient in many types of plastic, the epoxy resins lining the insides of most tin cans, and many other consumer products. The chemical is under review because it mimics estrogen, and a growing body of research has linked low-level exposures, particularly during infancy and fetal development, to cancers and other health conditions associated with sex hormone imbalances.
Health Canada said in a written statement to The Globe and Mail that it is trying to determine the “migration rates of BPA” out of the products, to see whether the amounts involved pose a risk to infants.
Not much is known about the levels of BPA leaching from baby bottles and inadvertently slipping into infant formula from can linings. Last year, U.S. environmental groups, in two separate small-scale tests, found the compound in formula and leaking from bottles into the fluids they held.
Concern over the safety of bisphenol A has recently led several Canadian retailers to pull polycarbonate water bottles from their shelves, pending the results of Health Canada's review, which are expected in May.
Earlier this week in the United States, a congressional committee also announced that it would investigate the use of BPA in baby formula, and sent letters to seven major manufacturers asking for details on whether they use the chemical in their packaging and test for it in their infant food.
Among the companies were Nestlé USA Inc. and Mead Johnson. Both companies have previously dismissed concerns about BPA because the chemical is licensed for use in consumer products in both Canada and the U.S.
But Canadian federal authorities are currently conducting a review of BPA, part of a major program to assess the safety of chemicals in use before the country adopted its first pollution laws in the 1980s and exempted from detailed evaluations at the time.
Under the review, about 200 chemicals are being analyzed in batches of about 15 every few months for their risks to either human health or the environment.
The federal government is reporting the results of the first batch of chemicals in today's Canada Gazette. Environmentalists have been awaiting the results because they might give an indication of how aggressively the government intends to move against suspect chemicals, including listing them as toxic under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, a step that allows regulators to develop rules to curb or eliminate their use.
“It's good news. The chemicals we were looking to be listed as toxic have in fact been listed,” said Rick Smith, executive director of Environmental Defence, a Toronto-based organization, commenting on the first batch.
The results were posted on a federal website late yesterday afternoon. Environmental Defence said seven of the chemicals in the first batch either caused cancer or were suspected carcinogens.
Among the chemicals the government decided to take action against by listing them as toxic is naphthalene, used in mothballs, fragrances and perfumes, and propylene oxide, used in cosmetics, food additives and deodorizers.
Government To Consult On Banning The Cosmetic Use Of Pesticides
Ban Would Protect Public Health and Environment
Ontario Ministry of the Environment, January 18, 2008
TORONTO, Jan. 18 /CNW/ - The McGuinty government is beginning the first
stage of consultations with Ontarians on how to shape legislation banning the cosmetic use of pesticides.
A Notice of Proposal has been posted to the Environmental Registry
inviting the public to provide initial comments. The registry is at
www.ebr.gov.on.ca, registry number 010-2248. At the same time, the ministry
will seek input from health and environmental groups, agriculture, golf
courses, municipalities, the pesticides industry, retailers and others.
"There is growing concern about the potential harmful effects of these
products on human health and the environment, and growing concern among
medical professionals and ordinary Ontarians demanding action," Environment
Minister John Gerretsen said. "We said we would ban the use of these products for cosmetic purposes and we're keeping that promise."
The public will be invited to comment on the proposed legislation within the next couple of months.
"Just as we replaced a patchwork of local bylaws when we banned smoking
province-wide, a cosmetic pesticide ban would create a single, comprehensive law for all Ontario communities that would better protect our health and the health of our kids," Gerretsen said.
The proposed legislation would make Ontario a leader among Canadian
jurisdictions who have taken action to ban or restrict cosmetic pesticides. A cosmetic pesticide ban is one component of the government's commitment to take action to protect the environment and the health of Ontarians from toxic chemicals in air, water, land and consumer products.
Disponible en français
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For further information: Contact information for media: John Steele,
Ministry of the Environment, (416) 314-6666, Contact information for the
general public: (416) 325-4000 or 1-800-565-4923, www.ene.gov.on.ca
$5B LRT expansion proposed for south, northwest, northeast Edmonton
CBC News, January 18, 2008
After three decades of slow-paced growth, Edmonton's LRT system could be on the track for a $5-billion-dollar expansion extending across the capital region
The city's newly-hired transportation manager, Bob Boutilier, laid out his vision for light rail transit in a report released Thursday.
The plan goes to a city council committee Jan. 22.
"Council has made it clear to me they want to see things happen quickly," Boutilier said in an interview with CBC Friday. "We had been a leader 25 years ago in LRT. We've fallen behind and you see the results with traffic."
Edmonton's LRT system, first begun in 1978, only covers 12.3 kilometres, snaking from the northeast, through downtown, then across the river south to the University of Alberta.
A new leg, extending 7.5 kilometres further south, will open in 2010.
The Ontario Municipal Board has upheld a precedent-setting decision by the Town of Oakville to preserve an extensive network of linked natural heritage corridors as the "first priority" and foundation for a massive residential development plan for about 50,000 people.
The proposed development is slated for mostly farmland and forest lots in an area bounded by Dundas St. W., Ninth Line, Tremaine Rd. and Highway 407 – one of the last large blocks of developable land left in Oakville.
The town's proposal means an unprecedented 900 hectares, or more than one-third of the 3,400 hectares of developable land, will be preserved as green space, something Oakville Mayor Rob Burton calls a "breakthrough" and a first in green planning in Ontario.
The ruling is expected to have ramifications across the GTA, especially in other high-profile developments in the works such as the provincially planned green-and-sustainable community for about 70,000 people on the Seaton Lands in north Pickering.
It's also expected to play a significant role in how the province's internationally lauded Places to Grow Act is implemented. The act is an attempt to contain urban sprawl by promoting intensification and growth in already built-up urban areas in the Golden Horseshoe.
The OMB ruling marks the end of a decade-long battle by town planners and activist-turned-politicians such as Burton, who fought to ensure the proposed development would adhere to the planning principles of "new urbanism," particularly in being more transit- and pedestrian-friendly.
"This is a wonderful day when you think of the 10 years worth of work that so many people have put in to create this green day," Burton said yesterday.
"Clearly, times have changed and it's time for developers to get with the action," Rick Smith, executive director of the activist group Environmental Defence told the Star. "There has been a sea change (in planning principles) with the advent of the Greenbelt."
The town has won a series of successive, hard-fought victories over developers who initially tried to fight the Natural Heritage System idea of planning at the OMB a few years ago and then abandoned the battle.
Transportation
Green light for transit after years of stagnation
Toronto Star, January 17, 2008
Joe Mihevc
In year-end reviews, writers and pundits on urban affairs often missed a very important transformation that occurred in 2007, one that will have reverberations possibly for generations to come. This change has come in the politics of public transit.
Remember a decade ago when the then provincial transportation minister Tony Clement argued that Toronto was too transit dependent? His ministry then proceeded to massively cut subsidies and capital financing to transit authorities, particularly the TTC and GO Transit.
Fast forward to 2007 when the City of Toronto announced an ambitious Transit City plan costing billions of dollars. Some critics decried the plan a pie in the sky as it had no funding commitments.
Within a few months, however, Premier Dalton McGuinty announced his government's commitment not only to fund the TTC plan, but to include ambitious targets for GO Transit and other municipal transit authorities. The commitment was to fund $11 billion of the $17 billion required for the plan, and advocate to the federal government for the remainder.
The dollar amounts being committed were staggering. Never before had transit plans been so comprehensive nor funding so generous.
Equally interesting was the fact that within days both provincial opposition leaders were calling the city to announce their commitment to public transit funding at an equal or even higher level.
The question remains as to what elicited this sea-change in public policy. A decade of begging by transit authorities for simple state-of-good-repair funding was now being trumped by ambitious expansion goals. The city and the province want to build additional capacity and impatiently want it built yesterday.
A number of factors account for this dramatic change in public perception and government policy. The key is the discovery that support for public transit increasingly is seen as the best tool for unifying a number of seemingly disparate objectives.
Clearly, climate change and environmental sustainability goals top the list. More than 20 per cent of greenhouse gases in Toronto come from the transportation sector.
Quality-of-life indicators point to the need for public transit investments. GTA residents spend more time in gridlock than any other urban dwellers in Canada.
The economic argument for public transit also has come to the fore. The Conference Board of Canada notes that the GTA economy loses billions of dollars annually because gridlock means costly delays in the efficient operation of many businesses. New businesses will resist setting up shop in areas where mobility is hampered.
The provincial Green Belt announcement, probably more than any other public policy initiative, highlighted the need for new planning rules around how cities of the future are built. Urban sprawl, especially into agricultural and environmentally sensitive areas, is simply not on.
Recyclage: ni un bac ni un sac...une poubelle en plastique
La Presse, le 16 janvier 2008
Éric Clément
La Ville de Montréal a présenté mercredi le concept retenu, un contenant de la forme d'une poubelle à la fois souple et rigide, qui remplacera «bientôt» le bac de recyclage vert: c'est la proposition de Claude Mauffette Design Industriel qui a été choisie par un jury.
Le prototype qui sera produit dans trois mois et testé l'été prochain n'est ni un bac ni un sac, mais ressemble à une poubelle verticale à plusieurs côtés inégaux, entièrement faite en résine plastique, donc un contenant lui-même recyclable.
Après un concours qui aura coûté environ 100 000$, le prototype a été choisi à cause de sa légèreté et de son caractère innovateur, ce qui a d'ailleurs poussé la Ville à déposer une demande de brevet afin qu'elle puisse le vendre au Québec et peut-être à l'extérieur.
Le futur contenant sera d'une capacité de 70 litres, soit 3 litres de plus que le bac vert actuel, mais sa capacité pourra peut-être varier. Sa durée de vie sera de sept ans et il coûtera entre 10 et 15$ l'unité à la Ville, ce qui est moins cher que de devoir payer 140$ par foyer pour fournir des sacs de plastique aux citoyens pendant sept ans, a dit Alan DeSousa, le conseiller municipal responsable de l'Environnement à la Ville de Montréal.
The country's first hybrid electric school bus has rolled out in Kelowna on Tuesday in a pilot project the school district says will save money and cut fuel consumption.
The 72-passenger bus is powered by a diesel engine and a battery-powered electric motor. The bus is priced at $240,000 — about $50,000 more than an ordinary diesel bus. But school officials noted the hybrid bus will scale back diesel particulate emissions by up to 90 per cent compared to a regular diesel bus.
"We want to make sure that if we can, find ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Transportation is a huge part of that and we need to do our part in the school system," said Education Minister Shirley Bond.
The hybrid bus will help save money for the schools, said superintendent Mike Roberts of the Central Okanagan School District.
Montreal: Just the ticket. City hall to roll out 3 projects
Montreal Gazette, January 16, 2008
Linda Gyulai
A short extension of the métro's Blue Line, a new uninterrupted north-end-to-downtown rapid-bus route, and building a downtown-to-airport public transit service are to be among the first big-ticket announcements out of Montreal Mayor Gérald Tremblay's 20-year, $8.1-billion transportation plan.
City hall, which is preparing the final version of the plan Tremblay unveiled in May, as well as a financing proposal, is settling the details for those announcements, expected by the end of March, sources said.
The métro plan involves a one-kilometre extension of the Blue Line tunnel east to Pie IX Blvd. from its terminal at St. Michel Blvd. near Jean Talon St., according to the sources.
The Pie IX métro stop would go hand-in-hand with another Tremblay priority: to build a 20-kilometre Bus Rapid Transit corridor from Henri Bourassa Blvd. E. near the northern edge of Montreal Island, down Pie IX to Notre Dame St. and then to René Lévesque Blvd. and downtown, the sources said.
The route would not require bus transfers.
Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) refers to dedicated bus lanes that are separated from other traffic and get priority signals to allow buses to arrive at and leave intersections ahead of cars.
The stations on such corridors are elevated and feature ticket-dispensing machines and boards that offer real-time display of bus arrivals.
A third project - a shuttle service between downtown and Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport in Dorval - was in the news last week after it was revealed the Metropolitan Transit Agency and partner agencies are looking at a tram-train line to link the West Island, the airport and downtown.
A tram-train is a light-rail vehicle sturdy enough to run on both railway and tramway tracks.
Transport à Montréal
La maire Tremblay a de grands projets
Radio-Canada, le 16 janvier 2008
Selon le quotidien montréalais The Gazette, l'équipe du maire Gérald Tremblay s'apprête à présenter un ambitieux plan de transport de 8,1 milliards de dollars.
Le projet, qui s'échelonne sur une période de 20 ans, prévoit notamment, selon cette source, le prolongement vers l'est de la ligne bleue du métro de Montréal. Le nouveau tronçon d'un kilomètre de long relierait la station St-Michel à l'intersection des rues Pie-IX et Jean-Talon.
Dans son plan, la mairie prévoirait aussi l'aménagement d'une voie express pour les autobus sur le boulevard Pie-IX qui reliera le boulevard Henri-Bourassa et la rue Notre-Dame.
Le corridor se prolongerait ensuite de la rue Pie-IX jusqu'au centre-ville en empruntant le boulevard René-Lévesque. Le tout, sans devoir changer d'autobus. La ville envisagerait aussi le recours à des systèmes d'autobus électriques et des tramways précise le quotidien The Gazette.
Le plan de transport de la Ville de Montréal comporterait aussi la création d'un système de navettes rapides pour relier l'aéroport Trudeau au centre-ville de Montréal. Un comité étudie par ailleurs la possibilité de relier l'ouest de la ville, l'aéroport Trudeau et le centre-ville par un système de transport léger sur rail qui s'adapterait autant aux voies de tramway qu'aux rails conventionnels. Le plan du maire Tremblay prévoit que ce projet de 550 millions de dollars pourrait être achevé en 2012.
Montreal Gazette, January 16, 2008
Anne Sutherland
It weighs less than two kilograms. It's made of recycled and waterproof polyethylene fabric and extruded plastic. The bottom is perforated for easy drainage.
It can hold 70 litres of paper, plastic, glass and metal. It has a hinged cover that retracts for easy emptying. You can carry it with one hand.
What is it? The newest form of recycling receptacle to be used in the city of Montreal's efforts to increase the recovery of materials and reduce litter on streets and sidewalks.
Or it will be, once a prototype has been built and tested.
Drawings were unveiled yesterday of the winning entry in an industrial design contest for a new container for recyclables. The receptacle would be an alternative to the traditional green box used for residential curbside recycling.
The slimmer, taller, ergonomically designed hybrid - not a bag, not a box - was designed by Claude Mauffette Design Industriel, a Montreal-based firm.
London Free Press, January 16, 2008
Antonella Artuso
The Dalton McGuinty government will move shortly on an election promise to ban the cosmetic use of pesticides.
"We're looking forward to introducing that (law) in our spring session," McGuinty said yesterday.
About 40 per cent of Ontarians are covered by municipal bans on cosmetic pesticide use.
A coalition of environmentalists and health-care groups yesterday urged the Liberal government to move quickly to bring in comprehensive legislation that would protect all provincial citizens from what they consider needless exposure to harmful chemicals.
Doris Grinspun, executive director of the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario, said pesticides have been linked to serious illnesses, including cancer, and pose a particular risk to pregnant women and children.
"Young children, in particular, have more hand-to-mouth contact and are more likely to ingest these dangerous contaminants as they explore the world around them," Grinspun said.
Natural Resources Committee should recommend Parliamentary Protection for Nuclear Safety Commission
Sierra Club of Canada News Release, January 16, 2008
(Ottawa) The House of Commons Natural Resources Committee should recommend that Parliament give the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission protection from political interference similar to that enjoyed by superior court judges says Sierra Club Canada.
“The Natural Resources Committee has the opportunity to redress the harm caused by Minister Lunn’s clearly unlawful dismissal of Linda Keen and the chilling effect that this political interference has on all federal quasi-judicial agencies,” said Stephen Hazell, executive director of Sierra Club of Canada. “The Committee should recommend that Parliament enact a law that authorizes the dismissal of members of quasi-judicial agencies by Parliamentary vote only, and not by a mere decision of Cabinet.”
“The Nuclear Safety Commission needs to be solely focused on protecting Canadians from the dangers of nuclear power,” said Jean Langlois, Sierra Club’s national campaigns director. “Canadians don’t want the Prime Minister or Minister Lunn to be making decisions about the safety of nuclear reactors, high-pressure natural gas pipelines, airlines or railways. Like the Nuclear Safety Commission, the National Energy Board and the Canadian Transport Agency are established as quasi-judicial bodies at arm’s length from the government to ensure that decisions are based on sound science and technology and not on politics. Lunn’s dismissal of Keen threatens that arm’s length relationship.”
Section 10.(5) of the Nuclear Safety and Control Act currently provides that “Each permanent member [of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission] holds office during good behaviour for a term not exceeding five years and may be removed at any time by the Governor in Council for cause.” Section 10.(3) provides that “The Governor in Council shall designate one of the permanent members to hold office as President.”
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For more information contact:
Stephen Hazell, 613-241-4611, 613-724-1908 (cell)
Jean Langlois, 613-241-4611 (bilingual)
Nuclear safety watchdog head fired for 'lack of leadership': minister
CBC News, January 16, 2008
Federal Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn said Wednesday that he fired the head of the nuclear safety watchdog for her "lack of leadership" and "failure to manage the work."
Lunn's office issued a statement early Wednesday to announce Linda Keen's immediate firing as president of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission.
The announcement came hours before both Lunn and Keen were to appear before a natural resources committee meeting.
Lunn, in his appearance Wednesday morning, told the committee that "a national and international health crisis" was threatened when the CNSC shut down the nuclear reactor in Chalk River, Ont., which produces much of the world's medical radioisotope supply.
He also said that Keen failed to quickly resolve an impasse between the commission and Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., the Crown corporation that operates the facility.
'Kind of neat,' but too tall for some
Developer Arthur Loeb's plan to retop a dreary ByWard Market parkade with apartments and offices has hit a snag: Some think it 'overpowers' its neighbours, Patrick Dare writes.
Ottawa Citizen, January 16, 2008
Patrick Dare
Arthur Loeb thought he had a pretty cool project that would prove irresistible at City Hall.
Take an ugly old concrete parkade in the ByWard Market and redevelop it by building some office space and three apartments on the roof.
Now he's finding out that even attractive urban redevelopments are no sure bet for approval in Ottawa, when the property is in a heritage district with height restrictions.
For years, city officials have been encouraging Mr. Loeb, president of Ambassador Realty -- which owns some of the most important property in the Market -- to do something about the old white parkade at 41 George St. Georges Bédard, councillor for Rideau-Vanier, says the structure has "a terribly ugly façade" on both George and York streets.
Last week, Mr. Loeb and his architect, Leonard Koffman, went to City Hall seeking Local Architectural Conservation Advisory Committee approval of their plan to refresh the 1950s-era parkade.
Their plan includes spending $700,000 to clad the garage with a brown metal material, building a roof on the parkade, then one floor of office space and three apartments with lots of greenery on the rooftop, some of it visible from below.
The Quebec Administrative Tribunal has set a couple of dates to hear an appeal of the closing of a Cantley landfill site the province shut in October because of toxic hydrogen sulphide gas emissions. The tribunal closed the construction waste landfill on Highway 307 on Oct. 15, after the site -- which had emitted hydrogen sulphide gas since 2001 -- failed testing for groundwater contamination. It ruled on Dec. 18 that the landfill would remain closed until the appeal is heard. People living near the site complained of experiencing breathing problems and headaches, and said the company that operated the landfill did not properly cover the garbage. The tribunal will hear the appeal of the closing on March 31 and April 1.
A Health Canada-led study of mice has confirmed that pollution wafting off highways and out of steel mills triggers sperm mutations that can be passed to the next generation.
Polluted air near Hamilton Harbour lead to a significant increase in sperm mutations in the mice that breathed the dirty air for 10 weeks, according to the study published Monday in the U.S. Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences.
The authors conclude that the "potential health effects warrant extensive further investigation."
Health Canada was, did not elaborate and did not provide an interview Monday with study lead author Carole Yauk, of the department's environmental and occupational toxicology division. Yauk is on maternity leave.
The study is a follow-up to a 2004 study led by McMaster University biologists that showed male mice that breathed Hamilton's air passed on twice as many mutations to their offspring as mice that inhaled air stripped of the fine particles in air pollution, known as particulates, produced by vehicles and fossil-fuel burning industrial plants.
Ottawa to rethink parking meter increases
Evening, weekend charges likely to die, councillor says
Ottawa Citizen, January 16, 2008
Jake Rupert
A groundswell of public opposition has forced Ottawa council to revisit plans for more expensive parking.
During budget deliberations last month, council voted to raise parking meter rates, to extend charges to evenings and weekends, and to expand paid on-street parking to new areas of the city. If implemented, the changes would more than double parking revenue to about $13 million by the end of 2009.
At yesterday's financial affairs committee meeting, councillors delayed implementation of the new rules. They agreed to have the city's transportation committee and Mayor Larry O'Brien rethink the plan at a Feb. 6 public meeting.
Council will consider its decision a week later.
Mr. O'Brien doesn't usually attend transportation committee meetings, but he says he feels he needs to be present and to vote at this one.
"I want to hear first-hand just how our decisions are affecting businesses," he said. "We want to hear from all interested parties."
Plan would see central Hull double population
City wants highrise condos overlooking Ottawa, Lac Leamy
Ottawa Citizen, January 16, 2008
Dave Rogers
The City of Gatineau is planning to allow more buildings that are more than 15 storeys high in the downtown Hull sector to double the population of the city core and encourage new business development.
Councillor Denise Laferrière said the goal of the plan is to increase the population of the core area to 20,000 people from 10,000, which would attract stores and other businesses.
The plan covers the area bounded by Alexandre-Taché Boulevard, Laurier Street, St.-Joseph Boulevard and Lac Leamy. It would permit buildings higher than 15 storeys near the Ottawa River along Alexandre-Taché and Laurier Street, along the northern part of St-Rédempteur and near the western shore of Lac Leamy.
The centretown draft plan presented to a committee of city council yesterday said the core should be a social and cultural destination for Gatineau residents and visitors that would preserve historic buildings and feature high-quality architecture.
Home reno may reduce asthma suffering
A house with features to minimize triggers can be as effective as prescription drugs, Canadian research shows
Globe and Mail, January 15, 2008
André Picard
The best medicine for asthma sufferers may well be home renovations.
New Canadian research shows that living in a home designed to minimize asthma triggers can reduce the suffering of asthmatic children as much as - if not more than - prescription drugs such as those in inhalers.
"Housing is a very important determinant in the health of asthmatics," said Tim Takaro, an associate professor of health sciences at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, B.C., in an interview.
"The magnitude of the impact we saw with this intervention was similar to inhaled steroids. It was significant."
The research team, led by Dr. Takaro, examined the health of asthmatic children in housing projects in Seattle, then compared those findings with the outcomes after they moved into so-called Breathe Easy homes in a new development.
Of the 1,600 homes in the new development, 35 were built to the specifications set out by Dr. Takaro, an expert on the effects of environmental hazards on human health. The Breathe Easy homes (of which 25 more are under construction) were designed to minimize exposure to common asthma triggers such as dust, mould, mites and rodents.
Environmentalists push Queen's Park for pesticide ban
CBC News, January 15, 2008
A coalition of environmental activists and health professionals called on the Ontario government Tuesday to quickly pass a promised, provincewide ban on the cosmetic use of pesticides.
The group, which includes the Canadian Cancer Society, the David Suzuki Foundation, Environmental Defence and the Ontario Medical Association, said the Liberal government should follow Quebec's lead and pass the ban on pesticides this year.
The Ontario College of Family Physicians said the long-term effects of exposure to pesticides can be devastating, especially to pregnant women and children.
"(It) leads to very, very nasty conditions of cancers and learning disabilities and abortions and birth defects," CEO Jan Kasperski told a news conference at the legislature.
"Banning lawn pesticides will be a major contribution to children's health. They deserve our protection."
Kasperski said she once found her two-year-old grandson sitting beside a sign from a chemical company announcing it had just sprayed the lawn, chewing on a ball he'd found there.
"I called poison control and they assured me that I had done everything that I could to protect Ryan," she said. "But I did one more thing that mothers do every time they see their kids exposed unnecessarily to chemicals like pesticides, I worried, and I still worry."
The Ontario government should move quickly to pass a promised, province-wide ban on the cosmetic use of pesticides, a coalition of environmental activists and health professionals urged Tuesday.
The group of environmentalists, doctors and nurses said Ontario should follow Quebec's lead and pass the ban this year.
"Such a measure would not only protect the health of everyone in Ontario, including family pets and wildlife, it will also improve the quality of our soil, air and drinking water," Susan Koswan, of Pesticide Free Ontario, said during a news conference at the legislature.
Health professionals say pesticides cause diseases such as cancer and birth defects, and the chemicals are especially harmful to children.
"Children's young bodies are still developing and their organs and tissues are more vulnerable to harm," said Doris Grinspun of the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario.
"Children absorb and retain more harmful toxins than adults and they have a longer time ahead of them for exposure to pesticides and to develop resulting health problems."
Jan Kasperski, CEO of the College of Family Physicians, said the long-term effects of exposure to pesticides can be devastating, and it can also lead to learning disabilities.
Ontario is preparing to lift a controversial moratorium on the development of offshore wind projects in the Great Lakes that has been in place for nearly 14 months, the Toronto Star has learned.
A Ministry of Natural Resources official says the department is "getting ready" to make an announcement and that new minister Donna Cansfield is "anxious to demonstrate leadership in the area."
Jamie Rilett, a spokesperson in Cansfield's office, confirmed that the ministry is currently revisiting the moratorium. He said a decision would be made "shortly."
Industry sources also confirmed the moratorium's end is imminent.
Offshore wind energy, while typically associated with ocean projects, offers significant opportunities in the Great Lakes. According to one study by Helimax Energy Inc., the strong and consistent winds typically over the lakes could generate up to 47,000 megawatts of clean electricity – nearly double Ontario's existing power capacity.
The ministry put a halt to all offshore development in November 2006 to give the government more time to study the potential environmental impact of such projects on bats, butterflies, aquatic species and bird migration routes.
Cities should get one point of provincial sales taxes: Conference Board
Globe and Mail, January 15, 2008
OTTAWA — Canadian cities need a break from the senior governments on both the tax and the spending side, the Conference Board of Canada said Tuesday.
The think-tank says municipalities should be given authority to levy up to one percentage point of provincial sales taxes.
The one-point reduction in the federal goods and services tax on Jan. 1 “has created room for provincial governments to fix the fiscal imbalance of cities,” it argues.
“Canada's cities are struggling to cope with a fiscal imbalance that threatens their ability to provide services, programs, and infrastructure that will attract talent and investment,” stated Conference Board president Anne Golden.
“Failure to do so would undermine not only their economies, but also Canada's future as a whole,” said Ms. Golden, who before joining the research group was president of the United Way of Greater Toronto for 14 years.
The city has appointed a veteran lawyer as its "open-meeting investigator."
Doug Wallace, a lawyer with 40 years experience in private and public positions, worked as a lawyer for the city for 25 years and retired as city solicitor in 1995.
Under new provincial regulations, municipalities have to appoint a person to fill this role or leave the job up to Ontario's Ombudsman.
The Ontario Municipal Act allows municipal politicians to discuss personnel and legal matters in private, but it requires that most issues be dealt with in public with proper notice of meetings.
Until this new legal provision came in, the only way to stop municipal councils from meeting in private, in violation of the Municipal Act, was to take them to court, a costly proposition.
So far there have been no complaints laid against the City of Ottawa under the new law, but there have been complaints laid in the past.
Ottawa committee delays fees for evening, weekend parking
CBC News, January 15, 2008
An unpopular plan to start charging for metered parking in downtown Ottawa at night and on weekends has been put off by city councillors.
The city had planned to start charging new fees on Feb. 1, but councillors on the corporate services and environment committee voted Tuesday to delay the new fees until March 1.
The move is to give city staff time to prepare a report on the impact of the plan, to be provided to the city's transportation committee on Feb. 6.
It will also give businesses and residents a chance to voice their concerns.
Downtown businesses, residents and community groups have been campaigning to stop the parking plan that they say will drive business away from the city centre.
The plan was to end free weekend and evening parking in areas such as Wellington Street, Preston Street, Bank Street and the Byward Market.
Plan in Park
City plan to expand parking meters and times put off following angry response
Ottawa Citizen, January 15, 2008
Jake Rupert
Ottawa City council is revisiting its controversial parking plan.
The city wanted to raise parking meter rates, extend the time people would pay into the evening and weekends, as well as expand paid on-street parking to new areas of the city.
The move comes after public outcry against the decisions. Churches, businesses, and resident groups from across the city have bombarded councillors and the mayor with complaints about the new parking scheme.
During budget deliberations, council made the decisions, which would more than double the city's parking revenue to about $13 million by the end of 2009.
At today's financial affairs committee meeting, councillors agreed to rethink the plan on Feb. 6. Whatever is decided at that meeting will be put before city council a week later.
Les commerçants du centre-ville d'Ottawa font circuler une pétition contre la décision du conseil municipal d'hausser les frais de parcomètres et de prolonger leurs heures d'utilisation les soirs et la fin de semaine.
John Borsten, le propriétaire des restaurants Zak's Diner et Empire Grill, situés au marché By, n'est pas tendre à l'égard des élus de l'Hôtel de ville. Il estime que la décision vient de "conseillers de banlieues".
"C'est ridicule, les gens ne seront pas tentés de dépenser 5 $ en stationnement pour venir manger au centre-ville. Ils vont rester en banlieue où les stationnements sont gratuits. Ça n'a aucun sens, les parcomètres fonctionnent à l'heure, alors les clients devront sortir au milieu de leur repas pour nourrir la machine", fustige-t-il.
Les Zones d'amélioration commerciale (ZAC) des secteurs du centre-ville ont lancé jeudi dernier une pétition, invitant les résidents qui fréquentent leurs commerces à la signer.
Le centre-ville de Gatineau pourrait changer de façon importante au cours des prochaines années. Les élus ont adopté, mardi après-midi, les lignes directrices d'un plan d'urbanisme visant à repeupler le secteur Hull. Toutefois, les gens d'affaires et les résidents ne s'entendent pas sur les moyens à prendre pour y arriver.
Pour les gens d'affaires, il faut modifier le zonage pour permettre la construction de tours à logements de 20 étages ou plus. Selon Charles Masse, du groupe immobilier Heafey, aucune rentabilité n'est possible pour un promoteur avec la construction d'un édifice de 8 à 12 étages. Il estime que c'est pour cette raison qu'aucune construction de ce type n'est présente au centre-ville.
De leur côté, les résidents de l'île de Hull ne sont pas chauds à l'idée de côtoyer de hautes tours d'habitation. Claude Royer, porte-parole de l'Association des résidents de l'île de Hull, estime que le fardeau de la preuve repose sur les constructeurs.
Le centre-ville de Gatineau
Quant aux organismes sociaux, ils insistent pour qu'il y ait plus de logements sociaux dans le centre-ville afin de loger les moins bien nantis.
The British Columbia government unveiled a $14-billion transit and transportation strategy Monday, calling it a key measure in the province's plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Premier Gordon Campbell and Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon announced the plan in Vancouver.
The agreement is highlighted by $10.3-billion investment in four new rapid transit lines in Metro Vancouver — the Evergreen Line, the UBC Line, the upgraded Expo Line and the Canada Line. Another $1.2-billion has been earmarked for a new energy-efficient, high-capacity RapidBus BC service along nine major routes in Kelowna, Victoria and Metro Vancouver.
The plan, scheduled for completion in 2020, also includes a $1.6-billion investment in 1,500 new, clean energy buses and related maintenance infrastructure to provide communities with improved bus service.
“Our new plan will double transit ridership by increasing choice for people around the province, with new fleets, green technology, new lines and new innovative services like RapidBus BC,” Mr. Campbell said.
Mayor Larry O'Brien wants to "press the reset button" on city committees.
Although council can't force a change to the makeup of the city's five committees that oversee municipal business before 2009, O'Brien wants to start reviewing committees.
"It's a wonderful opportunity to ask the question: Do we have the right committee chairs in place?" he said yesterday.
The mayor said he isn't displeased with the performance of any particular committee chair but the review is necessary.
However, a source has told the Sun O'Brien is eager to remove Coun. Diane Deans as the chairwoman of the community and protective services committee. The source also told the Sun that the mayor's office has contacted all other heads of committees to explain that they aren't a target.
Les Américains jetteront leur télés analogiques en 2008, un recyclage s'impose
Agence France-Presse, le 11 janvier 2008
Fabricants et distributeurs aux États-Unis se préparent lentement à un recyclage géant: celui des dizaines de millions de téléviseurs analogiques que les Américains jetteront cette année, avant le basculement de toutes les chaînes au numérique, le 17 février 2009.
Selon différentes estimations professionnelles, 30 à 80 millions de téléviseurs analogiques seront jetés en 2008 et 2009 -- les consommateurs pourront aussi retarder l'échéance en achetant un décodeur qui permet de recevoir les signaux numériques sur une télévision analogique.
Trois grands fabricants, Panasonic, Sharp et Toshiba, ont annoncé au CES de Las Vegas avoir créé une joint-venture, baptisée Electronics Manufacturers Recycling Management (EMR), qui récupère les vieux téléviseurs, ordinateurs et autres appareils et sous-traite leur recyclage à des société extérieures.
Le consortium a en outre passé des accords avec la plupart des autres marques, comme Hitachi, Mitsubishi, Philips, Sanyo et Pioneer.
La joint-venture a été installée l'an dernier dans le Minnesota, l'un des deux États américains qui vient de voter une loi qui rend les marques responsables de la récupération et du recyclage de leurs produits.
Algonquins threaten to reoccupy Ontario uranium site
CBC News, January 11, 2008
A dispute over a potential uranium mining site in eastern Ontario could "spiral out of control" if the province doesn't reach an agreement with a First Nation by month-end, the spokesman for a group of aboriginal protesters warned Friday.
The Ardoch Algonquin First Nation suspended their occupation of the site near Sharbot Lake in October 2007 after reaching an agreement with the provincial government to begin mediation talks. The Algonquins say the site, about 60 kilometres north of Kingston, is on their land and they fear that uranium drilling could lead to environmental contamination.
Former Ardoch chief Robert Lovelace announced Friday that protesters would start reoccupying the site on Jan. 28, despite a court order forbidding them to do so, unless the province stops Frontenac Ventures Corp., a mining exploration company, from doing further work there.
"If no agreement is reached, we will have to resume a full-scale securing occupation of the disputed territory," Lovelace said during a news conference at the provincial legislature in Toronto.
Media Advisory - Health, environment leaders' recommendations urge Premier to make pesticide ban a reality
Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario, January 11, 2008
TORONTO, Jan. 11 /CNW/ - Health-care and environmental experts will join together next Tuesday to call on the McGuinty government to ban the use and sale of cosmetic pesticides across Ontario.
The links between pesticide use and illnesses such as cancer and neurological problems mean quick action is needed from the government. Premier McGuinty has pledged to introduce legislation this spring that will ban thecosmetic use of pesticides, a move that is also supported by a majority of voters in Ontario.
A coalition of 15 health and environmental groups has developed a set of key principles essential to an effective ban, which will be presented at Tuesday's press conference.
<<
WHO:
- Kathleen Cooper, Senior Researcher, Canadian Environmental Law Association
- Doris Grinspun, Executive Director, Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario
- Jan Kasperski, Chief Executive Officer, Ontario College of FamilyPhysicians
- Susan Koswan, Spokesperson, Pesticide Free Ontario
WHAT: Press conference to call on the McGuinty government to ban cosmetic pesticides in Ontario.
WHERE: Queen's Park Media Studio, Ontario Legislature, West Wing, Ground Floor
WHEN: Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2008, 10 a.m.
>>
Other coalition members include the David Suzuki Foundation, Canadian Cancer Society, the Ontario Medical Association (Section on Pediatrics), and the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment.
For further information: Jill Scarrow, Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario, Ph: (416) 408-5604, E-mail:
High hopes for high-speed train
Ottawa Sun, January 11, 2008
Jon Willing
A high-speed train service would convince Martin Weber to ride the rails for regular business trips to Toronto.
Weber, a 42-year-old Ottawa resident who co-owns a promotional products company, says he flies to Toronto twice a month and hates it because of delays involving baggage and security checks.
"It's almost worth it to drive," Weber said last night at Ottawa's VIA train station as he waited for an arrival.
He's hoping an updated feasibility study, announced yesterday by provincial and federal governments, will breathe life into a much-anticipated high-speed rail line between Windsor and Quebec City, which would pass through Ottawa.
Premier Dalton McGuinty would likely want to avoid having Weber, and those like him, put another car on provincial highways if a reliable alternative is available.
Les autos polluantes bannies de plusieurs centres-villes
La Presse, le 11 janvier 2008
François Cardinal
Plus d’un million de véhicules jugés trop polluants sont désormais interdits d’accès au centre-ville de Berlin, Hanovre et Cologne. Les trois villes allemandes ont en effet introduit le 1er janvier des « zones environnementales » où les automobilistes n’ont accès que s’ils montrent patte verte.
Avec le souci de réduire la pollution engendrée par les particules fines, les élus de ces municipalités ont en effet décidé d’implanter un système sans précédent de vignettes qui permettent, d’un seul coup d’œil, de classer les autos selon leur degré de pollution.
Trois macarons de couleur ont ainsi été créés : vert pour les véhicules les plus propres, jaune pour ceux qui polluent moyennement et rouge pour ceux qui atteignent un haut niveau de pollution.
À cela, il faut ajouter les véhicules très polluants, surtout ceux roulant au vieux diesel, qui n’ont carrément pas droit aux vignettes et sont, du coup, interdits des centres-villes de Berlin, Hanovre et Cologne. On évalue qu’environ 1,7 million de véhicules sont ainsi stigmatisés.
« Il s’agit de la tentative la plus sérieuse à ce jour pour lutter contre la plus grave des sources de pollution de l’air, celle des automobiles qui provoque jusqu’à 75 000 décès prématurés chaque année », se réjouit le groupe écologiste Deutsche Umwelthilfe.
Déjà un modèle dans la lutte contre la pollution urbaine, Paris entend aller plus loin encore: la Ville proposera bientôt un service de voitures électriques en libre-service.
Le maire de la capitale française, Bertrand Delanoë, n'a pas encore officiellement lancé le projet, mais quelques indices échappés à droite et à gauche ont mis les médias sur la piste de ce projet secret appelé ALS, pour Automobiles-en-libre-service.
Ce service unique au monde serait calqué sur le très populaire Vélib', un réseau de bicyclettes que les Parisiens peuvent louer à faible coût à un endroit de la ville et déposer non loin de leur destination. Depuis juillet 2007, plus de 20 000 vélos sont ainsi disponibles dans quelque 1400 stations (les 30 premières minutes sont gratuites, les suivantes sont peu dispendieuses).
Voilà précisément le système que le maire veut reproduire, cette fois sur quatre roues, en offrant bientôt 2000 voitures électriques en libre-service. Un tel service, qualifié de Voiturelib' par certains observateurs, risque d'être aussi très populaire, car environ 57% des ménages parisiens ne possèdent pas de véhicule.
A new U.S. study on the plastic compound bisphenol A indicates that the chemical may be far more dangerous for young children than for adults.
The finding has been submitted to Health Canada for its current safety review of BPA, and bolsters the case for limiting bisphenol A exposure in infants, who lack the capacity that adults have to detoxify it.
Bisphenol A is used in polycarbonate baby bottles and the epoxy linings of cans, including those for almost all types of infant formula. Because BPA can mimic estrogen, many researchers suspect it is a factor in health trends linked to sex hormone imbalances, such as prostate and breast cancer.
In the new study, researchers found that neonatal mice exposed to trace amounts of bisphenol A, either orally or through injection, ended up with similar amounts of the chemical in their blood because they do not have high amounts of the liver enzyme that breaks it down into an inactive form.
The plan to increase the cost of parking in the city's downtown core could irreparably harm local businesses, experts say.
"This will do nothing to help businesses grow out," said Gerry LePage, executive director of the Bank Street Promenade Business Improvement Area. "In fact, it shows some folks at City Hall are not in the business of supporting business."
LePage and representatives from other downtown-area BIAs met yesterday to scrape together a strategic response to the city's plan to hike hourly on-street parking to $3, eliminate free parking on weekends and evenings and install meters in some neighbourhoods which surround the downtown core.
The plan is expected to more than double the $5.6 million the city takes in each year from metered parking.
"This is definitely bad for business," said Peggy DuCharme, executive director of the Downtown Rideau BIA. "This is going to have a serious negative impact on the economic abilities of many businesses."
Onboard for high-speed line
Quebec City-Windsor rail link resurrected by McGuinty, Charest
Toronto Star, January 11, 2008
Bruce Campion-Smith
OTTAWA - After decades of study and debate, the premiers of Ontario and Quebec now say a high-speed rail line from Quebec City to Windsor is an idea whose "time has come."
Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty and Quebec Premier Jean Charest yesterday announced yet another feasibility study of a fast train line, but both made clear they thought the ambitious project may finally get on track.
Any such project would come with a hefty price tag. A 1995 feasibility study pegged the cost then at $18.3 billion.
"This has been talked about for quite some time but every once in a while there's an idea whose time actually comes," McGuinty said.
Charest said it was an idea "worth pursuing."
"I see this as a project that will have many, many economic, social and environmental benefits," he said after meeting with McGuinty at the Chateau Laurier.
While many studies have already been done, McGuinty said it was time to do one that took into account "some of the new realities."
Congested roads, ballooning gas prices and growing worries over climate change have all given new life to this old dream, the premiers said. And they pitched the multi-billion-dollar, 1,200-kilometre rail line as a massive job-creation scheme.
Report urges garbage disposal; Study suggests city cut waste by 65%
Kingston Whig-Standard, January 11, 2008
Jennifer Pritchett
A new report on managing Kingston's garbage calls for the city to divert 65 per cent of its trash from landfills by 2012.
The 24-page report, released in draft form yesterday, said Kingston can reduce the amount of garbage it sends to landfills by, among other things, implementing a green-box program to turn items such as banana peels, diapers and other organic waste into compost.
The Integrated Waste Management Study, prepared by environmental consulting firm Jacques Whitford, looks at the waste-disposal system in Kingston as a whole and establishes long-term goals and objectives for the next 25 years.
It states that Kingstonians can do a lot better when it comes to reducing its garbage.
The city's current record of diverting residential waste from landfills was 42.5 per cent in 2005.
First Nations vow to occupy eastern Ont. site to block uranium mining
Orleans Star/Canadian Press, January 11, 2008
TORONTO - Aboriginals in eastern Ontario warn they will occupy a proposed uranium mine north of Kingston later this month unless the province calls a halt to the project.
The Ardoch Algonquin First Nation says it usually permits mining and other activities on its lands, but it cannot accept uranium exploration.
Former Ardoch chief Robert Lovelace says mining uranium destroys the land and threatens the health, well-being and cultural survival of the Algonquins.
Lovelace says he doesn't expect an agreement with an exploration company, Frontenac Ventures Corporation, before a court-ordered consultation process ends Jan. 28.
He wrote an open letter to Premier Dalton McGuinty, warning of the potential for another tragedy similar to the fatal shooting of an aboriginal protester at Ipperwash provincial park in 1995.
Lovelace accuses the Liberals of ignoring the recommendations of the Ipperwash inquiry, saying the government has adopted a position of "civil indifference" towards Ontario First Nations.
NYC Council Votes to Mandate Plastic Bag Recycling
Reuters, January 11, 2008
NEW YORK - In a bid to curb the environmental impact of nearly 1 billion plastic bags used by New York City consumers annually, the city's council passed a bill on Wednesday requiring large stores to set up recycling programs.
The bill, which will likely be approved by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, also requires stores that occupy at least 5,000 square feet (465 sq metres) to make recycled bags available and to use bags printed with a pro-recycling message.
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn said costs to businesses would be "insignificant" in part because stores can sell bags to recycling businesses, which pay as much as US$100 per ton of plastic bags, and turn them into new products like plastic furniture.
Environmentalists have targeted plastic bags as a scourge that take years to biodegrade and contaminate soil and water.
In March, San Francisco became the first US city to ban non-biodegradable plastic bags from large supermarkets and the state of California enacted a law in July that requires large stores to take back plastic bags and encourage their reuse.
(Reporting by Edith Honan, editing by Michelle Nichols and Eric Beech)
Legally binding bans on clotheslines that exist in some Ontario housing subdivisions will soon be obsolete.
Ontario's Energy Minister will announce new regulation in the near future ending such bans, a provincial official confirmed.
The elimination of the bans was recommended last year by the province's chief energy conservation officer, Peter Love, who argued that operating clothes dryers in the middle of summer runs counter to the government's energy conservation campaign.
The bans were put in place because some developers and homeowners thought clotheslines and the poles that support them destroy the view.
There's no smoking allowed near an Ottawa bus stop, but that doesn't mean transit users can count on breathing fresh air while waiting for the bus.
CBC News has found that many public buses in OC Transpo's fleet don't follow the transit authority's anti-idling policy. Instead, they continue running their engines and releasing fumes even while sitting empty.
OC Transpo's rule states that parked, empty buses should be shut down if it is warmer than -5 degrees.
But of 15 buses timed by a CBC reporter over 45 minutes earlier this week at Hurdman station, when the temperature was 7 C, only two adhered to OC Transpo's anti-idling policy.
Governments revive plans for high-speed trains between Quebec, Ontario
CBC News, January 10, 2008
Ontario and Quebec are reviving old plans to run high-speed trains between Quebec City and Windsor, Ont., the premiers of both provinces announced Thursday.
Dalton McGuinty of Ontario and Jean Charest of Quebec said they will spend $2 million to study the project and expect to have a report ready in a year. It will focus on the development of a high-speed rail system linking major cities such as Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal.
The federal government has agreed to participate in the study, the premiers said, speaking at a joint news conference in Ottawa.
They said high-speed rail studies were done in 1995.
Time running out to snag transit funding
Province's $17.5B 'might run out before we are ready,' expert says
Ottawa Citizen, January 10, 2008
Mohammed Adam
Despite warnings from two Ontario cabinet ministers that time is running out for Ottawa to produce a transit plan for provincial funding, transportation experts say a new plan won't be ready for two years.
And by that time, the $17.5 billion Ontario has earmarked for public transit may well have run out, they say.
"The money might run out before we are ready," said David Jeanes, president of Transport 2000, a public transportation advocacy group
The city will have to do an environmental assessment of the centrepiece of the new plan -- a downtown transit tunnel. But Mr. Jeanes said that process alone would take two years to complete -- a fact underlined in a city report to council last October. By then, he said, it is anybody's guess if there will still be money left for Ottawa.
Le maire d'Ottawa a présenté ses priorités pour l'année 2008, mercredi, lors de son discours annuel sur l'état de la Ville prononcé devant le conseil municipal. Larry O'Brien veut accélérer le renouvellement des infrastructures de la Ville, dont les gradins du parc Landsdowne, et souhaite améliorer les services municipaux destinés à la population vieillissante.
Le maire entend aussi se pencher sur le dossier du transport en commun. Il rappelle que la Ville terminera en 2008 son examen du plan directeur des transports. Le conseil confirmera en avril l'établissement d'un nouveau réseau rapide de transport en commun, qui sera élaboré en tenant compte d'abord du centre-ville, puis des secteurs sud, est et ouest.
Le maire veut également former un groupe de travail sur le gouvernement électronique et la technologie de l'information et un comité de citoyens sur la gouvernance. Il a aussi promis la tenue en avril prochain d'un deuxième sommet rural afin de permettre au conseil d'entendre les membres des communautés rurales.
Toronto: Water pipe upgrade plan rejected
Committee votes against proposal to offer owners interest-free loans to replace lead plumbing
Toronto Star, January 10, 2008
John Spears
Toronto householders should not get interest-free loans from the city to help them replace lead pipes connecting their homes to the city's water mains, says Toronto's works committee.
Lead is a health hazard if it leaches into drinking and cooking water.
Committee members decided that making interest-free loans to replace privately owned water pipes amounted to a subsidy for home improvements.
"I think this opens a Pandora's box of home improvements that we don't want to get into," said committee chair Glenn De Baeremaeker. "The city is not a bank."
Toronto Water has just accelerated its program of ripping out city-owned lead pipes connecting home lines to water mains. The city's portion of the pipe ends at the property line. The property owner is responsible for replacing the rest, which costs $1,500 on average, according to water staff.
Transit, efficiency are priorities for 2008, Ottawa mayor says
CBC News, January 9, 2008
Developing a rapid-transit plan and boosting the municipal government's efficiency are among the top priorities for the upcoming year, Ottawa Mayor Larry O'Brien said during his annual state of the city address.
"It has been a year like no other, an interesting year," the mayor said as he delivered the address at the start of a council meeting Wednesday — on the same day as the first court date regarding two influence peddling charges O'Brien faces.
O'Brien has denied the allegations and his lawyers were to be in court without him to deal with an administrative matter. O'Brien's lawyers have said they expect the trial to take place in late 2008 or early 2009.
In his speech, O'Brien listed transit as the top priority for the year and said the city will complete the important task of reviewing of its transportation master plan in 2008.
"In April, this council will confirm a new rapid transit network for the city showing all transit corridors and selecting the technologies," said O'Brien.
After a successful pilot stage, Ottawa will likely pick up the lead pipe replacement program, but proponents say the city is moving too slowly.
A city committee approved staff recommendations yesterday to continue the $1-million a year Lead Service Replacement Program. But on that budget, the city will only be able to replace about 150 service lines per year.
“Given the risk, it should be a priority for the city to replace the pipes as soon as possible,” said Megan McGarrity, who sits on Ottawa’s environmental advisory committee. “It seems very contradictory that we are told lead is a dangerous neurotoxin, but that there is a safe level to have in our water.”
But the city also replaces between 900 and 1,200 lead pipes per year as part of its Watermain Renewal Program and Dixon Weir, director of utility services, said at that rate all lead pipes into city homes should be replaced within 17 years. The EAC wants all lead pipes replaced by 2010.
BEIJING - China launched a surprise crackdown on plastic bags on Tuesday, banning production of ultra-thin bags and forbidding its supermarkets and shops from handing out free carriers from June 1.
China uses too many of the bags and fails to dispose of them properly, wasting valuable oil and littering the country, China's cabinet, the State Council, said in a notice posted on the central government Web site (www.gov.cn).
"Our country consumes huge amounts of plastic bags every year. While providing convenience to consumers, they have also caused serious pollution, and waste of energy and resources, because of excessive use and inadequate recycling," it said.
Renewables Supply 14 Pct of German Power - Industry
Reuters, January 9, 2008
FRANKFURT - Renewable energy made up more than 14 percent of Germany's power consumption in 2007, up from almost 12 percent in 2006, with wind as the main contributor, the German Renewable Energy Federation (BEE) said on Tuesday.
Energy derived from wind, solar, water, biomass and thermal heat accounted for 9 percent of Germany's total primary energy consumption last year, reducing the country's CO2 emissions by 115 million tones, the association said.
While growth of renewable energy production was stronger in Germany than anywhere else in the world, the association cautioned that government plans to cut support for the industry may hamper future growth.
No rush to replace lead water pipes, councillors told
City committees debate health risks of adopting slower-paced pilot project
Ottawa Citizen, January 8, 2008
Patrick Dare
Lead pipes in Ottawa should be replaced, but there's no big rush, councillors were told on Tuesday.
The planning committee was told that while the city has thousands of homes served by lead pipes, the levels of lead found in the water are far too low to constitute a health threat. So the committee voted to make a pilot project to replace lead pipes permanent, but not to proceed with a much faster replacement program that would have required a huge increase in water rates.
Lead pipes - which were used in homes built before 1955 - connect water mains to houses, with some pipe on city property and some on the homeowners'. Last year, lead pipes to 85 homes were replaced under the pilot program, which cost the city $5,500 and each homeowner $2,400, which can be paid over a five- to 10-year period.
Developers, city officials still at odds over land limits
Ottawa Citizen, January 8, 2008
Jake Rupert
The city and housing developers are at odds -- again -- over extending the municipality's urban boundary.
The city insists there's plenty of residential development land available inside the existing boundary, but developers say there isn't and the situation is artificially driving up the price of new homes.
A decision on whether to extend the boundary, designed to limit sprawl, will be made later this year by city council during its review and update of the municipality's official plan.
City councillors who want to promote green construction in Ottawa would do their jobs best by getting out of the way.
City council is trying to find a way to get builders in town to live up to the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (abbreviated "LEED") program, a checklist based on international standards that tries to decide whether a building is green and, if so, just how vivid its shade is. Score enough points on the checklist and you get to brand your building as environmentally friendly and have the paperwork to back it up. Efficient heating, natural light, ease of access by bike and transit, that kind of thing.
LEED is a fine idea, and more than a dozen projects in Ottawa are registered as LEED buildings. The new Great Canadian Theatre Company building is one; so's the Telus building downtown. The City of Ottawa is practising what it preaches and requiring that its own new buildings meet at least the program's lowest -- but still fairly demanding -- standard. That's all good.
Sacs de plastique: Sherbrooke n'exclut pas une législation
La Tribune, le 8 janvier 2008
David Bombardier
Pour l’instant, la Ville de Sherbrooke ne compte pas imiter la municipalité de Huntingdon en bannissant les sacs de plastique de son territoire. Une telle législation «n’est pas du tout exclue», mais les élus préfèrent d’abord miser sur la participation citoyenne, explique le président du comité de développement durable de la Ville et président du centre de tri, Jean-François Rouleau.
Le 1er janvier, la municipalité de Huntingdon, au sud-ouest de Montréal, est devenue la première au Québec à se doter d’une politique visant à contrer la prolifération des sacs de plastique. Un règlement oblige maintenant les marchands à utiliser des sacs biodégradables et incite les citoyens à se munir de sacs réutilisables.
Une telle réglementation avait été évoquée, l’an dernier, par le président du comité de développement durable (CDD) de la Ville de Sherbrooke. Des contraintes juridiques avaient d’abord freiné les élans de Jean-François Rouleau, mais il semble désormais que les villes peuvent légiférer dans ce domaine.
L'acronyme est imprononçable. Mais les recommandations de la TRNEE, elles, sont on ne peut plus claires: pour réduire ses émissions de gaz à effet de serre, le Canada doit imposer une taxe sur le carbone. Pas question, a répondu hier le ministre de l'Environnement. À défaut de la taxe verte proposée par la Table ronde nationale sur l'environnement et l'économie, l'idée d'une Bourse du carbone semble en revanche faire son chemin.
Il n'y a pas 56 façons de lutter contre les changements climatiques, affirme un groupe consultatif sur l'environnement: le gouvernement fédéral doit au plus vite imposer une taxe sur le carbone s'il veut parvenir à atteindre ses objectifs de réduction des émissions de gaz à effet de serre de 65% d'ici 2050.
La Table ronde nationale sur l'environnement et l'économie (TRNEE), mandatée par Ottawa à l'automne 2006 pour trouver le meilleur moyen de réduire les émissions de GES à un coût économique raisonnable, soutient qu'il faut envoyer un «signal clair» à l'économie canadienne en s'appuyant sur les mécanismes du marché et en créant une taxe sur les émissions de carbone qui forcera les grands pollueurs à changer leur comportement.
The Humber Blvd. building seems an unlikely headquarters for Toronto's fight against climate change.
The 14-storey highrise near Weston Road and St. Clair Ave. looks like just another rundown Toronto Community Housing dwelling – dirty brown brick, smeared glass doors and rusty garbage bin slumped by the entrance.
But step inside the lobby, and the first sign of the green revolution brewing within comes from a poster: "Recycling is Awesome."
On a tour, the manager points out all the green fixtures: low-flow toilets and shower heads in all 215 apartments; energy-efficient fridges, stoves and washers; compact fluorescent light bulbs in every socket; new and well-sealed balcony doors; and, in the basement, four spanking new efficient boilers. The exhaust is recaptured on the roof and used to preheat the air circulating into the hallways.
Surprised? It's not just this Toronto Community Housing building. The green revolution is hitting virtually every one of the non-profit corporation's 2,000 buildings across the city.
While the country has waffled on even the most basic commitment to addressing global warming, Toronto's social housing has almost doubled its own pledge to cut its greenhouse gases by 40 per cent by 2020 (using 2000 as the base year.)
So far, the housing corporation has spent around $90 million on energy retrofits and thus cut its annual greenhouse gas emissions by 19,000 tonnes – the equivalent of taking about 10,000 cars off the road every year.
"We've been leading the way in the last few years in terms of energy-efficient appliances and low-flow toilets," says Kier Brownstone, Toronto Community Housing's green plan manager. "If we need to lead the way in terms of renewable energy, we will ... It's inspiring."
Le 1er janvier, la municipalité de Huntingdon est devenue la première au Québec à se doter d'une politique visant à contrer la prolifération des sacs en plastique. Le maire Stéphane Gendron souhaite maintenant que ces mesures servent d'exemple à d'autres villes.
"Il est grand temps que les choses bougent, affirme Stéphane Gendron. On est une bande d'hypocrites. On est vert sur papier, mais quand vient le temps de changer nos habitudes, on fait dans nos souliers."
Le règlement oblige les marchands à utiliser des sacs biodégradables et incite les citoyens à se munir de sacs réutilisables. Stéphane Gendron soutient qu'il reçoit de nombreux courriels d'encouragement de la part de citoyens d'autres villes québécoises.
"Les gens me disent qu'ils souhaiteraient que leur conseil fasse la même chose. Mais, curieusement, je n'ai pas encore eu de nouvelles des autres élus. Peut-être dégrisent-ils encore du temps des Fêtes."
Maintenant que le Québec tire un meilleur parti de l'énergie éolienne, voici que certains s'intéressent à l'énergie marémotrice. Du moins, c'est le cas de Serge Desmeules, homme d'affaires et ancien navigateur, qui souhaite installer des turbines marémotrices dans le Saguenay, afin de produire de l'électricité.
Ce projet, reconnaît-il, est encore embryonnaire. N'empêche, le navigateur estime que la marée dans le Saguenay est suffisamment puissante pour produire entre 5 et 10 mégawatts d'électricité, sans affecter l'environnement ni, précise-t-il, transformer démesurément le paysage.
« On est en train d'évaluer la possibilité. Avant, il faut savoir où sont les courants et quels sont les sites qui pourraient se prêter à l'installation de ces appareils. Pour ça, il faut créer des modèles de courants dans une aire qui se situe entre la municipalité de Sainte-Fulgence et la rivière Saguenay peut-être même jusqu'au pont », explique-t-il.
Cette technologie est déjà éprouvée et exploitée au Canada, notamment dans la Baie de Fundy.
Garbage crisis looms
The landfills are filling up, and there aren't any easy solutions
Ottawa Citizen, January 5, 2008
Jake Rupert
As the City of Ottawa's landfills rapidly run out of space, 2008 will be a pivotal year for averting a trash-disposal crisis.
"It has to be a year of action and results," said Alta Vista Councillor Peter Hume, who chairs the environment committee. "We have to start doing, as opposed to talking. If we wait too long, there will be a crisis, but if we act now, we should be able cope."
The current situation is this:
The city is running out of landfill space. There's little recycling in the institutional and commercial sectors that produce the most garbage, while in the residential sector, after the organics recycling program starts in 2009, there are few remaining big gains to be made in waste diversion.
While there is no obvious alternative other than expanding existing landfills or creating new ones, there's zero political appetite for doing that. In fact, the city is actively resisting a move by a private firm to expand the Carp Road landfill.
Group leads by design
Rideau Valley Conservation Authority's 'green' headquarters shows how it can be done
Ottawa Citizen, January 5, 2008
Maria Cook
Clean water and environmental protection are prime concerns of the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority and its new building in Manotick reflects those values.
Located at the corner of Prince of Wales Drive and Rideau Valley Drive in Beryl Gaffney Park, the $5.6-million building sits quietly in the treed landscape. Its architectural design features water, achieves a high level of energy efficiency and is a model of on-site storm and waste water management.
"They're being pioneering," says Christopher Simmonds, an Ottawa architect whose firm designed the structure. "They're being good citizens and leading by example."
Program to encourage green building on tap at city hall
Ottawa Business Journal, January 4, 2008
Roman Zakaluzny
There is a business case for the private sector to build green, city staff is set to explain to councillors.
But staff will recommend proceeding anyway with a pilot program to encourage more environmentally friendly construction.
The city's planning and environment committee Tuesday will vote on whether to proceed with a program meant to encourage builders to go green when building.
Staff were directed by the committee last March to look into the possibility of providing incentives for the private sector to go green, perhaps to LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards or perhaps with green roofs.
Staff came back with a recommendation to try a pilot program first.
"LEED or green buildings provide a number of private and public benefits, including less energy consumption, less potable water use, less solid waste, healthier indoor environments, and less overall environmental impact," staff wrote in a report. "Building to a LEED standard is increasingly seen as good business, and good for the community."
La ville de Huntingdon, au sud de Montréal, devient la première municipalité au Québec à interdire les sacs en plastique.
Selon le maire Stéphane Gendron, la plupart des commerçants d'Huntingdon respectent le nouveau règlement.
La Ville estime que ce règlement va permettre d'économiser 15 000 sacs de plastique par semaine sur son territoire.
Le règlement veut favoriser l'utilisation de sacs réutilisables ou encourager la population à opter pour ceux en papier recyclé.
En 2005, le projet de loi 390, présenté par l'ancien député péquiste Stéphan Tremblay, proposait d'interdire aux commerçants de distribuer gratuitement des sacs en plastique non biodégradables. Ce projet de loi est mort au feuilleton.
Over the last decade as city roads became clogged and the municipality's bus-based transit system became inefficient and crowded, no issue at City Hall saw more talk and less action than transit.
This year has the potential for more of the same hand-wringing, tough talk and resultless posturing on the part of officials, but there's an equal chance that 2008 may bring a real long-term, workable plan for a true rapid-transit system that will benefit the municipality for decades.
"It's going to be a big year," said Bay Councillor Alex Cullen, who chairs the transit committee. "We need less talk and more doing. The city is fully engaged on this issue, and citizens, city staff, and council want to get moving on this."
"The suburbs are a nightmare — a total planning disaster. People move in because they're affordable, and then they can't do anything. They're in the car all the time. You get this big house, but studies show that the rate of heart attack increases with the length of time you are stuck in traffic."
Dr. Kim Connelly, cardiologist, is talking about Australia, but no matter what continent, he is not a fan of suburbs. In Canada on a research grant from the Australian government, he has his studded tires on, but the tires are on his bike. This 36 year old physician cycles through all four seasons from his home in on Helena Street in west-end Toronto to the two hospitals, St. Michael's and Sunnybrook, where he's researching heart disease and diabetes.
When he and his wife Amanda chose their home, a three-storey detached, they needed a place that had space enough for their three children and was close to a good school. But a prime factor was the timing for Dr. Connely's trip to work.
"I believe in practising what I preach," he says. "I cycle for the health benefits, and if you have to spend too much time, you tend not to do it. Twenty or thirty minutes gives me a decent ride every day."
Burning biofuels may be worse than coal and oil, say experts
The Guardian, January 4, 2008
Alok Jha
Using biofuels made from corn, sugar cane and soy could have a greater environmental impact than burning fossil fuels, according to experts. Although the fuels themselves emit fewer greenhouse gases, they all have higher costs in terms of biodiversity loss and destruction of farmland.
The problems of climate change and the rising cost of oil have led to a race to develop environmentally-friendly biofuels, such as palm oil or ethanol derived from corn and sugar cane. The EU has proposed that 10% of all fuel used in transport should come from biofuels by 2020 and the emerging global market is expected to be worth billions of dollars a year.
But the new fuels have attracted controversy. "Regardless of how effective sugar cane is for producing ethanol, its benefits quickly diminish if carbon-rich tropical forests are being razed to make the sugar cane fields, thereby causing vast greenhouse-gas emission increases," Jörn Scharlemann and William Laurance, of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama, write in Science today.
City with 23-year supply of vacant land, half owned by developers
Ottawa Business Journal, January 3, 2008
Roman Zakaluzny
Developers Richcraft and Urbandale together control about a third of vacant, undeveloped residential land in the City of Ottawa, a city report notes.
They and a number of other developers together sit on enough vacant land within the city's boundaries to meet growth needs for the next 23 years, the report also added, although only three per cent of that available land is within the Greenbelt.
In a report that goes before the planning and environment committee Jan. 8., planners listed a complete inventory of vacant, urban residential land based on data collected at the end of 2006.
While the amount of land has shrunk since the last survey was done a year prior, planners found there is sufficient supply to meet city growth needs until 2031, and enough to be "well above" provincial minimums for the next decade.
Since 1982, the Vacant Urban Residential Land Survey has monitored the supply of vacant urban residential land to determine if it meets policies of the city's Official Plan as well as various Provincial Policy Statements.
Aspects of their findings play a role in council decisions on zoning and whether or not to expand the City of Ottawa's urban boundaries.
The report noted that Ottawa's rate of residential intensification was increasing. Intensification activity was strong in 2006, accounting for 36 per cent of new dwelling units in Ottawa's urban area, which is higher than the 31-per-cent average since 2001.
MILAN - The Italian city of Milan introduced a "pollution charge" for drivers on Wednesday in an effort to cut smog levels, with light traffic ensuring the system suffered only a few teething troubles.
Several motorists complained about a scarcity of outlets selling the pass that allows entrance to the centre of the Italian financial capital and the council Web site allowing online payment collapsed on the eve of the launch.
Under the innovative "EcoPass" system cars will be charged up to 10 euros (US$14.7) per day, the graduated charge based on the amount of pollution a car's engine produces.
Launched as a one-year trial, the charge targets the 89,000 vehicles that each day clog the middle of the northern Italian city, where pollution readings often top European Union limits.
The charge is being billed as the first of its kind among European cities.
London, which took the lead when it introduced a flat-rate congestion charge in 2003, is preparing a pollution fee on lorries, buses and coaches entering its first "low-emission zone" from Feb. 4.
A Milan, un péage urbain pour combattre la pollution
Le Monde, le 3 janvier 2008
Depuis mercredi 2 janvier, seuls les véhicules les moins polluants ont encore accès gratuitement au centre de Milan. Les autres doivent s'acquitter d'une redevance. Cette mesure s'appuie sur les dernières normes européennes en matière de pollution : ceux qui les respectent continueront d'entrer librement, les autres devront s'acquitter - du lundi au vendredi de 7 h 30 à 19 h 30 - d'un ticket basé sur la pollution dégagée par leur véhicule.
Les véhicules ont été divisés en cinq catégories. Les deux premières, basées sur les normes Euro 3 et Euro 4 pour l'essence (correspondant aux véhicules mis en service après 2000 et après 2005), sont exonérées de péage. C'est le cas également des deux-roues, des transports en commun, des services publics, des transports de personnes handicapées ainsi que des véhicules électriques ou fonctionnant au GPL. Les trois autres classes, c'est-à-dire les automobiles immatriculées avant l'instauration de la norme Euro 3, ainsi que les poids lourds, devront payer.
CAMÉRAS DE SURVEILLANCE
Le tarif journalier varie de 2 à 10 euros, l'abonnement annuel de 50 à 250 euros. Les tickets sont disponibles dans les kiosques, les bureaux de tabac, les points d'information des transports publics ainsi que sur Internet. Des caméras de surveillance ont été placées aux 43 points d'accès au centre-ville. Les amendes pourront aller de 74 à 285 euros.
L'organisme Éco-Peinture sera dorénavant responsable de la récupération des rebuts de peinture dans les six éco-centres de la Ville de Montréal.
Cette société sans but lucratif de gestion écologique a obtenu ce contrat pour les cinq prochaines années. Pour ses activités, la Ville va lui verser un montant de 50 000 dollars annuellement.
L'entente avec Éco-Peinture va aider l'administration du maire Gérald Tremblay à atteindre les objectifs de récupération des huiles, peintures et pesticides prévus par la politique québécoise de gestion des matières résiduelles.
En 2007, 432 tonnes de peinture ont été recueillies dans les six éco-centres montréalais.
PEMBROKE --- Local nuclear industry watchdog the Concerned Citizens of Renfrew County wants more provincial investigations into elevated levels of tritium found in groundwater at the Ottawa Valley Waste Recovery Centre. Such levels of the radioactive isotope do not occur naturally, said group spokesperson Kelly O'Grady. The levels of tritium were still within the Ontario drinking water standard.
A city plan to replace residential lead water connections needs to be sped up, says a city councillor and members of the citizens environmental affairs advisory committee.
Last June, the city began a pilot program aimed at replacing lead connections between houses and the municipal water supply, setting aside $1 million to do about 150 homes.
More than 300 people signed up in a week and almost 1,400 people applied to the program by late last year. City officials are now recommending making the program permanent, but the proposal is to do 150 homes per year.
The recommendation will be addressed by councillors on the environmental affairs committee next week and will need full council approval at a later meeting to become reality.
D'autres conduites d'eau en plomb seront remplacées
Le Droit, le 3 janvier 2008
Caroline Barrière
Les propriétaires de maison d'Ottawa dont les conduites d'eau sont en plomb pourront continuer de bénéficier du programme de remplacement de la Ville mais ils devront être patients.
En 2007, près de 1400 personnes ont déposé une demande de remplacement pour le projet pilote alors que le budget prévoyait plutôt que des travaux seraient effectués sur 150 propriétés seulement. La priorité est accordée aux résidences où habitent des enfants de 6 ans ou moins et des femmes enceintes.
Le programme fait en sorte de remplacer les tuyaux se trouvant à la limite de la propriété municipale jusqu'au compteur d'eau de la maison. Les personnes n'ont pas à recruter et à gérer les travaux d'un entrepreneur puisque la Ville s'occupe de cet aspect du problème.
Le coût estimatif total du remplacement d'un branchement de service, de la conduite principale jusqu'au compteur d'eau, se situe généralement entre 6 000 $ et 10 000 $. Il en coûte habituellement entre 2 500 $ et 5 000 $ aux propriétaires pour le remplacement de leur partie. Ces estimations excluent les coûts de réparation de l'aménagement paysager, qui sont à la charge des propriétaires. La Ville offre également aux propriétaires de reporter le paiement des travaux par le biais de la facture d'eau sur cinq et dix ans.
Big energy savings dwell here
After three years of construction, couple puts final touches on energy-efficient house
Toronto Star, January 2, 2008
Peter Gorrie
HAMILTON–Last winter, as the wind howled and the outdoor thermometer registered a bone chilling -20C, the temperature inside Dave Braden's new house hovered near zero.
Months later, on a sweltering day, with dust swirling around the treeless hilltop where the house stands, it was a comfortable 24C indoors.
Both numbers were good news for Braden, a beef farmer and former Hamilton city councillor. It means the building, in Flamborough, a rural suburb of Hamilton, is working.
The winter interior might seem frosty, but the cold snap had lasted several days and the house was unheated. And conditions inside remained far better than bearable during the heat wave without benefit of tree shade or air conditioning.
Braden and his wife, Cathy, are putting the finishing touches on a home that's so energy efficient they expect to consume only 15 per cent as much energy for heating and cooling as a conventional place of the same size and design. Electricity consumption will be cut in half.
MILAN - Drivers will have to pay a "pollution charge" to enter Milan's city centre from Wednesday in what the Italian financial capital bills as a trend-setting way to cut smog.
Milan's "EcoPass", launched as a one-year trial, is aimed at the 89,000 vehicles that each day clog the middle of the northern Italian city, where pollution readings often top European Union (EU) limits.
The charge is being billed as the first of its kind among European cities. London, which took the lead in congestion charging in 2003, is preparing a pollution fee on lorries, buses and coaches entering its first "low-emission zone" from Feb. 4.
Other Italian cities are taking steps to control smog stemming from one of the world's highest levels of car ownership. Rome launched measures on Tuesday that include limits on the most-polluting diesel vehicles and Turin is considering a pollution fee for its city centre.
Le Plan de déplacements de Paris qui sera débattu par les élus parisiens les 12 et 13 février, porte sur l'hypothèse d'une fermeture, au moins partielle, de la voie Georges-Pompidou, l'aménagement d'une voie réservée (aux bus, taxis et voitures propres) sur le boulevard périphérique ou encore la limitation de la circulation automobile dans le centre de Paris. Mais nulle référence directe à l'instauration d'un "péage urbain".
Londres, Oslo, Stockholm, Singapour, ont limité, par ce moyen, l'accès à leur centre-ville. Milan devrait faire de même en mars 2007. A Paris, le sujet suscite, pour l'instant, de fortes oppositions. La proposition du premier ministre, Dominique de Villepin, le 13 novembre 2006, de "soumettre à la concertation" l'instauration d'un péage urbain à Paris a provoqué une opposition unanime, y compris à l'UMP.
De nouvelles mesures adoptées par la Ville d'Ottawa entrent en vigueur en ce début d'année 2008. Les contribuables vont devoir faire preuve de prudence afin d'éviter de payer des amendes en faisant tourner le moteur de leur voiture au ralenti ou encore en fumant près des abribus.
Depuis le 1er janvier, la Ville peut émettre des contraventions aux automobilistes qui laissent tourner au ralenti le moteur de leur véhicule pendant plus de trois minutes. Cette mesure n'est en vigueur que lorsque le mercure se situe entre 5 et 27 degrés Celsius. Toutefois, lorsqu'un véhicule n'est pas occupé, il est interdit de laisser tourner le moteur au ralenti plus de trois minutes, peu importe la température.
La mesure a été adoptée en septembre dernier, mais la Ville n'avait pas encore commencé à distribuer les amendes. Ainsi, en 2008, les automobilistes qui violent ce règlement peuvent recevoir un avertissement, s'il s'agit d'une première infraction. En cas de récidive, des amendes de 100 $ peuvent être imposées.
Le règlement ne s'applique pas aux véhicules d'urgence et aux voitures hybrides.
Ottawa residents who have made New Year's resolutions to quit smoking or idling their vehicles will be getting some reinforcement from the City of Ottawa in the form of new fines.
With the start of the new year, the city has begun enforcing certain bylaws for the first time with fines of:
* Up to $5,000 for people who smoke within nine metres of a bus stop or shelter.
* Up to $100 for drivers caught running the engine of their car while stopped at the curb for more than three minutes.
Both bylaws include exceptions.
The nine metre radius is adjusted for stops that don't have much space around them.
In the case of the idling bylaw, it only applies to occupied vehicles when the temperature is between five and 27 degrees Celsius. Unoccupied vehicles aren't allowed to idle for more than three minutes regardless of the temperature.
The bylaw will not apply to emergency vehicles, armoured vehicles, farm machinery or hybrid-electric vehicles.
City staff recommends extending lead connector program
Ottawa Citizen, January 2, 2008
Jake Rupert
When the city decided last year to run a pilot program aimed at replacing lead connections between people's houses and the municipal water supply, it set aside enough money to do 150 homes.
Since then, almost 1,400 people have applied to the program and city officials are recommending making the program permanent. The issue will be addressed by councillors on the city's environmental affairs committee next week.
City staff running the program say due to high demand, and the goal of eliminating lead from drinking water, the city should consider making the program permanent.
If approved, the program will cost $1 million per year that would come out of the drinking water capital budget and have no net effect on the city's 2008 budget.
It's estimated that roughly 29,000 Ottawa residences have lead pipes connecting them to the city's water supply. These are mostly in homes built before the mid-1950s when the dangers of lead became clear and lead pipes were banned from plumbing.
City Looks to Extend Lead Pipe Replacement Program
CFRA, January 2, 2008
The City of Ottawa's "Lead Pipe Replacement Program" could be extended this year.
A report for Ottawa's Planning and Environment Committee recommends Councillors extend the pilot project with one million dollars in funding.
Under the program, the City of Ottawa and the homeowner split the cost to replace the lead water service.
The 2007 program allowed the city to replace 150 lead water services.
The "Lead Pipe Replacement Program" is an enhancement to the current watermain rehabilitation practice of replacing the City portion of the lead service. It's estimated between 900 and 12-hundred lead services are replaced each year on watermain construction projects.
The City of Ottawa estimates 28-thousand Ottawa homes have lead pipes. 13-thousand lead services have been replaced to date.
Trois villes allemandes interdisent leur centre aux véhicules trop polluants
Agence France-Presse, le 1er janvier 2008
Les véhicules trop polluants sont interdits de circulation depuis mardi matin dans le centre-ville de trois grandes agglomérations allemandes, dont Berlin, une mesure qui doit être étendue au cours de 2008 à une vingtaine de villes du pays, dont Stuttgart et Munich.
L'objectif de cette réforme, inédite en Allemagne, est de bannir des grandes villes, en commençant par Berlin, Cologne et Hanovre, les voitures émettant trop de particules fines. Au total 1,7 million de véhicules, principalement des diesel anciens, seraient concernés.
Les autorités espèrent ainsi convaincre les propriétaires de véhicules anciens de les équiper de filtres à particules lorsque c'est possible.
Concrètement, toutes les voitures ou camions voulant accéder aux zones concernées doivent arborer sur leur pare-brise une nouvelle vignette, de couleur verte, jaune ou rouge, suivant leur degré de «propreté». Les voitures considérées comme vraiment trop polluantes ne peuvent obtenir aucune de ces vignettes et sont donc de facto interdites d'accès.
