April 2008

Doucet's 'Plan B' for transit rankles mayor

Ottawa Citizen, April 30, 2008, page C1
Patrick Dare, Jake Rupert, Thulasi Srikanthan

Capital Councillor Clive Doucet says the city is taking a "serious risk" by staking its mass transit future on one plan and should be developing a Plan B.

Mr. Doucet said there are major problems with the system proposed by city staff and supported by what appears to be a solid majority of council, including Mayor Larry O'Brien.

He introduced a motion at council's transit committee yesterday calling for the development of a contingency plan -- his Plan B -- using lower-cost options such as surface routes downtown and on rights of way the city already owns that run through heavily populated areas.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=82c25aea-0581-4a10-a16a-71e0ea38744f

Riders flock to buses as gas prices jump

Ottawa Citizen, April 30, 2008, page C1
Patrick Dare

Ottawa is seeing a surge in public transit ridership as rising gasoline prices and increased congestion prompt residents to get on the bus.

Last fall saw a big jump in transit riders, with a 5.8-per-cent increase in October compared with October the previous year, a 6.9-per-cent increase in November and a 4.6-per-cent increase in December. In January, ridership went up 3.1 per cent, in February, it jumped 5.8 per cent and it climbed 1.2 per cent in March.

"We are running at capacity," said Councillor Alex Cullen, chairman of the transit committee, who said there was high ridership, but also a lot of complaints about service through the winter.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=10f06f04-eee3-471e-9af4-3e936de0768b

Transit doomed, councillor says

Ottawa Sun, April 30, 2008
Derek Puddicombe

Another day, another transit plan.

And with the latest vision proposed by a city councillor, Ottawa's transit future just got more complicated.

As council and staff attempt to move forward with a transit plan designed to take care of commuter needs over the next 25 years, Capital Coun. Clive Doucet wants staff to come up with a Plan B in case the latest one fails.

Doucet wants the Plan B available by fall when council will debate the current plan.

http://www.ottawasun.com/News/OttawaAndRegion/2008/04/30/5426491-sun.html

Homebuilders, city clash on urban boundary extension

Ottawa Business Journal, April 30, 2008
Peter Kovessy

Ottawa homebuilders and city planners are still several thousand hectares apart on the size of the city's urban boundary expansion, with some smaller developers' futures hanging in the balance.

While municipal staff said the city needs to add roughly 500 hectares to the urban boundary by 2031, the executive officer of the Greater Ottawa Homebuilders' Association (GOHBA) said the number is actually closer to 8,000 or 9,000 hectares.

The conflicting conclusions stem from a difference of opinion on whether the bulk of Ottawa's baby boomers will continue living in single-detached houses, or follow their predecessors and move en masse into condominiums and apartments in their golden years.

http://www.ottawabusinessjournal.com/327790738347853.php

Businesses look for light at the end of the tunnel

Ottawa Citizen, April 29, 2008, page B1
Anca Gurzu

Small business owners in Ottawa's core who wonder what life would be like during the construction of a downtown transit tunnel might find some answers in Vancouver.

The subject is bound to come up at the only downtown consultation on the transit expansion city staff have recommended, tonight at 7 p.m. at the Lansdowne Park Coliseum.

For more than two years, Vancouver's downtown was a massive construction zone as workers built the 19-kilometre Canada Line, the city's third major transit line.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=1d233bbf-5313-4a46-be73-a20aac2db29b

Councillors in transit tiff

Ottawa Citizen, April 29, 2008, page B6
Thulasi Srikanthan

Gloucester-South Nepean Councillor Steve Desroches yesterday accused Kanata North Councillor Marianne Wilkinson of accosting residents with her transit plan at Ottawa's third public consultation on the city planners' preferred option.

"This is supposed to be a meeting where we are here to listen to the residents, not city councillors," he said, adding it should not be "an opportunity for city councillors to grandstand."

Mr. Desroches said the time to debate is at the committee table and council meetings.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=4af25e8e-2885-42d2-b535-79176c4dcded

Des vélos en libre-service à Washington

Associated Press, le 28 avril 2008
Sarah Karush

Washington va mettre à disposition de ses habitants 120 vélos en libre-service dans 10 stations à partir de mai, une première aux États-Unis qui s'inspire de concepts similaires en Europe, dont le Vélib' parisien.

En vertu du service «SmartBike D.C.», l'utilisateur devra s'acquitter d'un abonnement annuel de 40 dollars (25 euros) pour accéder aux vélos garés à des bornes d'attache informatisées. Il pourra les emprunter jusqu'à trois heures d'affilée et les ramener dans n'importe quelle station SmartBike de la ville. Il n'aura pas, au moins dans un premier temps, à payer pour le temps d'utilisation.

La capitale américaine a décidé de commencer petit avec 120 vélos et 10 stations. Par comparaison, Vélib» avait été lancé à Paris l'été dernier avec... 10.600 vélos et 750 stations.

http://www.cyberpresse.ca/article/20080428/CPMONDE/80428082/6108/CPENVIRONNEMENT

Prix de l'essence
Des changements d'habitudes

Radio-Canada, le 27 avril 2008

Les récentes hausses du prix de l'essence ont des impacts sur les habitudes de transport d'un côté comme de l'autre de la rivière des Outaouais.

Les services de partage de véhicules sont de plus en plus prisés. Le président de Communauto, Benoît Robert, précise que la croissance annuelle de la demande pour son entreprise est de 25 % en moyenne. Pour les quatre premiers mois de 2008 seulement, ses affaires ont bondi de 10 %.

Le phénomène s'observe aussi chez Vrtucar qui offre les mêmes services, mais dans la région d'Ottawa. « C'est une méthode d'avoir une voiture et de payer seulement quand on en a besoin », explique la porte-parole de l'entreprise, Barbara Griffin.

http://www.radio-canada.ca/regions/ottawa/2008/04/27/005-prix-essence_n.shtml

Opinion: Public left wanting in Kanata West deal

Ottawa Citizen, April 26, 2008, page D1
Randall Denley

Who protects the public interest? That's the important question in this week's troubling report from the city's auditor general. In Kanata West, the answer is no one. When the city is a member of the group doing land development and the key consultant on the project is working for both the city and the developers, there is no arm's-length review of development plans or neutral professional advice.

The issue that attracted public attention to the lands around Scotiabank Place was an engineering miscalculation involving the flow of the Carp River. What's more worrying is the city's eagerness to jump into bed with the developers it is supposed to be regulating.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/opinion/story.html?id=c0a82c70-adcb-4b86-abf8-230bd3f10863

Get Rid of Your Old Electronics

CFRA, April 25, 2008
Sean Connolly

Ottawa residents are invited to safely dispose any outdated technology they want to get rid of. A free "eCycling" event offered by Waste Management takes place Saturday at the Carp Road landfill from 9 a.m. until noon. Old electronics, phones, computers, office machines and toys, can be dropped off. Televisions however will not be accepted. More than 650 people eCycled 25 tonnes of material last year.

http://www.cfra.com/?cat=1&nid=56523

Plugged as green champs

Ottawa Sun, April 25, 2008
Elisabeth Johns

Ottawa-area residents are more likely to conserve energy than their counterparts across the province, according to a new a study by the Ontario Power Authority.

More people in Ottawa are likely to reduce their hydro usage because it's the right thing to do.

The study, which shows more women are either green champions or they reduce their energy usage because it's economical, analyzed figures from hydro companies across Ontario.

http://www.ottawasun.com/News/OttawaAndRegion/2008/04/25/5381121-sun.html

Comments grim, but turnout low at public consultation on transit

Ottawa Citizen, April 25, 2008, page F1
Thulasi Srikanthan

Ottawa residents gave a lukewarm reception to city planners' preferred transit option yesterday, with some going so far as to call the plan garbage.

"The biggest problem is the multiple transfers," said Rob Lamontagne, who attended the public consultation at OC Transpo headquarters on St. Laurent Boulevard.

"I think that is going to cost ridership instead of increasing it."

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=92c1d338-1517-480b-83c5-1cd050596b61

Conservation authority defends position on Carp River development

CBC News, April 25, 2008

The agency that manages the watershed containing the Carp River in Ottawa's Kanata West district has defended itself after criticism from the city's auditor general.

In a report released Wednesday, auditor Alain Lalonde said the Missisippi Valley Conservation Authority was the first to suggest building on the undeveloped fringe of the Carp River flood plain.

The report said development in such areas "is not normally accepted by other conservation authorities in Ontario, including the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority."

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2008/04/24/ot-carp-080424.html

Ont. powerless to stop mining claims on disputed land: minister

CBC News, April 24, 2008

Ontario can't stop mining companies from staking claims to Crown land while the Liberals go through the slow process of overhauling the 100-year-old mining act, the government said Thursday.

This came amid calls for an immediate moratorium on industrial activity on traditional First Nations territory.

Minister of Northern Development and Mines Michael Gravelle said the Liberals are committed to changing the mining act to include proper consultation with First Nations, but added it's not a quick process.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2008/04/24/ot-mining-080424.html

Edmonton to look at banning, taxing plastic bags

CBC News, April 24, 2008

Edmonton should become the first major Canadian city to ban plastic bags or impose a tax to discourage their use, a city councillor urged Wednesday.

Coun. Linda Sloan asked for a report from city staff at a meeting of council's executive committee on ways to limit the use of plastic bags by grocery stores and other retailers.

"They are a constant source of irritation to people in the spring time because much of our litter along fence lines and boulevards is plastic bags," Sloan told CBC News outside the meeting.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/story/2008/04/24/platic-ban.html

City opts out of study for Orléans-Rockland road

Ottawa Citizen, April 24, 2008, page C2

Council voted yesterday not to participate in preliminary studies for a proposed freeway between Orléans and Rockland. During the last provincial election, the Ontario Liberals announced $40 million for the project and said it would go ahead if the federal government would contribute $40 million (which it did), the city $15 million and Prescott-Russell County $9 million. Last month, the province also offered the city a grant of $5 million for the preliminary studies. Leaders in municipalities east of Ottawa say they need the road, but city transportation planning staff said Ottawa should reject the road and money because the city can't afford it, city plans don't call for a widening of the road until after 2021, and it goes against the goal of creating a more compact city. Council voted 18-1 to allow the province or the counties to do the studies on a roughly seven-kilometre section on the 22-kilometre road inside the city's boundaries.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=79e3f353-3aad-41fc-b9ba-01ed4b9124d3

Transit delays hurt LeBreton affordable housing
Units to be 400 metres from transitway, but lack of plan affects schedule: developer

Ottawa Citizen, April 24, 2008, page C3
Laura Stone

Affordable housing can't be built on LeBreton Flats until the city figures out how to serve the new neighbourhood with transit, says Neil Malhotra, vice-president of the company responsible for the first phase of development.

An agreement between the City of Ottawa and the National Capital Commission, which sold LeBreton Flats land to Mr. Malhotra's Claridge Homes, required that 25 per cent of the housing on the property be "affordable" for people with lower incomes.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=754a2ac4-2672-4c5d-933b-83bb65029396

Les villes en ont assez de l'automobile

La Presse, le 24 avril 2008
François Cardinal

Les villes du Québec en ont assez de l'automobile. Elles s'engageront ainsi formellement, cet après-midi, à réduire le monopole de la voiture sur leur territoire grâce à des idées aussi audacieuses que les péages urbains, les zones piétonnes et les permis de polluer.

La Presse a appris que l'Union des municipalités du Québec adoptera aujourd'hui, dans le cadre de son congrès qui se tient à Québec, une «Politique de mobilité et de transports durables» dont l'objectif est d'amorcer cette «révolution».

L'engagement des 275 villes membres de l'UMQ vise «le développement d'une nouvelle culture de la mobilité et du transport» qui repose en grande partie sur «une réduction de la dépendance à l'automobile» au Québec.

http://www.cyberpresse.ca/article/20080424/CPENVIRONNEMENT/804240666/6108/CPENVIRONNEMENT

La Ville d'Ottawa blâmée

Radio-Canada, le 23 avril 2008

Le vérificateur général de la Ville d'Ottawa, Alain Lalonde, blâme sévèrement l'administration municipale pour sa gestion d'un important projet de développement résidentiel. La construction de centaines de maisons, près de la rivière Carp, dans le secteur Kanata, est bloquée parce qu'on a mal calculé les risques d'inondation.

Dans un rapport publié mercredi, Alain Lalonde soutient que l'étude sur le bassin hydrographique de la rivière Carp, utilisée par Ottawa afin d'approuver le projet, est incomplète et erronée.

http://www.radio-canada.ca/regions/ottawa/2008/04/23/003-projet-domiciliaire-ott.shtml

Municipal buildings make leap to clean electricity despite cost

Toronto Star, April 23, 2008
Theresa Boyle

Three municipal buildings in York Region, including the Aurora Town Hall, have made the leap to green electricity, even though the switch will cost taxpayers a bit extra.

"A small premium now will be a payoff in the long run," Aurora Mayor Phyllis Morris said yesterday. "We believe the cost of not doing this would be higher to the environment later on."

She used Earth Day as an opportunity to make the announcement.

http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/417301

Ottawa can be a green capital

Ottawa Sun, April 22, 2008
Sabrina Bowman

In the spring of 1970, in a monumental outpouring of concern about the state of the planet, 20 million people of various backgrounds took over streets by bike and foot, and participated in teach-ins and demonstrations across the United States in the first Earth Day. This was a key factor in creating pressure to establish the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the Clean Air Act was amended to include improved national standards. In the years following, the U.S. government passed stronger regulations covering water, waste, energy and air.

Earth Day has since exploded into a worldwide annual event with nearly 500 million participants. The first international Earth Day in 1990 was followed by significant pressure on politicians to literally and figuratively clean up their act, pushing many global leaders to participate in the 1992 Rio de Janeiro UN Earth Summit.

Since this first large-scale environmental celebration, environmentalism has gone to a mainstream concern from the rallying of a few activists. Today, there is little doubt in most people's minds the environment is about much more than pleasant scenery; its well-being is inextricably linked to ours.

http://www.ottawasun.com/Comment/2008/04/22/5352841-sun.html

Ontario to ban cosmetic use of pesticides

CBC News, April 22, 2008

Ontario's proposed ban on the sale and cosmetic use of pesticides will be the toughest in North America once it becomes law, supporters said Tuesday.

The legislation promises to take effect faster and go further than Quebec's ban.

Experts warn pesticides could have devastating health effects on vulnerable groups like pregnant women and children, said Gideon Forman of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2008/04/22/pesticide-ban.html

A breath of fresh air
Coun. Clive Doucet wants to improve smog awareness

Ottawa Sun, April 22, 2008
Derek Puddicombe

Coun. Clive Doucet is breathing new life into Ottawa's air quality.

Doucet will host an Air Quality Summit at City Hall in September that will look at how to improve the air we breathe.

He wants to bring in a renowned speaker to talk about the harmful health effects of pollution. Public health officials and city staff will also be invited to contribute to the summit.

At its conclusion, Doucet hopes to develop policies his council colleagues will adopt to help improve the city's air quality.

http://www.ottawasun.com/News/OttawaAndRegion/2008/04/22/5352966-sun.html

Editorial: Jacobs' city on the way

Ottawa Citizen, April 22, 2008, page D4

In Jane Jacobs' world, people live in vibrant city neighbourhoods because they are walkable, convenient, environmentally friendly and offer everything from social networks to shopping in a few short blocks.

In real life, some are lucky enough to live in neighbourhoods that approximate the urban utopia envisaged by the late urban planning guru -- and Ottawa has many examples. But others live in neighbourhoods that are not yet there, works-in-progress, where walking to shopping is not possible, for example.

Two University of Western Ontario professors have studied some of these neighbourhoods for which the term "food deserts" has been coined. These are usually in the poorest parts of cities which grocery stores have abandoned in favour of larger stores on cheap, suburban land, leaving residents without easy access to fresh, affordable food and sometimes forced to rely on overpriced or junk food.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/editorials/story.html?id=5e54e488-23ed-4823-8639-230b47885f45

Competing transit visions roll forward

Ottawa Sun, April 22, 2008
Derek Puddicombe

Ottawa's latest transit plan could be heading for derailment.

As the city begins consulting residents on its vision for how commuters will get around over the next 25 years, which includes tunnelling under the downtown, one city councillor has thrown her own plan into the transit mix and there are more on the way.

Kanata North Coun. Marianne Wilkinson unveiled her own vision yesterday, dubbed the "Wilkinson Option," because she said the four options recently offered by city staff aren't good enough.

http://www.ottawasun.com/News/OttawaAndRegion/2008/04/22/5353016-sun.html

Official Plan open for changes

Ottawa Sun, April 22, 2008
Derek Puddicombe

It's crystal ball gazing time again for the city.

As it is every five years, the Official Plan is up for review and city officials have identified three major issues that must be examined.

The three -- urban intensification, the urban boundary and the pace and amount of rural development -- are on the agenda of the planning and environment committee when members meet today.

Highlighted are opportunities to supply additional affordable housing throughout rural and urban areas and examine how to meet the growing needs of residents.

http://www.ottawasun.com/News/OttawaAndRegion/2008/04/22/5353026-sun.html

McGuinty to unveil ban on cosmetic use of pesticides

Ottawa Citizen, April 22, 2008, page A8
Canwest News Service

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty is expected to use Earth Day today to introduce legislation banning the cosmetic use of pesticides across the province.

Mr. McGuinty promised a ban in the last election, but he is expected to go one step farther today by prohibiting not only the use, but the sale of pesticides for cosmetic purposes.

"There is a lot of consciousness being raised about environmental health issues and I think accordingly this is a really exciting step forward," Minister of Health George Smitherman said yesterday.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=39b79610-a71a-4c72-ac1e-041b6173f571

Transit options growing
Councillor weighs in with Option 5 ... and there's more to come

Ottawa Citizen, April 22, 2008, page D1
Patrick Dare, Thulasi Srikanthan

The City of Ottawa now has an informal fifth option for its massive new public transit plan and more options could be on the way.

Kanata North Councillor Marianne Wilkinson yesterday released her own proposed plan for transit because she wasn't content with the four options the city's planners offered.

The Wilkinson option would see the existing north-south diesel O-Train kept in service and extended farther south to Leitrim, rather than rebuilding the north-south rail corridor with an electrified light-rail system.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=b56eb297-e6c8-4a5e-a869-f1683e595438

Encroaching projects prompt calls to protect Gatineau Park

Ottawa Citizen, April 22, 2008, page D3
Patrick Dare

The pastoral quiet of Meech Lake Valley is broken by the sound of bulldozers and huge trucks roaring around with massive boulders, to build another link of Highway 5.

It's such asphalt assaults that have supporters of Gatineau Park worried that not enough is being done to protect the natural jewel of the capital region.

Yesterday the Ottawa Valley chapter of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society released a new booklet arguing for legal protection of Gatineau Park and for its establishment as a national par.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=4d2781fe-543b-4d63-8141-bb270fd9109d

Lawyers want transit lawsuit moved to Ottawa

Ottawa Citizen, April 21, 2008
Lee Greenberg

Lawyers defending the city of Ottawa from a massive $215.5 million lawsuit resulting from its scrapped light rail project say the trial should be moved to Ottawa.

Peter Doody argued in Superior Court Monday that public interest in the case in Ottawa is virtually unprecedented. He pointed to the number of stories in local print media, saying there were 366 over a 20 month period ending in April 2006. Eighteen of those were on the front page of the Ottawa Citizen, he said.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=7ff2e25b-20f6-45c9-a8ed-29326c535413&k=56012

Kanata designer agrees clothesline bans are washed up

Ottawa Citizen, April 21, 2008, page B1
Scott Cressman

The man behind Kanata neighbourhoods that once banned backyard clotheslines says it's time to hang the idea out to dry.

"That was the temper of the times," said home designer Bill Teron, who promoted the natural, no-laundry look in his posh developments. Conserving energy was not a priority in that era like it is now, he said.

Indeed, on Friday, the Ontario government put into effect a regulation undoing any municipal bans on clothesline and that precludes any bans in the future.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=7a39b6d7-aa6b-4b08-b33d-1b566e1d47bb

Eco-friendly festival to celebrate what Canal means to Ottawa

Ottawa Citizen, April 21, 2008
Scott Cressman

A group of volunteers has planned a new, pollution-free summer festival to celebrate the Rideau Canal. The event debuts on the Aug. 1-4 long weekend.

Residents have long skated, biked, and boated along the canal and it's time to celebrate the waterway's key role life to life in the capital, said Michel Gauthier, the Rideau Canal Festival's president and CEO.

Last year, the United Nations added the Ottawa landmark to its list of world heritage sites. Mr. Gauthier said organizers decided to combine the existing Colonel By Day fair and Rideau Canal flotilla to create an event to mark the canal's new status.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/arts/story.html?id=2130e231-b2a2-4898-9f12-b5d4dca0e321&k=73093

Public invited on board for transit talks

Ottawa Sun, April 21, 2008
Laura Czekaj

The first of six public open houses kicks off tonight as the city seeks input from citizens about the recommended downtown rapid transit plan.

The meetings will be held at public venues across the city up until May 6. The deadline for receiving comments is May 7.

City staff and councillors are hoping for a good turnout as they prepare to make some concrete decisions on the future of Ottawa's transit system.

http://www.ottawasun.com/News/OttawaAndRegion/2008/04/21/5342421-sun.html

Ottawa's new half-price cycling plan 'unambitious,' group says

CBC News, April 21, 2008

An Ottawa cycling advocacy group isn't impressed after the city scaled back and delayed its plan for future spending on bike routes, cycling education and promotion.

The new draft of the official plan for cycling, which is going before the city's transportation committee in June after years of delays, will include spending of $26 million over 10 years, down from $50 million in the original 2005 draft.

"Our general impression [is] that it's unambitious," said Charles Akben-Marchand, president of Citizens for Safe Cycling. "When you break it all down, it's less than $3 per resident per year, which is still very little."

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2008/04/21/ot-cycling-080421.html

Montreal looks to boost composting, recycling

CBC News, April 18, 2008

Montreal has introduced a new new garbage management plan aimed at limiting the tonnes of trash sent to landfills each year.

The proposed $200-million, 10-year waste management plan includes more than 40 measures to reduce waste and encourage recycling, Montreal Mayor Gerald Tremblay said during a Thursday press conference.

Among those measures would be increased collection of organic waste - such as table scraps, twigs and leaves - and the construction of new composting facilities. Media reports place the spending on lawn and garden waste in 2008 at $6 million.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2008/04/18/mtl-waste-plan.html

Review panel provides reality check

Ottawa Citizen, April 17, 2008, page C1
Randall Denley

At last, someone has brought forward a clear explanation for how a $4-billion transit expansion can deliver enough benefit to justify its costs. Too bad it wasn't city councillors or city staff.

Instead, the fresh thinking comes from an outside panel of transit experts hired by the city to evaluate the transit proposal staff released yesterday. After only five days of examining our problems, the five experts from Canada, the United States and Britain have delivered the kind of insight into the link between transit and our city's development that sometimes only outsiders can bring.

Light rail should only serve areas inside the Greenbelt, they say. It shouldn't be used as a super-expensive way to enable more suburban sprawl. Even the bus transitway should not be extended to the far reaches of the suburbs. Instead, the transit experts say rail and streetcars should be used to create a denser, more urban city inside the Greenbelt. Rail shouldn't be extended to the suburbs for 20 years, they say, and then only if they become dense enough to justify it.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=af04cc3f-2532-48e2-beb0-4cbef5f31eba

'Investment' in Ottawa's future

Ottawa Citizen, April 17, 2008, page C1
Jake Rupert

The mayor and the most senior transit official in the city say Ottawa can more than afford a $4-billion rapid transit system announced yesterday, without hitting taxpayers with massive tax increases.

The plan calls for a downtown subway and light-rail spine running east and west on the current transitway to the edges of the Greenbelt and south past the airport. Under the plan, the suburbs of Orléans, Kanata and Barrhaven would be connected to rail by bus transitways with transfer stations at Blair Road, Baseline Road and Lincoln Fields shopping centre.

The system would be built in phases starting with the subway, as money became available.

City committee says no to study of east-end freeway

Ottawa Citizen, April 17, 2008, page C2
Jake Rupert

City council's transportation committee voted unanimously yesterday not to participate in preliminary studies for a proposed freeway between Orléans and Rockland.

During the last provincial election, the Ontario Liberals announced $40 million for the project and said it would go ahead if the federal government would contribute $40 million, the city added $15 million and Prescott-Russell County contributed $9 million.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=6d34e1c3-2283-4bf7-9526-5c9837b166d6

Editorial: Ottawa lags on garbage issue

Ottawa Citizen, April 17, 2008, page C4

Ottawa has a long way to go when it comes to producing less garbage. The city, a leader in the early days of municipal recycling, now dumps a higher percentage of its garbage into landfill sites than most Ontario cities.

Several projects to turn garbage into electricity are in the works, which is good news. But, while that might appear to take pressure off the city's need to reduce, reuse and recycle, it shouldn't.

For many reasons -- from shortage of space in our landfills, to the havoc that transporting, storing and producing garbage wreaks on the environment -- Ottawa must begin producing less and recycling more waste than it currently does.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/editorials/story.html?id=48f5aede-745f-4ab3-8824-de6df507caef

$4B light rail option endorsed by Ottawa staff

CBC News, April 16, 2008

A $4-billion transit plan that includes light rail in both north-south and east-west directions has been recommended over three other options by city staff.

The plan, which has a rail link to the airport, dedicated bus routes to outlying areas and a downtown tunnel, received the staff's endorsement at a joint transit and transportation committee meeting Wednesday morning.

It will take approximately 20 years to complete and will require funding from upper levels of government.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2008/04/16/ot-light-rail-080416.html

$4B transit plan
City staff recommends light-rail spine, downtown subway, fed by bus transitways

Ottawa Citizen, April 16, 2008
Jake Rupert

Ottawa's transit planning staff are recommending a light-rail spine and downtown subway with bus transitways feeding it as the city's mass transit future.

The challenges will now be for council to agree on it and how to get started building it.

Staff tabled their report with the transit committee Wednesday recommending the plan known as option four.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/features/gettingthere/story.html?id=dc84fffe-ae25-4d84-9563-3e0089fcf379&k=86100

Transport en commun
Le projet de train léger recommandé par la Ville

Radio-Canada, le 16 avril 2008

Ottawa adoptera d'ici la fin du mois de mai un nouveau projet de transport en commun rapide.

Le projet de train léger nord-sud et est-ouest, qui s'élève à 4 milliards de dollars, est le préféré des membres des comités des transports et des transports en commun parmi les quatre options qui étaient à l'étude. Il s'agit aussi de l'option la plus coûteuse parmi celles qui ont été présentées. Elle prévoit également des lignes d'autobus pour les banlieues.

http://www.radio-canada.ca/regions/ottawa/2008/04/16/005-train-leger-ottawa_n.shtml

Transit blueprint: 25 years, $4B

Ottawa Sun, April 16, 2008
Derek Puddicombe

The City of Ottawa says it now has a plan to get transit right, but consensus among councillors remains elusive.

City staff unveiled today their Getting it Right 25-year transit plan that includes officially beginning to look into the benefits of building a light rail transit tunnel under the downtown core; convert the east-west bus transitway from Blair to Baseline roads into light rail; and extending O-Train service to a yet-to-be-built Bowesville transit station just east of the Riverside South community.

http://www.ottawasun.com/News/OttawaAndRegion/2008/04/16/5303286.html

City council won't participate in any 174 freeway study

Ottawa Citizen, April 16, 2008
Jake Rupert

The city's transportation committee voted unanimously Wednesday to not participate in preliminary studies for a proposed freeway between Orleans and Rockland.

During the last provincial election, the Ontario Liberals announced $40 million for the project and said it would go ahead if the federal government would contribute $40 million, which they did, the city $15 million and Prescott-Russell County $9 million.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=b628e873-0b4a-4014-b64a-cfc8b9c8bda2&k=55543

Editorial: Don't spend on more sprawl

Ottawa Citizen, April 16, 2008

Ottawa City Council has an opportunity to make a landmark decision. It can refuse to build a road and make a statement about the future shape of this city.

The federal and provincial governments have offered the municipality $40 million each to turn Highway 174 into a freeway from Trim Road in Orléans to Rockland. That's predicated on the city putting $15 million on the table and Prescott-Russell county paying $9 million.

A staff report going to transportation committee today recommends that the city not pay the $15 million (it doesn't have it anyway), despite $80 million sitting there for the taking, because widening Highway 174 is nowhere near the top of the municipality's priorities. Good for staff.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/editorials/story.html?id=091b77be-3076-4573-b904-6eadfd748f03

Kitchissippi councillor knocks mass transit proposal

Ottawa Citizen, April 16, 2008
Jake Rupert

One city councillor is already second-guessing the staff recommendation for the future of mass transit in Ottawa, before it has even been presented.

In a news release yesterday, Kitchissippi Councillor Christine Leadman said there was a "lack of sufficient depth and considerations contained in the plan advocated by city staff that will not ensure the transportation needs of the city are solved."

In an interview, Ms. Leadman said she would be moving to have a transit system proposed by the mayor's task force on transportation last year added to a list of options from which council would choose.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=36ecc8d8-1f55-4df1-a62b-5a50c385e4e4

Transit plans guarantee more debate

Ottawa Sun, April 15, 2008
Derek Puddicombe

Tomorrow's decision on the city's transit future isn't going to please everyone.

City councillors are already arguing over what plan, if any, to choose.

A local transit lobby group is criticizing all four transit options that call for adding more bus lanes. The transit lobby group says during the latest round of public consultations, residents supported light rail transit over buses and it wants the city to focus on investing in LRT.

"All four of staff's plans call for 60 km more bus Transitway, and that is not what people want," said Friends of the O-Train founder David Gladstone. "If you take these busways out of the plan, over $1 billion of the city's cost estimate can go to what people really want -- rail going out to Kanata, Stittsville, Barrhaven, Riverside South, Orleans and across the Prince of Wales bridge to connect with STO services."

http://www.ottawasun.com/News/OttawaAndRegion/2008/04/15/5286446-sun.html

Editorial: Reject latest rail option

Ottawa Citizen, April 15, 2008

Ottawa needs light rail. The city is falling badly behind other Canadian communities that are reaping hundreds of millions of dollars in provincial and federal money to build their systems. In contrast, Ottawa does not even have a plan.

More and more it is looking as though municipal staff will opt for Option 4 in the latest of several recent plans, a scheme with very serious drawbacks. It would see light rail driven down the Transitway to Baseline and Blair plus use the existing O-Train route for double-tracked light rail.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/editorials/story.html?id=c12fcfa1-a923-43e4-8610-81d5fdeaa0a4

Baird stalls Ottawa River Honour

Ottawa Citizen, April 15, 2008
Elizabeth Payne

If there is a river worthy of heritage designation in Canada, it is the mighty Ottawa -- "the original trans-Canada highway" as some call it.

Maybe it is fitting, then, that the attempt to give the river that was travelled by Samuel de Champlain and is overlooked by the Parliament Buildings a national heritage designation, has run into such typically Canadian hurdles.

First, there is the Quebec question -- namely that Quebec wants no part of the effort to declare the Ottawa, or any river, a national heritage river, leaving it a partial campaign at best. That wouldn't prevent a heritage designation, but it raises questions about how meaningful a label is that makes some water in a river heritage but other water not.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=642da6cf-e26a-4ece-9b00-c5f3b3f0f6de

Bets being laid on Option 4 transit plan

Ottawa Citizen, April 14, 2008
Jake Rupert

Ottawa's transit planning staff are recommending a light-rail spine and downtown subway with bus transitways feeding it as the city's mass transit future.

The challenges will now be for council to agree on it and how to get started building it.

Transit officials have tried to keep a tight lid on their recommendation. But according to several City Hall sources, on Wednesday, staff will table a report with the transit committee recommending the plan known as option four.

That option received the bulk of public support during consultation on four possible plans last month.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=fa21b909-4661-4f41-92b9-c67bcdaa6d6c

Spin City
David Chernushenko explains how a revolution in thinking is turning Lyon into a city of cyclists

Ottawa Citizen, April 13, 2008
David Chernushenko

I'll begin with a confession: I've been blowing by historical landmarks and bypassing tourist attractions in Europe in search of bikestands. Let me explain.

I recently tagged along to Lyon, France, with my wife, a professor of linguistics. While she was in lecture halls, I spent my time filming trams and photographing bicycles. But not just any kind of bicycle. I was on the hunt for the Velo'v, one of the roughly 3,000 bikes that can be found 24/7 at 345 stations in the city of 1.7 million.

The name is a French/English pun -- as in "love your bike" or "a bicycle to love." (What can I say? I'm married to a linguist.) For almost three years, tens of thousands in the city have been learning to do just that.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/artslife/story.html?id=e65d253c-2abc-4281-ae20-94237a78848a

City bags trash-to-treasure energy site
New landfill facility to use methane gas from garbage to power 6,400 homes

Ottawa Sun, April 12, 2008
Elisabeth Jones

The company that owns the Carp Rd. landfill will soon be using the methane gas released by garbage to produce energy.

Waste Management Inc. announced its plans yesterday to break ground on a new landfill gas-to-energy facility, which is expected to produce up to 6.4 megawatts of energy -- enough to power more than 6,400 homes -- by this fall.

http://www.ottawasun.com/News/OttawaAndRegion/2008/04/12/5264071-sun.html

Opinion: The broken dream of our amalgamated metropolis

Ottawa Citizen, April 12, 2008
Randall Denley

More than seven years into the life of the new City of Ottawa, it's time to admit the obvious. This thing just isn't working. Our new government was supposed to produce efficiency and a broad, unifying vision of what our city could be. Both are in desperately short supply.

It all seemed so logical in the beginning. We would exchange 11 municipalities and their bureaucratic and political duplication for a single new government that would look after everything. Other cities our size make that kind of government work, and it seemed like it should work here, despite the vast area of the new city. And yet, it hasn't.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/opinion/story.html?id=0f7150ea-81ac-4510-99eb-4ec34c798dbf

Toronto a lesson in how to get a greenbelt right: study

Ottawa Citizen, April 11, 2008
Lee Greenberg

TORONTO - Ottawa's Greenbelt is labelled a "failure" in a new study that points to a similar environmental measure in Toronto as one of the best in the world.

The study, released yesterday by the Canadian Institute for Environmental Law and Policy, says the capital's Greenbelt failed to contain sprawl as its planners intended. Rather, development simply skipped over the Greenbelt and into the communities of Barrhaven, Kanata and Orléans, stretching the city's already low-density development and giving residents, on average, one of the longest commutes in the country.

"It certainly hasn't had that much impact at all in terms of density of suburban development," says the study's author, Maureen Carter-Whitney. "It did cause leapfrogging and more commuting."

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=18f66e62-22cc-435f-a3c5-ead43d861efc

Waste plan 'real mess': Councillor

Ottawa Sun, April 11, 2008
Derek Puddicombe

Wet, smelly garbage in Greely isn't the best option for Coun. Doug Thompson.

Thompson said he isn't convinced that Greely, a small rural village in the city's south end, is the best spot for a proposed plant that will process the kitchen waste of Ottawa residents.

He wants city officials to start looking at other locations around the city that could be possible locations for a source separating plant, to be built by Orgaworld Canada Ltd. (OCL), that will process tons of wet kitchen waste when the city begins its green box program in 2009.

He also wants city officials to look at the plants original location near the Trail Rd. dump in Barrhaven as well as any available land around the city dump that could be used.

"This (Greely) is not the perfect site for residents," Thompson said yesterday, a day after a hastily called meeting in the village that attracted about 150 residents. "Maybe there are other possibilities for a site."

http://www.ottawasun.com/News/OttawaAndRegion/2008/04/11/5253306-sun.html

Greely residents angry over proposed organic waste facility

Ottawa Citizen, April 10, 2008
Patrick Dare

OTTAWA - A proposal to ship all of Ottawa's kitchen waste, 80,000 tonnes a year, to Greely has some residents there infuriated and one city councillor fuming that he wasn't kept in the loop.

The City of Ottawa is hiring a Netherlands company, Orgaworld, to built a waste-processing facility within the city's borders that will handle all of the organic waste that will be collected in a separate waste container beginning next year.

At first the site for the facility was to be near the city's Trail Road landfill but that site was apparently near flood plain. Instead the company is considering converting a leaf and yard waste site owned by Greely Sand and Gravel on Stagecoach Road, about six kilometres south of Greely village.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=a6888c92-54fe-4784-bd64-7a1ea2c97394&k=79043

Talk of Processing Plant in Greely Premature: Councillor

CFRA, April 10, 2008
Josh Pringle

Councillor Doug Thompson insists any talk of a kitchen scraps processing plant in Greely is in the earliest stages.

"No Dump for Greely" signs are starting to pop up in Greely after OrgaWorld Canada concluded the site of an existing leaf and yard waste composting facility on Stagecoach Road would be a good location for a new plant.

The location would include a plant and a stack more than 100 feet high.

Thompson says he is disappointed City Staff didn't consult with him on the matter, but insists it's not a done deal.

http://www.cfra.com/?cat=1&nid=56203

Zoning proposals under fire

Ottawa Citizen, April 9, 2008, page C1
Jake Rupert

New citywide zoning rules took a beating yesterday at City Hall, and a council committee sent the most contentious of them back to staff for further comment and possible changes.

When passed by council, the new rules will see zoning regulations from 11 former municipalities put into one bylaw, a draft of which was in front of councillors on the planning committee yesterday.

At the meeting, 24 public delegations voiced their objections to the effects of the new rules on specific buildings, properties and locations and concerns generally about the proposed citywide rules on what can be built where. Most of the delegations represented businesses, social service organizations and community associations.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=46b912b0-73fb-46c0-a224-ef212cc62b0f

Scrap brews over waste
Greely residents grumbling over recycling plant plan

Ottawa Sun, April 9, 2008
Derek Puddicombe

Some Greely residents are raising a stink over a proposed kitchen waste processing plant pegged for their community.

Shanon Hope says outrage is growing among Greely residents about locating a plant to recycle smelly kitchen waste in the south end community. The city will begin its organics recycling next spring.

Hope and her family live 500 feet from the proposed site at 2260 Stagecoach Rd. in the rural community and want to know why the city didn't attempt to contact area residents about the plan to build the plant where a leaf and yard waste facility is now operating.

http://www.ottawasun.com/News/OttawaAndRegion/2008/04/09/5232146-sun.html

Greenbelt road OK'd

Ottawa Citizen, April 6, 2008, page A3
Patrick Dare

A little bit of Ottawa's Greenbelt will be sacrificed so that Barrhaven can be directly linked to the South Merivale Business Park, which is the new home of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The National Capital Commission's board of directors approved the extension of Longfields Drive to connect with Bill Leathem Drive in the business park. The NCC says the road will be limited to two lanes, with room for bicycle traffic, so that continued farming can take place in the area. The project will mean the loss of 2.8 hectares of Greenbelt. The city is expected to start building the road in June. When it approved the road, the NCC also noted it is starting a three-year review of its master plan for the Greenbelt.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=764c9ab2-c4f2-4ea0-a500-defc35c850d1

Residents back transit Option 4
Planners say public consultations show support for tunnel, mass light-rail

Ottawa Citizen, April 5, 2008, page D9
Jake Rupert

Ottawa residents support a mass light-rail transit system running east-west and north-south through a downtown tunnel, city transit staff say after holding public consultations on four options last month.

Transit planners said in a report that "thousands" of people provided their comments on the future of transit in Ottawa in meetings, online, in street interviews and in other ways.

The results, they say, show "broad support for Option 4." That option includes a downtown tunnel and light-rail system running east and west to the edges of the Greenbelt and south past the airport. Under the option, which would cost about $4 billion and be built as funds become available, improved suburban bus transitways would feed into the rail lines.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=5fd97c75-8a58-4684-a1c9-223cbecff2a5

Rural is the new urban: When the city comes to town
The densification of rural communities is changing small-town living, Mohammed Adam writes. But there's no consensus on whether that's a good thing.

Ottawa Citizen, April 5, 2008, page D3
Mohammed Adam

For almost half a century, Bruce Webster has watched with pride as Ottawa grew from a "cow town" into a major city. But now he worries about the survival of the city's rural communities.

As politicians gather for another summit on rural issues, Mr. Webster and other community leaders wonder if anyone at city hall is paying attention to the dangers of creeping urbanization.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=6b696158-d90a-476a-8e88-84977cf1d8bc

Opinion: $27M down the drain with Manotick pipeline plan

Ottawa Citizen, April 5, 2008, page D1
Randall Denley

City councillors are set to approve next week a $27-million sewage pipeline that will serve 376 homes and businesses in Manotick. It's an astoundingly expensive misuse of old technology that's all but certain to guarantee the big expansion of the village that residents have opposed.

There's no doubt that residents in Manotick's Hillside Gardens neighbourhood and the village core need sewers, but the cost per household of a pipeline to the main sewer system has always been prohibitive. It still is, but the city is using some fancy accounting to make the big pipe plan seem reasonable.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/opinion/story.html?id=63a56b21-79f6-4d9b-be72-318dd7d8899b

Gatineau Park plea rattles NCC meeting

Ottawa Citizen, April 5, 2008, page D1
Katie Daubs

Everything was going according to plan until Jean-Paul Murray got up to speak.

It was Thursday night, and interest groups were having their annual chance to make a presentation to the National Capital Commission's board of directors. These gatherings have been happening for the past seven years.

Twenty groups had submitted speaking notes in advance and each gave a five-minute presentation. The topics ranged from a light-rail connection to Gatineau to walking markers along the canal.

The meeting had the air of a Toastmasters session as each presentation was timed with a red light. Occasionally, board members asked questions. But when a question came from the floor, the public was reminded that only those who had registered were allowed to speak at the table. Despite the interruption, everything continued like clockwork.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=28d7411b-f936-4a2c-9751-9f9e3ebb14a2

Of green plans and red tape
Townhomes to generate as much power as they use, but huge amounts of energy needed to get the okay from city hall

Toronto Star, April, 5, 2008
Elvira Cordileone

To casual observers at a March 19 committee of adjustment meeting, the three-minute approval process for three unusual townhouses in the Annex might be seen as proof Toronto is working efficiently and doing everything possible to promote environmentally friendly developments.

But to many who've followed the Top of the Annex Townhomes project, the brief time spent at committee merely obscures a view that thickets of red tape await even the greenest of plans.

"It's a bit anti-climactic, I must say, especially given the lead-up to the meeting over the past six to eight weeks," says Lou Ampas, a principal of Coolearth, the architecture firm working on the breakthrough project.

http://www.thestar.com/Hometype/Green/article/408954

B.C. ruling spells trouble for Ontario mining

Toronto Star, April 5, 2008
Cameron Smith

The McGuinty government has repeatedly slammed the door on First Nations people trying to establish their rights to negotiate development in their territories. This has created a confrontational situation that now threatens to throw mining and logging in the province into limbo.

It didn't have to be this way, says Doreen Davies, chief of the Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nation in Eastern Ontario. The Shabot and the neighbouring Ardoch First Nations have always been ready to negotiate, she says, and with the province refusing to sit down with them, the only option left lies in legal action.

An appeal is underway against the jailing of Robert Lovelace, a Queen's University lecturer and an Ardoch nation member sentenced to six months in jail and fined $25,000 for refusing to halt attempts to block drilling for uranium on lands claimed by the two Indian nations.

The appeal lawyer, Michael Swindon, says he will argue that the Ontario Appeal Court should follow a B.C. Supreme Court decision delivered last summer that, if followed, would make Ontario's Forestry and Mining Acts inoperable everywhere an Indian land claim exists.

http://www.thestar.com/News/article/410479

Slowly coming to a street near you -- maybe

Ottawa Sun, April 4, 2008
Elisabeth Jones

A local environmental entrepreneur has put forward a proposal to the city to test low-speed, low-emission electric vehicles for workers and even residents.

Patrick Roy, owner of Pedaless Bike Corp., met with the roads and cycling advisory committee last month to propose a pilot project in which these low-speed electric cars could be driven on certain roads in Orleans.

Low-speed electric vehicles, like Zenn cars -- which were recently profiled by Rick Mercer for a CBC report -- are not yet allowed on the province's roads, but are considered safe for use by Transport Canada. The cars only go a maximum of about 40 km/h.

http://www.ottawasun.com/News/OttawaAndRegion/2008/04/04/5188481-sun.html

City beach alert
Sewage woes could force closures

Ottawa Sun, April 4, 2008
Derek Puddicombe

If Ottawa doesn't clean up its sewage, the Medical Officer of Health will permanently close all city beaches.

Dr. David Salisbury told the Community and Protective Services Committee yesterday that if the city continues to pollute the waters residents use to take a refreshing dip, he'll have no choice but to protect public health and close four major beaches.

"We will end up in a situation where we can't keep them open," said Salisbury. "I will order them closed."

http://www.ottawasun.com/News/OttawaAndRegion/2008/04/04/5188486-sun.html

Editorial: Save Gatineau Park

Ottawa Citizen, April 3, 2008

Ask residents of Ottawa and West Quebec about what they like best about the region and many of them will mention Gatineau Park.

Ottawa is lucky to have the 363-square-kilometre stretch of forests, ridges and small lakes virtually in its backyard. Thousands of residents and tourists spend time cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, cycling, hiking, camping and picnicking within its boundaries every year.

But, unlike other federally administered parks, Gatineau Park, administered by the National Capital Commission, is not protected by national park legislation, despite attempts over the decades to do so.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/editorials/story.html?id=133cd63c-4eff-408a-af3c-1aaabe8b9f17

Ottawa's commute one of the longest in the country

Ottawa Citizen, April 3, 2008
Lee Greenberg, with files from Eric Beauchesne

Ottawa residents have among the longest commutes to work in the country, according to 2006 census data that portray the city's transit use in an overall positive light.

The data released yesterday show Ottawa commuters travel on average 8.1 kilometres to work, the sixth-longest journey in the country. That distance is up slightly from the last census, when the average travel was 7.9 kilometres.

The list is topped by bedroom communities in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), including Oshawa, whose residents travel an average 11 kilometres to work, Toronto itself (9.4), Barrie (9.0) and Hamilton (8.3). Calgary (8.2) is fifth on the list followed by Montreal (8.1) and Ottawa-Gatineau (8.1).

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=3a094cc7-8ed1-4539-a907-b5eb54331783

Census highlights on commuting to work

Ottawa Citizen, April 3, 2008
Jorge Barrera

Highlights from Statistics Canada 2006 census data related to Canada's commuting patterns and places of work.

- The median distance Canadians travelled to work increased by 8.6 per cent over the past 10 years, rising to 7.6 kilometres in 2006 from 7.2 kilometres in 2001 and seven in 1996.

- At 55.4 per cent, Regina had the highest proportion of drivers travelling less than five kilometres to work.

- Oshawa had the longest commute in Canada with a median distance of 11 kilometres. In Barrie, Ont., 35.3 per cent of workers travelled 25 kilometres or more to work in 2006, the highest proportion in the country.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=69d03469-245f-4cc7-b857-4249d4930902

Older workers lead drive

Ottawa Sun, April 3, 2008
Donna Casey

Young workers are more likely to hop the bus, walk or bike to their job than their older co-workers, according to census information released yesterday.

Statistics Canada data from the 2006 census shows workers under the age of 25 in the Ottawa-Gatineau region use public transit 29.6% of the time, compared to the average commuter, who buses it 19.4% of the time.

The study found 11.8% young workers walk and 2.7% use a bike, while the average commuter goes by foot 6.8% of the time and cycles 2.1%. Young commuters use a vehicle to get to work -- either as a driver or a passenger -- 55% of the time.

http://www.ottawasun.com/News/OttawaAndRegion/2008/04/03/5177936-sun.html

City looks into ways to stop contamination of Petrie Island beach

Ottawa Citizen, April 3, 2008
Jake Rupert

OTTAWA - City bureaucrats have been instructed to find ways to stop human feces from contaminating the Ottawa River. The cost is likely to be in the tens of millions.

Members of city council's community and protective services committee asked for a set of costed-out options after a Thursday hearing into water-quality problems at Petrie Island Beach on Thursday. E.coli bacteria have often been found in the river off the Orléans beach, making it unsafe for swimmers.

Old downtown sewers are prime suspects in the contamination. A large portion of the core has one set of sewer pipes, instead of separate sanitary and stormwater systems. Under normal conditions, the contents of these sewers is pumped to the municipal sewage-treatment plant just upstream from the beach in the Green's Creek area, along with the rest of the city's sewage.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=cc7df577-3340-43ee-b615-21d8b2fedd07&k=71276

Les causes de pollution à l'Île Petrie toujours inconnues

Le Droit, le 3 avril 2008
Charles Thériault

La Ville d'Ottawa cherche encore les causes principales de la pollution à la plage de l'Île Petrie.

Dans un rapport qui sera présenté ce matin au comité des Services communautaires et de protection de la Ville d'Ottawa, le service de la Santé publique, explique que l'eau de la plage a connu un taux élevé de la bactérie E. coli à six reprises l'été dernier et qu'elle a dû être fermée. Cette plage n'est pas la plus affectée. Celle de Westboro, sur la rivière des Outaouais, a été fermée durant 22 jours alors que la plage Britannia fut interdite durant trois jours et celle de Mooney's Bay (rivière Rideau), 2 jours.

http://www.cyberpresse.ca/article/20080403/CPDROIT/80403136/6790/CPDROIT

Kitchen catch-all

Ottawa Sun, April 3, 2008
Derek Puddicombe

Greely residents could be raising a stink when they discover a processing plant for smelly kitchen waste will be built in their community.

An internal city memo says the city ran into a snag recently when negotiating a 20-year contract with Orgaworld Canada Ltd. (OCL), the company chosen to build a processing plant to handle kitchen waste that residents will be required to begin recycling next year.

The company was initially considering building the facility near a large housing development in Barrhaven north of the Trail Rd. landfill site when they learned the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority advised against it.

"The RVCA indicated the developable area on the proposed site was too small and could potentially be affected by a nearby flood plain," the memo says.

http://www.ottawasun.com/News/OttawaAndRegion/2008/04/03/5177911-sun.html

Commuters shift to car-free mode

Toronto Star, April 3, 2008
Francine Kopun

Toronto commuters are going green.

Census figures released yesterday show greater numbers of commuters are walking or cycling to work in the city or using public transportation.

"I have a car, I have access to public transit. I choose to do this, even in the middle of winter," says Chris Blackloch, 44, who cycles 45 kilometres from Oakville to Toronto, winter and summer, weather permitting. "It's a good way to blow out any frustrations and cobwebs on the way home from your work."

Blackloch is one of the thousands of people who took up cycling to work in Toronto between 2001 and 2005, the time period covered by the last census. The number of people cycling to work in the Toronto CMA rose 33.2 per cent over those five years, to 22,540.

http://www.thestar.com/Canada/Census/article/409412

Almost half of young Ottawans don't take car to work: census

CBC News, April 2, 2008

Young workers in the Ottawa-Gatineau region are more likely to pick "green" commuting options than their older co-workers, the latest census information shows.

Statistics Canada released new data Wednesday from the 2006 census that gives more details about how people in the Ottawa-Gatineau region most often get to work and how far they travel.

Workers under the age of 25 in the Ottawa-Gatineau region use public transit 29.6 per cent of the time, while a further 11.8 per cent walk and 2.7 per cent use a bike.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2008/04/02/ot-commute-080402.html

Commuters still love cars, but bikes, buses gaining favour: StatsCan

CBC News, April 2, 2008

More and more Canadians are climbing aboard their bikes and boarding buses and subways to make their way to work, according to 2006 census data released by Statistics Canada Wednesday.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/04/02/commute-statscan.html

Uranium mine risks 'all people, all life'

Ottawa Citizen, April 2, 2008
Geoff Nixon

SHARBOT LAKE - The months haven't dimmed the concerns about uranium mining felt by some residents of this area about 120 kilometres south of Ottawa.

More than 60 people gathered in this small town's Anglican church yesterday for the first meeting of the Citizens' Inquiry on the Impacts of the Uranium Cycle -- an effort organized by the Community Coalition Against Mining Uranium, designed to collect thoughts, facts and other data from stakeholders and members of the public on uranium mining.

The inquiry will hold public meetings in Kingston on April 8, in Peterborough on April 15 and in Ottawa on April 22.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=f6035d2e-3875-4823-a14b-0f8e64bc85dc