Take Action!

Help keep environment budget from the chopping block at city hall!

The City of Ottawa's draft 2010 budget has been released and public consultations are underway. You can take action by letting city council know that funding to support the health of our environment is important to you!

The draft budget shows considerable improvement over previous years' budgets in certain areas, such as cycling and pedestrian infrastructure and energy efficiency improvements to city-owned buildings. Unfortunately, these could all still be targeted for cuts before the budget is finalized.

Other environmentally beneficial programs and services—such as public transit, essential tree maintenance, and implementation of the tree protection by-law—have already been marked for deep cuts or elimination.

For more details, check out Ecology Ottawa's summary of the key environmental components of the draft budget, which can be downloaded below:

2010_budget_Ecology_Ottawa_comments.pdf

The draft budget can be read in full at http://www.ottawa.ca/city_hall/budget/budget_2010/budget_documents_en.html

Council needs to hear from you before they finalize the budget during the last week of January! 

You can provide feedback to the City of Ottawa on the draft budget in any (or all!) of the following ways:

• E-mail

• Call 311 with your comments

• Fax 613-560-2126

• Attend a councillor ward consultation (taking place December 10 to January 20)

• Register as a public delegation at City Council (sitting as Committee of the Whole starting January 25) by contacting 613-580-2424, ext. 12487 or by e-mail at

To stay informed of our action alerts and get updates on key local environmental issues and events, sign up for Ecology Ottawa's e-mail updates. We will send no more than two updates each month.

Sign the petition to end the transit strike. It's time to let city council know that we want an end to the transit strike, and we want it now! (January 2009)

Sign the petition for a five-year moratorium on new roads in Ottawa, coupled with investments in transit, cycling, and pedestrian infrastructure. (July 2008)

Tell the city to make recycling mandatory for businesses. (May 2008)

Sign a petition against uranium exploration in the Ottawa River watershed. (2007)

Check out Ecology Ottawa's Top 10 Actions, and find out what you can do today to reduce your environmental footprint. (2007)

Join the search party and help find Mayor O'Brien's missing climate strategy. (2007)

Sign the Green Budget Petition. (2006)

Submit your comments before February 17, 2008 about Ontario’s proposed legislation to restrict the use of cosmetic pesticides, at: http://www.ebr.gov.on.ca/ERS-WEB-External/displaynoticecontent.do?noticeId=MTAyNTUz&statusId=MTUzMzE3

The City of Ottawa is accepting public comments on the redevelopment of Lansdowne Park, both online and at a workshop to be held February 26th, 2008. For more information, see http://www.ottawa.ca/residents/public_consult/lansdowne/index_en.html.

Coalition for a Healthy Ottawa
Petition ‒ urge city council to pass a bylaw to restrict the non-essential use of lawn and garden pesticides. Supporters of a ban include: CHEO, the Ottawa Hospital, the Canadian Cancer Society, the Ontario College of Family Physicians and the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment.

Across Canada, pesticide bylaws already protect 127 communities, including the entire Province of Québec. Let's send a strong message to City Hall ‒ we need a bylaw in Ottawa, to protect our health and the environment.
Pesticide Bylaw Petition
Below download a hard copy of the petition.

Petition_2007.pdf