Media Releases

Climate Change Consultation Process Coming to Nepean

Make sure to RSVP!

The next iteration of the Canada Climate Action consultations in Ottawa will be held in the federal riding of Nepean on 18 June. There, MP Chandra Arya will meet with constituents to hear their thoughts on climate change and how we as a country can best ameliorate the effects thereof. It will be held at 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM in Suite 204, 240 Kennevale Drive in Barrhaven. Much like the many consultations held across Ottawa in recent weeks with MPs McKenna, McGuinty, Vandenbeld, and McCrimmon, this is an historic opportunity for people to tell their elected representatives that climate change must be taken seriously.

Why I Volunteer With Ecology Ottawa

I like to bike. I bike to campus. I bike to the store to pick up groceries. I bike to the gym. And even when I used to work out in Kanata and live in the south end of Ottawa, there were some times when I would bike to work on a nice day. Biking is simply the best way to get around Ottawa, especially during the summer. It's exciting to be a part of an organization that looks to make Ottawa's streets more bike and people friendly, along with the great work they do fighting climate change and protecting our water and trees.

Kanata-Carleton Climate Change and Defense Consultation This Weekend

The Canada Climate Action consultation process is coming to Kanata-Carleton on 5 June when MP Karen McCrimmon is hosting a barbeque and town hall. This is the next iteration of a wider consultation process happening across the country. Beginning at 5pm, there will be a barbeque to benefit the people and town of Fort McMurray. The event will then move to a two-hour consultation on defence and climate change. Much like the events in Ottawa Centre and Ottawa South with Catherine McKenna and David McGuinty, respectively, this is an historic opportunity for people to tell their elected representatives that climate change must be taken seriously. Make sure to RSVP!

#CanClimateAction Town Halls Come to Ottawa West-Nepean

The next iteration of the Canada Climate Action consultations will be held in Ottawa West-Nepean on Saturday, 4 June. There, MP Anita Vandenbeld will meet with constituents to hear their thoughts on climate change and how we as a country can best ameliorate the effects thereof. It will be held at Saint-Paul High School at 2675 Draper Avenue, beginning at 3:30pm in Room 172 and ending at 5:30pm. Much like the events in Ottawa Centre and Ottawa South with Catherine McKenna and David McGuinty, respectively, this is an historic opportunity for people to tell their elected representatives that climate change must be taken seriously. Make sure to RSVP!

Beauclaire Park Tree Planting: June 11th

The sky is blue, the sun is shining, the world is glowing with life. What better way to spend your day than by planting trees?

Beauclaire Park

On June 11th, Tree Ottawa is teaming up with the Covent Glen / Orleans Wood community association and the City of Ottawa to plant trees in Beauclaire Park. We have 800 trees (eight hundred!!!) trees that need to be planted, which means we're going to at least 100 volunteers. And that includes YOU!

New Tree Protection Changes

Did you know that as of May 26th, 2016, new changes to protect urban trees have been implemented for the process of getting a distinctive tree permit in the city?

For years, urban trees have been needlessly destroyed by infill developers. However, the majority of those trees didn't need to die; their deaths could have been avoided altogether had builders followed existing measures set to protect and care for them during pre-construction and post-construction. Many trees have been destroyed because because they're stationed in no-man's land between properties, and the developing companies have just bullied their way into cutting them down or refusing to take protective measures. These new requirements extend their protection of trees to trees growing on the border of two properties: there now must be a collaboration between the two sides, in which an agreement must be met between parties to either protect or remove the tree during development.

Urban Green-Space From a Country Kid's Point of View

I'm a country girl. I was born in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, and grew up on a solar-powered farm in the midst of Ontarian wilderness. As a kid, I spent entire summers with my brothers getting lost (and found again) following animal tracks through the woods. Family vacations consisted of camping, hiking or canoe trips, and meeting bears on the way to the bus stop was not unusual. We didn't have any neighbours, and I went to a rural school where most of my peers were also farmers, so until I finally left the country to go to a large-city university, I thought my lifestyle, and connection to nature, were the norm.

Handing MP Catherine McKenna a letter about climate consultations

Just few weeks ago I joined a volunteer group that, with leadership from Ecology Ottawa, was encouraged to work together to ask our local MP to host a meeting on how the Canadian federal government plans on addressing climate change in order to meet the commitments made in the Paris COP21 agreement. Especially due to the recent launch of the consultation period for the proposed Energy East pipeline, we wanted to impress upon our federal Member of Parliament that climate change matters here locally, and that a new pipeline to carry bitumen for export that crosses our local Ottawa watersheds is not in anyone’s best interest.

Ongoing Climate Consultations in Ottawa an Important Opportunity

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and provincial and territorial leaders committed to creating a national climate strategy for Canada. This commitment is enshrined in the March 2016 Vancouver Declaration. Over the next several months, public consultation related to the a national climate change strategy will take place.

The consultation process started with Ottawa Centre MP and Minister of the Environment and Climate Change Catherine McKenna when she had her consultation on 28 April 2016! Ottawa South also held a climate change consultation since then. The consultations in Ottawa Centre and Ottawa South are now done and both went incredibly well. The people of Ottawa Centre and South were clear in their opposition to Tar Sands expansion, the Energy East Pipeline, and the need to develop a sustainable economy. Minister McKenna was very receptive at the Ottawa Centre consultation. MP David McGuinty and MPP John Fraser listened to and spoke with the people, committing themselves to advancing environmentally friendly options for the future.

Why Trees are Cool

I got involved with Ecology Ottawa because I saw the organization as a great way to take local action to fight climate change. After about six years of volunteering I can say I was correct in that thinking.

Imagine sitting by the lake, as I was, one hot, hot summer day surrounded by spruce, balsam and pine trees. It was so hot. I could smell the resins being being baked out of the trees. It was like that great forest smell you get, except stronger.

TransCanada's Incomplete Application to the National Energy Board Provides More Evidence For What We Already Knew

TransCanada did not include a feasibility study and has no plan for how the Energy East Pipeline will cross the Ottawa River.

It’s now mid-May and, just days after NEBplaceholder the National Energy Board received the 38,885-page application from TransCanada, there’s yet another problem with this proposed pipeline. We’ve known about the other problems for a long time now: climate change, the effect a spill would have on our local environment and community, and continuing Canada’s ties to a dying industry. Not having a plan for a major river crossing in their 38,885-page long application speaks to the pure recklessness and incompetence with which TransCanada is approaching this project.

The New Kinder Morgan Pipeline Has Been Approved but the Fight Is Not Over

The National Energy Board approved a new Kinder Morgan pipeline which would run through Alberta and British Columbia and this, unfortunately, comes as no surprise. The NEB has proved time and time again that it is out of touch with the people of Canada. In this particular case, the pipeline has been approved despite opposition from seventeen First Nations in BC and Alberta, as well as twenty municipalities representing over 2 million people. Fortunately, the out of touch NEB does not have the final say in this matter. Prime Minister Trudeau and his Cabinet must approve this pipeline before it can move forward and they have no choice but to reject this pipeline given the immense opposition that has existed for five long years across British Columbia. No pipeline should move forward, especially when the people it will impact most have made it clear that they reject it and the devastating effects that come with it.