May is expected to be momentous in terms of our city’s plans on climate change.
There will be a number of clean-ups around the City! We urge you to join in and find your friends in the neighbourhood! If you would like to find a clean-up nearby check out Cleaning up the Capital. Some Community Network teams are organizing clean-ups, join our Ecology Ottawa teams if you have some time!
Glebe Clean-up - Chamberlain Park Clean-Up
Saturday, May 10 10-12pm,
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Glashan Schoolyard slated for greening[/caption]
Check out the Citizen Op-ed by our Community Network Glebe team leader, Angela Keller-Herzog
‘Our school looks like a jail!” is what our students say. The Ottawa inner-city Glashan schoolyard is bleak, mostly pavement. As the tulips are coming out in Ottawa, the Glashan school council is poised to launch a direct-ask fundraising campaign — looking to raise $250,000 to realize the greening project. The project integrates new green space and trees with several digital murals that the students will co-create with a local artist, and a new naturalized climbing and play structure (the yard currently has no play structure).
On Monday April 7th the Ontario Energy Board (OEB) held a public hearing in Stittsville for TransCanada Corp.’s proposed Energy East pipeline. After Ontario’s Minister of Energy asked the OEB to examine and report back on the proposed project in November 2013, the OEB began a series of public consultations in the communities that fall within the proposed Energy East route. The Ontario government plans to ultimately intervene into the National Energy Board’s (NEB) hearing with a position that will be shaped by the OEB’s final recommendations. Ecology Ottawa has been working to educate and mobilize residents within the City of Ottawa to participate in the OEB hearings and other processes because of our concerns over the proposed Energy East pipeline. And so on a rainy Monday night in Stittsvile, the OEB heard a lot of opposition and little support for the Energy East pipeline.
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Ottawa River - Photo credit Angelo Romano[/caption]
After a long delay, the City of Ottawa is finally following through with its commitment to prepare a Water Environment Strategy (WES). This will be Ottawa’s overall framework to protect and enhance the health of our water. The process for preparing the WES began in March of this year.
Glashan P.S. holds a special event to celebrate the kick-off of the Majesta “Trees of Knowledge Competition”
Glashan students OTTAWA- Monday was the official kick-off of the Majesta “Trees of Knowledge Competition” at Glashan Public School. Glashan is the first school in Ottawa to take part in a greening project of this size. Glashan P.S. is one of two schools in Ontario that qualified for the finals. To celebrate the kick-off of the contest, Glashan held a special event. It was jammed packed with enthusiasm, excitement and smiling faces, accompanied by an overwhelming sense of togetherness. The event was filled to the brim with students, parents, teachers and delegates. They all gathered together in this tiny gym for one reason, support. The kick-off was emceed by two, young, charismatic girls, who didn’t shy away from a crowd of 500+. There were even special performances, speakers and entertainment. It was a very inspiring event.
(jump back to Where we Are)
Ecology Ottawa is cautiously optimistic that the City of Ottawa has begun the process of assuming its responsibilities in the face of climate change.
However, producing a planning document and actually reducing greenhouse gas emissions are two different things. Similarly, recognizing potential liability in the lack of an adaptation plan isn’t the same as actually protecting citizens from the vagaries of a warming world.
(jump back to How we Got Here)
A Seeming Failure
At the March 23 GHG Roundtable Mayor Jim Watson vowed that the city would renew its Air Quality and Climate Change Management Plan by mid-2014. He said also that the then-newly-established Environmental Stewardship Advisory Committee (ESAC) would hold the city’s feet to the fire – his words – in making sure that climate change plan was done and done right.
From its founding Ecology Ottawa has encouraged the City of Ottawa to work with citizens to both:
Through 2011 and 2012 Ecology Ottawa worked with supportive city councillors and city staff and achieved several important milestones: