Everyone wants the 10,500 acres in the Rouge Valley to be made into a national urban park, yet few but the Harper Tories think their plan for the green space is the best path forward. Rouge Park at Sunrise. (Flickr Photo Courtesy of Snuffy.) ON A MEDIA TOUR this week of
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reeves report: Ocean Warming and Acidification will Crash Crabs’ Metabolism
Porcelain crab. (Image courtesy of Stillman’s Lab) BASED ON FUTURE CLIMATE SCENARIOS, researchers believe coastal ecosystems will see increased extremes in low tide temperature fluctuations and drops in pH levels associated with ocean acidification. This particular study looked at what impacts, if any, warmer water and higher acidity levels will
Continue readingreeves report: Ontario Invasive Species Act gets second chance
A control test site for invasive plant phragmites at Wasaga Beach on Lake Huron. LIBERAL NATURAL RESOURCE MINISTER Bill Mauro reintroduced the Invasive Species Act Wednesday, the first standalone legislation in Canada geared towards stopping the spread of invasives into the province There is currently a patchwork of more than 20 different federal
Continue readingreeves report: NDP propose tough rules for importing Asian carp
On Oct. 1, New Democratic MP Brian Masse from Windsor, Ontario introduced a private member’s bill calling for tougher action and better coordination across Canadian governments in the fight against Asian carp. The bill would make it illegal to import Asian carp — or “invasive carp,” as Masse calls it
Continue readingreeves report: Ontario and Ottawa face off over fate of Rouge Park lands
A STANDOFF IS BREWING east of Toronto in the Rouge Valley between Queen’s Park and the federal government over the proposed Rouge National Urban Park. Ontario Infrastructure Minister Brad Duguid made it clear to federal Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq that the province would not hand 5,400 acres of land it
Continue readingreeves report: Transportation sector key to reducing GHG emissions in Ontario: ECO
GETTING SERIOUS about tackling greenhouse gases has to start with dramatically cutting emissions from Ontario’s transportation sector, the province’s environmental watchdog warned recently. In releasing his latest update on efforts to curb climate change-inducing emissions in Ontario, Environmental Commissioner Gord Miller told reporters at Queen’s Park the biggest sector emitter
Continue readingreeves report: New evidence of Triclosan toxicity
Hand soaps containing triclosan and triclocarban. (Andrew Reeves/Reeves Report) OTTAWA KNOWS that a common ingredient in antibacterial soaps is posing acute and chronic problems for human health and freshwater ecosystems but has done nothing to ban triclosan, according to environmental and consumer advocates. But now there’s even more evidence against the
Continue readingreeves report: ECO urges province to create new climate action plan
SO MUCH OF THE THINKING around climate change has evolved since 2007 that Ontario’s seven-year-old climate action plan is now “irrelevant” according to Environmental Commissioner Gord Miller. In releasing Looking for Leadership: The Costs of Climate Inaction this morning, Miller said the province has been a leader in the climate file but has
Continue readingreeves report: Ottawa completes $400,000 Asian carp science lab
A $400,000 ASIAN CARP science lab was opened by Public Works Minister Diane Finley Monday as part of $17.5 million committed by Ottawa to fight the spread of this aquatic invasive species. Captured grass carp at Dept. of Fisheries and Oceans research lab in Burlington, ON (Andrew Reeves) The new lab
Continue readingreeves report: Ontario adds Climate Change to MOE Portfolio
IN ANNOUNCING her new cabinet last week, Premier Kathleen Wynne has charged former Transportation Minister Glen Murray with taking over Ontario’s newly revamped environment ministry. Murray, the sitting MPP for Toronto Centre and former mayor of Winnipeg, assumed command of the environment ministry from veteran MPP Jim Bradley who is
Continue readingreeves report: Province urged to hold off on Rouge land transfer
A coalition of worried environmental groups is calling on Premier Kathleen Wynne to refrain from transferring provincially owned land in Scarborough to Ottawa over fears that ecological protections in Bill C-40, the Rouge National Urban Park Act, are substantially weaker than those already in place. Days after the federal Conservatives
Continue readingreeves report: Ottawa approves $5.5 billion Northern Gateway pipeline
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT has approved the $5.5-billion Northern Gateway pipeline project from Enbridge, to carry 525,000 barrels of crude oil each day from Bruderheim in northern Alberta to the port town of Kitimat along British Columbia’s rugged Pacific Coast. Prime Minister Stephen Harper signalled his approval for the project late Thursday after the controversial pipeline received
Continue readingreeves report: MNR lacks real-time data on controversial spring bear hunt
Black bear. (Flickr photo by Casey Brown) JUST OVER HALFWAY through the reintroduced six-week spring bear hunt, which runs from May 1 to June 15, the province of Ontario has issued close to 2,300 licenses for black bears. Unfortunately, the Ministry of Natural Resources has no idea how many of those
Continue readingreeves report: Environmental Legislation Killed by the Ontario Election
Environment Minister Jim Bradley and Natural Resources Minister David Orazietti speak with reporters at Queen’s Park. June, 2013. (Photo by Andrew Reeves) SO WE KEEP WAITING. Ontario’s environmental community had reason for optimism when Kathleen Wynne assumed leadership of the Ontario Liberal Party in January 2013, knowing the new premier
Continue readingreeves report: Kathleen Wynne’s environmental ups and downs
Feature image: Ontario Rangers youth gather at Queen’s Park in January, 2013 to protest cuts to a Ministry of Natural Resources program many former participants claim changed their lives. Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne has called an election for June 12, and as the parties gear up their campaign platforms, it’s
Continue readingreeves report: Swimming against the odds
Few of the hundreds of thousands of Chinook salmon introduced into Lake Ontario each year survive to maturity, but the Ministry of Natural Resources is still betting on them to help to improve the health of the Great Lakes. Finance Minister Charles Sousa with MNR staff and representatives from the
Continue readingreeves report: Fracking impact report due early May
Fracking well in USA. A panel report on the potential environmental impacts of shale gas exploration, extraction and development in Canada has been finalized but will not see the light of day until after May 1, 2014. In 2011, then federal Environment Minister Peter Kent asked the Council of Canadian
Continue readingreeves report: NEB finds compliance issues with TransCanada’s environmental protections
A series of five extensive audits of TransCanada Pipelines Management Program by the National Energy Board came back with only minor issues the regulator is asking the energy giant to iron out. TransCanada pipeline. “NEB audits proactively identify those aspects of a company’s management system that are working well along
Continue readingreeves report: Canada-Ontario Agreement targets aquatic invasives in Great Lakes
Beefing up protections against aquatic invasive species like Asian carp has taken a prominent place in the latest Canada-Ontario Agreement (COA) governing how both governments aim to work together on protecting the Great Lakes. Asian carp in U.S. water. “Aquatic invasives have altered Great Lakes ecosystems and caused significant disruptions
Continue readingreeves report: Rebuilding ‘science team’ at ELA a tough task
Researchers at the Experimental Lakes Area in northern Ontario. Getting the team back together at the Experimental Lakes Area may be tougher than saving the project itself. When Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced on May 17, 2012 that funding for the Experimental Lakes Area would no longer be renewed by the
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