Critical Mass in Toronto (Flickr photo by CG Cunningham) Two decades was a long time for cycling advocates in the province to wait for an overhaul of the Ontario Cycling Strategy, and the draft report released Aug. 30 has left many underwhelmed. The report from transportation minister – and avid
Continue readingAuthor: awreeves
the reeves report: Land needs trump Pickering airport
Pickering area protest sign (Flickr image courtesy of jbcurio) Residents opposing the Pickering airport have come to expect the unexpected. In their 40-plus years of struggle against a development many feel prioritizes business interests over prime agricultural farmland, the story has unfolded in fits and starts. Long periods of inactivity
Continue readingthe reeves report: Great Lakes nuclear map shows troubling hot spots
Original Production by Irene Kock. Updated by Anna Tilman, April 2013, International Institute of Concern for Public Health Ontarians may have no idea of the volume of nuclear-related facilities in the Great Lakes basin, but a new map offers a clear picture. The Great Lakes Nuclear Hot Spots Map recently created by
Continue readingthe reeves report: Grass carp found in Grand River sterile
It could have been worse. When the Department of Fisheries and Oceans announced on May 3 that a Grass carp caught in the Grand River near Lake Erie was sterile, biologists and invasive species experts on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border could breathe a sigh of relief. But not
Continue readingthe reeves report: National Energy Board commenting rules ‘undemocratic’
Enbridge buried pipeline marker – east Toronto. Credit: Adam Scott/Environmental Defence. Federal opposition MPs and environmental groups are crying foul over what they see as the government’s attempt to curtail public comment on Enbridge’s proposed 639-km Line 9 reversal pipeline route through southern Ontario and into Quebec. Tucked away in last spring’s
Continue readingthe reeves report: Great Lakes offshore wind moratorium to remain ‘for some time’
Flickr photo by phault. Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli confirmed early last week that anyone anxious for offshore wind development in Ontario’s portion of the Great Lakes to resume will have a long wait ahead of them. Indefinitely, it would seem. “All I can say at this point is that offshore
Continue readingthe reeves report: Local Knowledge Key in Land Restoration Program
Building off the idea that few comprehend the environmental challenges occurring in their backyards better than those who witness them daily, the Ontario government has re-launched yet another program to solicit local engagement in improving the province’s natural spaces. The Land Stewardship and Habitat Restoration Program– operating under the awkward acronym
Continue readingthe reeves report: Mississauga mayor urges government to move on from gas-plant hearings
Outspoken Mississauga mayor Hazel McCallion lit up the Standing Committee on Justice Policy at Queen’s Park Thursday morning with testimony on the government’s 2011 decision to cancel a proposed gas plant in a residential neighbourhood. Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion Though a witness called by the Liberal government, McCallion was blunt
Continue readingthe reeves report: Next Steps in Protecting the Great Lakes
Lake Huron shoreline/Photo by Jimmy Brown In the face of decades of environmental, pollution and development stresses on the shorelines, wetlands, river basins, flora and fauna of the Great Lakes, the government of Ontario realized making a difference in the health of these critical water bodies would require all hands
Continue readingthe reeves report: Finding work a struggle for new teachers in Toronto
Flickr image by spDuchamp. *** Note: this piece was originally published with OpenFile Toronto on Feb. 10, 2012, but is no longer available online since their website shut down. *** When Deirdre Dimitroff started teachers college at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education in September 2011, she knew the
Continue readingthe reeves report: Yes, In My Back Yard!
Not Far From The Tree’s table at YIMBY 2011. Photo courtesy the Centre for City Ecology. The flow of information and ideas between community residents and policy makers is often a one-way street. When someone tries to flip that idea on its head, it seems almost utopian – until you
Continue readingthe reeves report: Algonquin Park: A Waste Diversion Success Story
Algonquin Park at sunrise. Flickr image by Karin Lewis. The crown jewel of Ontario’s provincial park system is being recognized for hitting a crucial milestone not often associated with our parks system: removing garbage. With approximately one million visitors flocking to Ontario’s largest and most popular park destination, Algonquin Park
Continue readingthe reeves report: Ontario Forests Will Be Net Carbon Source Until 2040
Ontario Forest in Spring. (Flickr image by jd_09) Ontario’s Crown forests are expected to remain a net source of carbon emissions for the next three decades, according to the latest forestry report from the Ministry of Natural Resources. The latest State of Ontario’s Forests report released January 3 – the third issued by the
Continue readingthe reeves report: Urban River Valleys Mean More Growth for Ontario Greenbelt
Ontario’s Greenbelt – Halton Region It’s a new beginning for Ontario’s 1.8 million acre Greenbelt. On January 10, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty was in Newmarket to announce a significant new designation to Greenbelt legislation, which will make it easier for municipalities to add public land to what is already the largest greenbelt
Continue readingthe reeves report: Ontario Rangers Rally in Support of Life-Changing Program
photo by awreeves Until the first speaker reached the podium, the protest to save the Ontario Ranger Program at Queen’s Park on January 4 seemed more like a high-school reunion than a community rally. Approximately 100 people—many in standard issue yellow hard hats emblazoned with the Ministry of Natural Resources
Continue readingthe reeves report: Cleaning up the Niagara River
Niagara River © RokaB – Fotolia.com The Niagara River has come a long way since the 1980s. One would still be advised not to drink the water, swim in some of the public beaches or eat the fish you reel in, but the latest report on the remediation plan reveals
Continue readingthe reeves report: SOPA delayed, but Canada’s Copyright Modernization Act carries on
Sums It Up Quite Nicely. | Image from The Guardian.co.uk 18 U.S. Senators have withdrawn their support for the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) due to an overwhelmingly negative online reaction, including a Google petition that garnered over 4.5M signatures and the Wikipedia-led blackout of over 7,000 popular websites. Here
Continue readingthe reeves report: Saving Solar Power in Germany
German Solar Park. For most of the past winter, Germany’s 1.1 million solar power systems that crisscross the country have sat relatively idle. Overcast skies and a relative lack of sunshine has meant the powerful solar-generating system has produced little energy, forcing Germany to import electricity from nuclear power plants
Continue readingthe reeves report: Photo Gallery: Liberal Biennial Convention 2012
Now that the Liberal Biennial Convention has wrapped up and people have headed home to regroup and figure out how best to build on the ideas and momentum that so energized them in frigid Ottawa, a look back on the weekend that was — in photo’s! Enjoy! Media Stage at
Continue readingthe reeves report: Liberals opt to tread cautiously into the future
Stage in Canada Hall at the Liberal Biennial Convention. Canada’s die-hard Liberals are wrapping up their Biennial Convention in Ottawa this afternoon. It has been an enthusiastic affair, despite the fact that it is not a leadership convention. (Although the Liberals have had enough of those in the past decade
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