A little musical Canadiana
Among my collection of many (many!) vintage song books and song sheets, I have a bundle of patriotic music from WWI. I was browsing through them again this week and…
Canadiana
Environmental Groups Pin Slim Hopes for Rouge Park Changes to Senate
Rouge Park in autumn. Canada’s Rouge National Urban Park Act began second reading in the Senate earlier this week after sailing through the House of Commons is just six months.…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Deal reached to save Experimental Lakes Area
Ontario’s Experimental Lakes Area. After months of negotiation, Queen’s Park announced Tuesday morning a deal has been struck to transfer ownership of the Experimental Lakes Area living laboratory in northern…
Time running out on ELA interim agreement
Researchers working at one of 58 lakes in the Experimental Lakes Area in northern Ontario. Only three days remain to finalize the interim agreement to find a new operator for…
Reports question NEB’s approval process for Northern Gateway and Line 9 pipelines
Enbridge under fire as opponents of controversial pipeline projects worry the Canadian energy giant will be ill-prepared to handle potential ruptures throughout Southern Ontario and on B.C.’s rugged coast. Opponents…
Ontario strengthens tools to combat invasives
MNR Minister David Orazietti introduces the Invasives Species Act at Queen’s Park. Groundbreaking legislation a first of its kind in Canada – aims to fill in legislative gaps in combatting…
Separate Great Lakes from Mississippi River to contain Asian carp: study
A recent study led by the University of Notre Dame and the U.S. Forest Service confirmed that hydrologically separating the Great Lakes from the Mississippi River watershed would be 95…
Indirect Impacts of Pipelines Should Be Included in Assessments
If oil and gas pipeline proponents can talk about indirect economic benefits stemming from new pipeline infrastructure, opponents should be able to consider the environmental impacts of those indirect actions…
Enbridge’s GTA pipeline project gets greenlight
The Ontario Energy Board gave approval late Thursday afternoon to Enbridge Gas Distribution’s $686.5 million GTA Project aiming to carry natural gas across the top of Toronto. The project, consisting…
Canada must help U.S. pay to contain Asian carp
Canada has an obligation to help the United States pay for physically separating Lake Michigan and the entire Great Lakes basin from the Mississippi River watershed to contain the spread…
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…
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…
Boreal greenwashing: Mill-town politics in Northern Ontario
Every extractive capitalist economy needs a mechanism that allows corporate heavyweights to snuggle up with elected officials. In the US, there’s American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), and if you haven’t…
From the mouths of Muppets: Why climate solutions are “simply not done”
Last month, while reading and reviewing Too Much Magic, I came across a line in the latter half of the book that really stung: “Not even people who are preoccupied…
Nonsense Alert: When Canadian journalists succumb to climate denial folly
I don’t want to be one of those grandpas who spoils the grandkids with a habitable planet. It’s the same reason I will not buy life insurance. I get hit…
Occupy the MP Party / A Harper Year in Review
Parliament is winding down, and it’s getting close to Christmas…do you know where your politicians are? Most likely they’re boarding a plane and heading back home to sip egg nog…